Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest La Maison Cointreau Regional Finals 2016 recently concluded in Phuket, Thailand. 10 finalists from Southeast Asia battled it out for the 2016 Regional Finals: Joel John Timis (Malaysia), Ari Naryana (Indonesia), Dheeradon Dissara (Thailand), Biēn Ngoc Vū (Vietnam), Jimmy Barat (UAE), Yongjoo Kim (South Korea), Reena Mahendran (Singapore), Kenta Yoshida (Japan), Joshua O’Brien (Australia), and Cedric Cello (the Philippines). 10 finalists from Southeast Asia’s La Maison Cointreau Finals 2016: (Standing) Biēn Ngoc Vū (Vietnam), Jimmy Barat (UAE), Cedric Cello (Philippines), Joshua O’Brien (Australia), Reena Mahendran (Singapore), Joel John Timis (Malaysia), and Ari Naryana (Indonesia); (Seated) Yongjoo Kim (South Korea), Kenta Yoshida (Japan), and Dheeradon Dissara (Thailand) The 10 finalists each received a brand new set of bar tools from Remy Cointreau. Photo courtesy of Reena Mahendran For two days, bartenders showed off their skills in front of judges Michael Callahan, founding bartender of 28 HongKong Street; food writer and stylist Vivian Pei; DRiNK Magazine’s editor-in-chief Dan Bignold; and Remy Cointreau’s Richard Gillam. Michael Callahan, founding bartender of 28 HongKong Street; food writer and stylist Vivian Pei; DRiNK Magazine’s editor-in-chief Dan Bignold; and Remy Cointreau’s Richard Gillam The first challenge was to create a Tiki Margarita. This leg determined the final five contestants who battled it out for the second-day challenge. Australia’s Joshua O’Brien won the first challenge with his margarita cocktail that used thai green curry paste soda to give the drink a touch of salt. Vietnam, Singapore, UAE, and the Philippines also made the final five. Richard Gillam welcomes everyone to the Tiki Margarita challenge Australia’s Joshua O’Brien creating his margarita cocktail “1975,” which used Thai green curry paste soda for a touch of salt Kenta Yoshida (Japan) and his Thai Margarita Sasithorn (it means “the moon” in Thai), Cedric Cello’s (Philippines) entry for the Thai Margarita challenge The Philippines’ Cedric Cello from Smith Butcher and Grill Room Reena Mahendran’s (Singapore) version of Thai Margarita Thai Margarita by Jimmy Barat (UAE) served on a spinning vinyl record player Joel John Timis’ (Malaysia) “MangoriThai,” a margarita inspired by mango and sticky rice “Matahari” (sun) created by Ari Naryana from Indonesia. He used Tom Yam paste and salt on the rim of the glass. The second-day challenge was an adventure in the exotic Rang Yai Island in Phuket. The bartenders started the day with a brand quiz challenge that they had to fill out during a boat ride to the island. Brand quiz challenge on a boat ride Richard Gillam briefs the bartenders about the next challenge Happy bartenders at Rang Yai Island in Phuket On the island, the judges prepared a “foraging forest,” a tree filled with different Asian fruits, small toy buckets, and other items that the contestants could use for their cocktails for the next challenge. There was even a pirate ship floater in the open water containing Red Bull bottles, lemongrass juice, and passion fruit. The “foraging forest” DRiNK Magazine’s editor-in-chief Dan Bignold inspecting the “foraging forest” Bartenders race to the special pirate floater containing exotic ingredients Lemongrass juice, passion fruit, and Red Bull bottles inside the floater Spirits, bitters, and other ingredients available for the Tropical Tiki Punch Challenge The challenge for the second leg was to create a Tropical Tiki Punch using the ingredients under the “foraging forest” and the bottles of spirits provided by Remy Cointreau. Finalists had to present an elaborate Tiki-themed setup made from what they could salvage from the island. For this leg, the judges also announced that one wild card contestant— Thailand’s Dheeradon Dissara—would rejoin the competition to complete the final six. Thailand’s Dheeradon Dissara preparing pomelo peel saccharum A closer look at the pomelo peel saccharum made with pomelo peels, sugar, and lemon juice Islander’s Punch by Thailand’s Dheeradon Dissara—Mount Gay Black Barrel; Cointreau modified with galangal, lemongrass, and makrut lime; and pomelo saccharum made with lemon juice, sugar, and pomelo peel; bitters, Orgeat syrup, and pomelo juice Reena Mahendran (Singapore) preparing her tropical punch Singapore’s Reena Mahendran created a punch with Mount Gay rum, pineapple juice, sweet potato