The Monkey Shoulder “Ultimate Bartender Championship (UBC) 2016” is a different bartender super league. Unlike most competitions that test only on cocktail making skills, UBC tests the ‘Skills that Pay The Bills’ like speed of service, pouring accuracy, industry knowledge and stock take. These are skills that a bartender requires on a day-to-day basis to do his job efficiently.
This global championship, executed ‘on a budget’ and with an epic prize, follows a universal scoring system across all markets so that every contestant can see how they measure up to the rest of the world. In this no-frills competition – seriously fun but seriously hard, the contestant with the best skills wins. No subjective judging is involved anywhere.
In India, UBC 2016 was conducted with regional rounds in four cities (Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh and Mumbai) with the participation of over 50 bartenders. Each city had a regional level final from which a total of 20 national finalists were chosen.
The city rounds consisted of the same rounds which would be used for the national finals. The rounds were: Quiz on Spirits, Mixiodic Table, Pouring, Nosing, Stock Take, Tray Service, and Round Building.
Twenty winners from the city finals participated in the national finals held in Monkey Bar, Vasant Kunj, Delhi in a high energy active finals hosted by Dean Callan, global brand ambassador of Monkey Shoulder. Two winners were decided based on their skills and knowledge. The winners got an opportunity to attend an all-expense-paid global workshop called Camp Monkey 2016 in Athens, Greece in August, 2016.
The Indian winner could engage and learn about Monkey Shoulder with 40 top bartenders from the rest of the world. They also featured on the global leaderboard along with other top competitors. Roger Gomes from India reached number 2 in April, and is currently at No. 4 worldwide.
The UBC created a lot of buzz for Monkey Shoulder in the Indian market with PR value generated of over Rs. 1 crore in print and digital including Spiritz, The Hindu, FHM, Economic Times, and Times of India. It created excitement at the bars. It gave some giveaways to the bartenders who could interact with the consumers ordering Monkey Shoulder. The same was promoted on the brand’s social media.