Ting announces its Mixologist Awards Winner
TING, the sparkling grapefruit drink, held its Mixologist Competition and Awards at Mayfair bar, Mahiki, London, on September 29.
Beating off fierce competition from four other finalists, Peter Derek Lidstone claimed the title as Ting’s Mixologist Awards Champion. A London-based bartender with over four years of experience under his belt, Peter is a seasoned mixologist working at both the LCC and Shrub and Shutter. As testament to Lidstone’s abilities, he makes cocktail specials on a daily basis, and half the drinks on the menu are his original creations.
The Ting Mixologist Awards, now in their second year, once again run in partnership with world-famous bar, Mahiki. The awards saw Ting invite professional bartenders and enthusiastic mixologists from across the UK to showcase their creative flair by creating a brand new and original cocktail featuring Ting.
The call for entries was activated through the Ting Facebook page, where entrants were encouraged to upload their recipes to a dedicated tab. It was then over to the Ting-judging panel to choose their favourite recipe, with the top five invited to the grand final.
Reinforcing Ting’s versatility as a mixer, the finalists battled it out in a series of cocktail challenges to determine the overall winner. Each round was judged by a panel of experts, including Ting Ambassador and Miss Jamaica Universe 2014 Kaci Fennell, who provided a true Jamaican view on the cocktails, Mahiki’s renowned ‘cocktail king’ Georgi Radev, and 2014 Mixologist Awards winner Robyn Wilkie.
Lidstone was crowned the winner after he impressed the judges with his creativity, calm presentation and attention to detail. His cocktail – ‘The Secret Garden’ – combined Martin Millers, St Germain Elderflower Liqueur, juniper and blackpepper shrub, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, verbena syrup and of course, Ting.
As the winner, Lidstone walked away with £1,000 and his recipe on Mahiki’s sought-after menu as Cocktail of the Month for October.
An elated Lidstone had this to say: “Being a self-confessed Ting lover, when I heard about the Ting Mixologist Awards I knew I had to take part. I often make cocktails using Ting, so I asked my friends to choose their favourite and submit it. Thankfully my friends have good taste, their choice proved popular with the judges too!
“I’m absolutely over the moon to be chosen as the winner, as the competition was really stiff. To have my creation featured on Mahiki’s cocktail menu is a huge deal and I think the overall competition will help grow my experience and open doors for me in my career.”
Donna Petch from Ting comments: “We’d like to extend huge congratulations to Lidstone on winning the competition and say thanks to everyone who entered. Each and every entry goes a long way in showing how versatile Ting is as a mixer, which is extremely exciting for us as a brand.
“The Mixologist Awards are now in their second year and both years have seen a fantastic response to the competition. Many people know that Ting goes well with spirits, but they have no idea of the scale to which it can be used, and that’s why these awards are so great. By creating an original cocktail using Ting, our professional bartenders beautifully showcase its potential as a chaser.”