Licor 43 opens Bartenders & Baristas Challenge 2021

Spanish liqueur brand Licor 43 is running the fifth edition of its annual Bartenders & Baristas Challenge once again in a virtual format, and the competition is now open for entries.

Every year, Licor 43 calls on cocktail and coffee professionals around the world to showcase their expertise and creativity in the art of pairing Licor 43 and coffee, and this fifth edition will be run online via the Licor 43 website and social media channels.

Returning as global judges are cocktail guru Merijn Gijsbers and coffee consultant and educator Timon Kaufmann; Penelope Bass, senior editor at the US’s Imbibe Magazine, joins the panel this year.  Their task will be to find the best new Licor 43 coffee cocktail recipe – last year, Annarose Krone from Nic’s on Beverly bar in Los Angeles won.

Julian Fernandez, Zamora Company’s global marketing and innovation director of spirits, commented: “We are committed to supporting and engaging with bartenders and baristas, and in current conditions maintaining the virtual format we started last year is the best way to do this.”

Continuing, he said, “In fact, we actually reached a wider audience – our figures show we reached 20.5 million globally – with our mission to educate about, and instil passion for, Licor 43 as the reference liqueur of choice in coffee cocktails. We look forward to once again being blown away by the thought, creativity and effort that entrants put into their creations.”

The 2021 challenge opened to entries from around the world from 14 May at licor43.com, with applicants invited to submit films of them making and talking through their cocktail creations.

Each national round (plus the European Bartending School) will choose one winner to go on to the next, global final, stage which will see entrants revise their recipes so they can be evaluated by the judging panel.

These films will be shown on the Licor 43 Youtube channel with an additional winner voted by the public on 27 October 2021.

Coffee has long been part of Licor 43’s story, from the Café Asiatico in Cartagena and Café Barraquito in Tenerife in the 1950s to the Carajillo 43 today, which is a signature serve in Mexico with an RTD version launched earlier this year.

“There is a natural marriage of aromas and flavours between Licor 43 and coffee,” said Fernández, “and over the last four years that we have run this competition, we can see what inspiration this has been to entrants from both the bar and barista worlds.”

How To Enter

Professionals interested in entering the 2021 Licor 43 Bartenders and Baristas ‘Virtual’ Challenge can enter via www.licor43.com or they can contact info@licor43.com