syrup, lemon citrus, and soda. She said it was inspired by the four judges UAE’s Jimmy Barat preparing pineapple flambé Black Gold Punch by the UAE’s Jimmy Barat—Mount Gay Black Barrel, XO, Remy Martin VSOP, flambé pineapple purée, Thai basil, molasses, coconut syrup, almond syrup, lime, and orange juice The Philippines’ Cedric Cello prepares punch Angelic Pillar by the Philippines’ Cedric Cello—Mount Gay rum, Cointreau, Ashitaba and pandan tea, watermelon syrup, basil, watermelon, lime The Catalyst by Biēn Ngoc Vū from Vietnam—Mount Gay Rum, Cointreau, Pineapple juice and syrup, almond syrup, homemade tea, Orgeat syrup, and lemon juice Vietnam’s Tiki punch served in plastic containers Once again Australia’s Joshua O’Brien came out on top with his Shipwrecked Rum Punch that made use of the passion fruit (a fruit that he only tasted for the first time during the competition) he foraged from the pirate ship floater. The other two who made it to the top three finals were the UAE’s Jimmy Barat and the wild card, Thailand’s Dheeradon Dissara. Shipwrecked Rum by Australia’s Joshua O’Brien—Mount Gay XO and Black Barrel, Cointreau, Remy Martin VSOP, passion fruit with almond syrup, watermelon, and lime juice and cinnamon falernum Joshua O’Brien extracts passion fruit pulp; he says he had never tasted the fruit before the competition For the final challenge, the remaining bartenders were tasked to make cocktails using foraged ingredients from their respective countries of origin, a task that they were made aware of before they arrived in Thailand for the competition. But as an added twist to the challenge, the finalists were asked to choose any of the bartenders who didn’t make it to the final leg to support them as their bar back and combine the ingredients foraged from the other contestants’ countries. The final presentation was done at the pool bar of Xana Beach Club, where the judges sat by the bar submerged in water. Thailand’s Dheeradon Dissara presents to the judges UAE’s Jimmy Barat Australia’s Joshua O’Brien Thailand’s Dheeradon Dissara created a refreshing gin and tonic cocktail named “Jim and Sonic” made with The Botanist gin, soda, tonic, and buckwheat, the foraged ingredient he acquired from South Korea’s representative. The UAE’s Jimmy Barat brought bougainvillea flowers as his foraged ingredient; assisted by Japan’s Kenta Yoshida he created a pink, sweet, salty, and floral cocktail called “Sexy Betty.” Australia’s Joshua O’Brien from The Bowery (assisted by Malaysia’s contender Joel John Timis) took home the coveted championship title with his winning cocktail “Where the Heart Is” made with his foraged ingredient from Australia called lilly pillies. Thailand’s Dheeradon Dissara’s “Jim and Sonic” cocktail made with The Botanist gin, soda, tonic, and buckwheat The UAE’s Jimmy Barat created a pink, sweet, salty, and floral cocktail called “Sexy Betty” Australia’s Joshua O’Brien from The Bowery took home the coveted championship title with this winning cocktail “Where the Heart Is,” made with his foraged ingredient from Australia called lilly pillies Lilly pillies, Joshua O’Brien’s foraged ingredient from Australia According to the judges, this year’s competition had very talented bartenders who showed a lot of creativity, especially with the use of resources presented to them during the challenges. “I’ve judged a few competitions and even in a regional final, and in a field of 10 bartenders competing, you usually get one or two drinks which were a little off or something went wrong. But these last two days, honestly, all the drinks have been really, really good,” said judge Dan Bignold during the announcement of winners. “There haven’t been any bad drinks among all of them, so that’s amazing. Where we are at bartending in the region now has really improved.” Michael Callahan presents the coveted championship title for La Maison Cointreau with the special bartender’s leather tool bag prize Landslide win. Australia’s Joshua O’Brien, 2016 champion of La Maison Cointreau Asia The 10 bartenders took home Cointreau’s new variants, Guignolet (cherry liqueur) and Camomille Yongjoo Kim (South Korea) took home a Kindred Spirit Award. He was voted by his fellow bartenders as the friendliest and most helpful during the competition Watch the recorded Facebook live feed video of the competition: La Maison Cointreau Regional Finals 2016 first day challenge La Maison Cointreau Regional Finals 2016 second day challenge