Cocktail Week sets 24-Hour Bar test

Organisers of the London Cocktail Week have said the challenge to top bartenders to build and open a bar in under 24 hours is its most ambitious project to date.

Organisers say the 24-Hour Bar Build is London Cocktail Week’s most ambitious project yet (Photo: LCW)

Teams of six leading bartenders from four different bars in London, New York, Singapore and Paris who will go head to head to be crowned the winner of the 24-Hour Bar Build. The challenge has been given the Twitter hashtag #24HRBARBUILD.

Joel Fraser from the award-winning Cufflink Club in Singapore will lead his team with Bacardi rum. They will battle against Richard Woods from the Duck and Waffle in London’s Heron Tower, representing Patrón tequila, New York’s Nomad Hotel Bar director Leo Robitschek (Grey Goose vodka) and Carina Tsou from Candelaria in Paris (Bombay Sapphire gin).

From conceiving and designing a unique bar through to building it and creating an innovative cocktail menu, each team will be judged across a wide range of skills. An expert judging panel, along with members of the public who attend the event, will determine who will be awarded the title of overall winner.

Each menu will include four cocktails, including one non-alcoholic serve, which will test the teams on their creativity and how they push the boundaries of cocktail craft.

Tickets are £35 and entry includes access to the entire venue along with five tokens for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails created at the event.

Organisers say the 24Hr Bar Build will be the biggest stand-alone event ever at London Cocktail Week.

The annual event, which this year moves from its original home of Covent Garden to London’s Spitalfields Market, takes place on Saturday 10 October, and the bartending teams stretching every sinew to try to get their respective bars open to the public by 6.30pm.