Lobster Bar and Grill at Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong welcomes guest mixologist Tom Walker – winner of the BACARDÍ Legacy Global Cocktail Competition 2014 – from 16 to 19 June 2015.
In May 2014, 28-year-old Tom triumphed over 26 of the world’s finest mixologists and won the BACARDÍ Legacy Global Cocktail Competition 2014 held at the Petrovsky Palace in Moscow. His winning creation Maid in Cuba was inspired by a new drink category originated in New York called the “Maid”, which essentially consists of a spirit of choice mixed with lime, mint and cucumber. He started working on a drink for the competition more than one-and-a-half years earlier. After months of trial and enhancement, the final masterwork that captured the well-respected panel of judges was a clean and fresh drink made with white rum, fresh mint and cucumber with sweet-and-sour mix topped with soda and absinthe spritz.
“Maid in Cuba ties in with Cuban rum BACARDÍ heritage but also has a new style of drinks philosophy which comes from New York, one of the pioneering cocktail cities today”, Tom said, recapitulating the process behind the creation of Maid in Cuba.
Apart from Maid in Cuba, Tom will also present a colourful selection of innovative concoctions to cocktail aficionados at Lobster Bar and Grill. Please refer to the appendix for the full cocktail menu.
Hailing from Teesside in the north-east of England, Tom started his first bartending job in Newcastle just before graduating from the University of Sunderland with a journalism degree in 2008. After spending four years in Newcastle and Edinburgh honing his bartending skills, he joined the legendary American Bar at The Savoy in London, where he was given ample opportunities to develop his talent as a professional mixologist, which eventually led him to the career-defining victory in the BACARDÍ Legacy Global Cocktail Competition.
Earlier this year, Tom embarked on a new adventure in New York and joined Attaboy, one of the city’s most sought-after cocktail bars renowned for its speakeasy vibe.