Never Never Distilling Co is calling on bartenders and bars to get their creative freak on and conjure up a Never Never menu featuring at least two drinks using the Never Never Triple Juniper Gin.
The menu should feature a drink per entrant from each of these two categories:
- The Gin For Your Tonic – a gin and tonic utilising Triple Juniper Gin, tonic and garnish.
- Fearless With Flavour – a cocktail using three core ingredients, including Triple Juniper Gin.
All venues must have their ‘Step into the Never Never’ cocktail menus live by 8 May 2021, which means the menus need to be available in venue and also uploaded onto the venue’s social media so they can be judged.
Never Never Co-Founder and Brand Director, Sean Baxter, said the competition aims to encourage bartenders to work with fewer ingredients to create delicious drinks.
“I’ve always loved cocktail competitions,” Sean said. “The good ones were always a heap of fun and gave me confidence to pursue a career in the industry, which is remarkable considering I was a pretty average bartender,” he laughs.
“We’ve tried to create a competition that still rewards and celebrates creativity, but not at the expense of simple, well-made drinks.
“The gin and tonic and the three-ingredient cocktail are some of the most common gin cocktails requested in venues and also the most delicious, so we wanted to create a cocktail competition that focuses on these two drinks in particular.
“Most bartenders have a few tasty variations of these gin classics in their repertoire, this is a chance to see if they are good enough to win you a great prize and join us for two days in South Australia.”
It is a special prize, as one winner from each regions will be flown to South Australia to enjoy a two-day food and cocktail tour that celebrates the flavours of the state.
The tour not only takes in the Never Never Distillery located in McLaren Vale but also stops off at some of Adelaide’s award-winning restaurants such as Shobosho and Africola. Winners will also get the chance to enjoy Adelaide’s best bars such as Maybe Mae, Hains&Co, 2KW, NOLA, Memphis Slim’s House of Blues and many more.
Sean added: “The prize isn’t just about eating and drinking in some amazing venues, it’s about getting the opportunity to go on an adventure curated by some of the best hospitality professionals in the country, our winners are going to be in safe hands.”
Never Never will also be running a few very special Bartender Challenges for the finalists occurring over the two days where they get the chance to win some amazing cash prizes. It is inspired by their Never Never Have I Ever set of challenges the gin brand created during the lock downs of 2020.
Special guest judges will be flown in from around the country to be responsible for judging the bartender challenges and will also act as mentors across the entire two-day experience. These personalities will be announced over the coming months but will offer an exciting opportunity for bartenders to learn from some of the best minds in the industry.
The Step into the Never Never menu needs to be live and available in venue by 8 May, and Sean said the team wanted to create a cocktail competition to be as inclusive as possible.
“The menu can be an insert, a chalk board, a projection, a pinboard, a holograph, a tattoo, although I’m not sure how your mum would feel about that one,” Sean said.
“It can even be written on the back of a coaster, whatever you feel works for your venue, just make sure it works as a menu and is live in venue from May 8, 2021.
“It’s not something that is going to work for every bar and restaurant, we’re aware of that, but hopefully this gives opportunities to other bartenders and venues that might not always be up for the often lengthy challenge of the big global competitions.
“We’ve built the competition to be as inclusive as possible, attracting bartenders from all walks of life, as long as you’re motivated by putting as much flavour in the glass as possible, we want your entries.
“Ultimately these are drinks that bartenders are familiar with, that would regularly feature on menus all over the country,” Baxter says, “this is an opportunity to show us your creativity to win a chance to spend a few days with us down in McLaren Vale.”
With such a great prize on offer it’s important bars and bartenders know how they will be judged and the Never Never team has laid out its judging criteria for the competition.
Menus will be judged out of 100: Is it actually a menu? (10 points), Can you read the drinks and the prices? (10 points), Does it make the drinks sounds tasty? Does it make us thirsty? (10 points), Did you spell everything correctly? (10 points), Did we see it promoted online using a photo that we can easily see (10 points), Was the menu available in venue for the required time (25 points) Is the menu in our opinion, an excellent menu? (25 points).
The Gin For Your Tonic, again out of 100: Did you use the right gin and a minimum of 30ml? (10 points) Does the garnish work with the tonic selection (10 points), Was the Triple Juniper Gin and Tonic promoted using the menu mentioned above during the competition (10 points), Did we see it promoted online during the competition (10 points), That g&t sounds like something that would be a great drink in the venue you work in (10 points), Damn that’s a tasty looking gin and tonic in an amazing glass, I sure am thirsty, I wish I could teleport there right away and drink one (25 points), the Triple Juniper Gin, tonic, garnish and glassware combination is something unique, exciting and a joy to look at (25 points).
No prizes for guessing how many points the Fearless With Flavour category will be judged out of: Does the drink’s composition from the recipe appear to be balanced (10 points), Is the drink a unique and exciting representation of a 3 ingredient cocktail (10 points), Was the cocktail promoted using the menu during the competition (10 points), Did we see it promoted online during the competition (10 points), Is the cocktail name awesome and will it sell the drink (10 points), Is the photo of the drink awesome and make us want to drink one immediately (25 points) Does the drink use three ingredients (or less) including a minimum of 30ml of Triple Juniper Gin, not including water, Co2 or caster sugar? (25 points).
More information on the competition is available from your local Proof&Co representative and all the drink details, dates, judging criteria and terms and conditions are available on the Never Never Distilling Co website.
