London-based Dorothy Lam has been crowned EMEA’s best Bartender, winning the 2023 Rising Stars Competition at a glittering finale at The London EDITION.
The annual competition, run in partnership with partner Pernod Ricard, launched earlier this year. Fourteen competitors were shortlisted and flown to the UK for a week of seminars, masterclasses, and challenges, before the final seven mixologists were invited to The London EDITION for the grande finale. Here, the judging panel – Satya, Arielle, Jon Boobyer, Senior Sales Manager Hotels, London Essence, and Paul Walker, International Key Account Manager, Pernod Ricard – met with each finalist to learn about their creation and taste the cocktail that brought them to the finale.
Finalists at the Rising Stars 2023
This year’s theme was ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and challengers had to design a cocktail using at least one ingredient inspired by two cities. At least one of these cities must be the current location of work, the other can hold a special place in entrants’ hearts or be a city of inspiration.
Dorothy’s winning cocktail East & West is inspired by London and Hong Kong, with the flavour of rhubarb mixed with Hong Kong-style milk tea.
Talking about her creation, Dorothy said, “Rhubarb is a popular flavour in Britain and the taste doesn’t fade after being frozen so is suitable to use whole year. I made a syrup to sweeten the drink and the used chunks are pickled as garnish, with the juice used in the milk wash process. Taking the London-distilled Beefeater 24 as the base spirit, the cocktail is a twist of a London-born classic cocktail Hanky Panky. I utilized sustainable British fruits throughout and to finish, the liquid is milk-washed for a full-mouthfeel, capturing the texture of a Hong Kong milk tea.”
As the winner of Rising Stars 2023, Dorothy will next travel to Ahus, Sweden in early 2024 to visit the home of Absolut vodka before continuing onward to Stockholm as a VIP guest of Absolut to explore the dynamic Stockholm bar scene.
Two other champions were also crowned for winning their specified challenges:
London Essence High Ball Challenge - Elizaveta Ziborova (Sheraton Amsterdam Airport)
808 Sustainability Challenge - Janek Hegewald (Le Meridien Vienna)
