Daniel Laycock and Luke Cole have been named the winners of the 2019 Monin BarBarista Challenge.
In association with UK Coffee Week, the competition paired professional bartenders with baristas, giving them the opportunity to showcase their creative coffee cocktail flair.
At the grand finale, regional heat winners had to create drinks that perfectly balanced coffee and Monin. Ultimately, wildcard entries Daniel and Luke triumphed with Black Nectar, featuring Monin Coffee Liqueur, Le Fruit de Monin Beetroot and Monin Blood Orange syrup (full recipe below).
Luke said: “Dan participated in the Monin Cup last year and we’ve previously competed separately in competitions, so it was nice to have a competition in which we could participate together and complement each other’s skills.
“We wanted to make a really personal drink so we based the drink on flavours which we really love and we roasted our own coffee beans to ensure they would complement the Monin products.”
Rod Eslamieh, owner of Chapter 72 and lead judge, added: “Our winning BarBarista pair Daniel and Luke demonstrated great teamwork throughout the competition from the regional heat to the London finale.
“Black Nectar was the result of a genuine partnership between Daniel and Luke – it wasn’t a case of just handing over the baton. The winning cocktail scored highly across the board. Visually, the it really stood and was well-suited to the vessel.
“The cocktail had great body and the milk ice cubes added a little something extra. Black Nectar is a fun cocktail that would definitely be a hit with consumers who have a curious mind.”
Black Nectar
20ml Monin Coffee Liqueur
10ml Le Fruit de Monin Beetroot
35ml Remy Martin 1738
10ml Amaro Cio Ciaro
30ml Sumatran Espresso
20ml Pineapple juice
25ml Blood Orange Guinness Reduction, using Monin Blood Orange syrup
Serve in a copper mug over ice made with milk.
The other finalists included Satya Pope from Spicer and Cole and Csenge Kilszki from Redlight, Bristol; Kyle Jones and Jasmine Sumeray from East London Liquor Company, London; and Karl Stanley and Kyra Elton from Science & Industry, Manchester.
