Arts & Leisure
Posted on May 18, 2016 05:14:00 PM
Good luck on Friday the 13th
FRIDAY the 13th was not unlucky for the three Filipino bartenders who will be going to Malaysia to represent the country in June at the Stella Artois Draught Masters bartending competition, instead it was a night of cheer, high hopes, and plenty of bottles of beer.
JORDAN BERNARTE, Eduardo Mayani, and Raniel Dy will be representing the Philippines at the Stella Artois Draught Masters bartending tilt.
He is one of the three Filipino representatives to the Stella Artois Draught Masters regional competition, which is a contest of bartender experts from Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The aim of the game is to honor Stella Artois, a high-end beer brand from Belgium, and its nine-step pouring ritual.
While locally beers are generally drunk straight from the bottle or pouted any which way into a cold mug or glass, Stella Artois likes to honor its Belgian roots by following the nine-step pouring tradition for draft beer. It starts with the cleaning of a special glass called the Chalice, then comes a careful, calculated pouring of the beer from a 45-degree angle. When the excess froth is removed, the Chalice is cleaned again, and is ready to be served.
Mr. Dy has been working at Draft The Fort Bar for three years. The two other Filipino beer experts who will be going to Malaysia are Eduardo Mayani of Draft Alabang and Jordan Bernarte of Draft Greenbelt.
“We are keeping in mind the nine-step ritual, making sure it’s followed, but we are also doing add-ons, to put something extra special into our performance,” said Mr. Bernarte in Filipino. He is the youngest bartender of the three, but is the one with the most experience. He has been working in Manila’s bar scene for the last seven years while the other two have less than five years.
“We’ll incorporate Filipino touches,” said Mr. Mayani. When asked to specify what those are, the three were vague with their answers because they’re not only going against 25 other Asian bartenders but also competing against each another.
The three were quick to add though that they’d be happy if one of them wins. The idea of going abroad for work (and a little play), they said, is already a reward. The competition will look for only one Asian Draught Master, who will win P100,000 ($2,154).
Stella Artois has a growing fan base in Asia, including the Philippines. “We are happy with the volumes we are getting... There’s an increasing interest in imported beers and drinkers who are willing to pay premium,” said Raymon Chester Cabrera, marketing head of Booze Online, Inc., the official distributor of the brand in the country. -- Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
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