BTW founders Etienne and Kurt represented South Africa in Puerto Rico in October at the International Bartenders Association (IBA) Classic and Flairtending competition 2008. The tough competition was hosted at the world renowned Hilton Caribe Hotel famous for the creation of the classic cocktail the ‘Pina Colada’. As president of the South African bartenders Association (SABA) Etienne was on the judging panel for the Flairtending competition. BTW training director Kurt accompanied Etienne as the reigning South African mixology champion 2008. You can find Kurt’s recipe for his cocktail ‘Jewel of Africa’ on our website www.bartendersworkshop.co.za

A Flair competition wouldn’t be a competition without The Bartenders Workshop events team running the show. So it was no surprise when Skyy Vodka asked us to rally up South Africa’s best flairers to compete in the Skyy Flair Global challenge. Of course BTW owner Etienne was there on the mic MCing the evening. Two of our guys Owen and Derrick went up in front of the Cape Town crowd hosted at Tyger Valley’s Rhapsody’s. But the eventual winner was Anil Sabharwal who eventually went on to win the national competition and so went through to Monte Carlo for the world challenge.

The Bartenders Workshop hosted yet another fantastic bartending competition this year which coincided with The Good Food and Wine Show in Johannesburg this November. In his capacity as the president of the South African Bartenders Association (SABA) and MD of The Bartenders Workshop Etienne Schlechter once again MC´d the National Classic Cocktail competition in association with Havana Club Rum and Monin Syrups. The huge Good Food and Wine Show crowds gathered at the Coca Cola Dome to watch 20 of South Africa´s top mixologists come and battle it out for the chance to win and compete in the 2009 world finals in Berlin, Germany. BTW Cape Town trainer Owen O’Reilly made it through to the semi finals with his fantastic cocktail ‘Lemon Grass and Litchi´ but sadly didn´t make it to the final which was eventually won by Durbanite Ryan Duvenage.

The reigning South African champion, Bartenders Workshop´s very own Kurt Schlechter was on the other side of the fence this time as he teamed up with Havana Club brand manager, Ryan Geel, as one of the taste judges. Regional finals start again next year May at the Cape Town Good Food and Wine Show, in August at the Durban Good Food and Wine Show and the end of October for Joburger’s at the end of year Good Food and Wine show. See you all there!

The Bartenders Workshop events team are experts when it comes to festivals so it came as no surprise when organisers from the Soweto Beer Festival asked us to supply our stylish bars over the four day festival. We used five of our new mobile bar structures to promote the ever popular Savanna, Hunters and the new premium cider Burchells to the festival goers of Soweto using five of our Jo’burg based guys. Other stands included the well liked Vawter and Klippies & Cola bars which were kept busy throughout. The events team loved the Soweto Beer Festival and will definitely be working there next year with new Jo’burg operations manager Denzel Heath.

This is one of the biggest Afrikaans music festivals in South Africa and this year it was no different! The 100 strong BTW bartenders had a lot of fun over the four day festival with crowds reaching up to 40,000 per day. Scattered around the festival where over 100 meters of Bartenders Workshop bar structures to serve the thirsty Afrikaners’. The guys sold a record of over 200 cases of Klipdrift over the music filled fest . The organizers were ecstatic with the turnout and cannot wait for it to happen all over again. See you next year!

Here at The Bartenders Workshop we always love to brush up on our knowledge of anything bar so when Van Ryn’s asked if we would like to take part in a brandy tasting and take a tour of their distillery we were extremely honored and took them up on their offer.

Not missing out on this fantastic opportunity, we called on all our bartenders to attend this unforgettable and fortunate day. We would like to say a big thank you to Van Ryn’s for a truly mementos day.

Once again The Bartenders Workshop had a fantastic turnout for its monthly Level 1 training course. Our new Cape Town trainer Owen O'Reilly is doing phenomenally well with an incredible 100% pass rate with the wannabe bartenders. Owen received an email from one of his successful students saying 'a big thank you' to The Bartenders Workshop for the great training she received in Cape Town as it's helped her gain employment overseas now working as a qualified cocktail bartender in a top London bar called Mustard. Well done Daniele! BTW Johannesberg and Cape Town have now closed for public training until the New Year and will start in January. Let's hope all BTW students show off their new bartending skills at this years Christmas parties!!