Bartender Peter Chua to represent Singapore in global cocktail finals

SINGAPORE — Bartender-in-residence at 28 HongKong Street, Peter Chua, pipped four rivals at the Singapore leg of the Bacardi Legacy Global Cocktail Competition, held at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar. He will represent the country in Sydney in May, competing with 35 other finalists from all over the world with the hope that his winning concoction, dubbed Sugar Man, will be good enough to take the top prize.

To do that, his refreshing yet flavourful rum-based tipple will also need to stand the test of time. “All the drinks that have stood the test of time share a few common traits,” 26-year-old Chua told TODAY in a prior interview. “They all had an interesting story, were delicious and could be easily recreated everywhere else; and had the versatility and potential to allow improvements to be made unto it.

“I would like to believe that my drink, albeit not being a revolutionary style-setting original — it’s inspired by a Buck-style cocktail — has all the above-mentioned qualities. A creative bartender could switch ginger syrup with maybe kaffir or young ginger roots and the drink would take on a different taste. He or she could change the Bacardi Superior and, needless to say, the taste would differ greatly from the original but still be tasty.

“Change any of the ingredients like the type of salt, absinthe, lime and ginger beer and they will all yield a different tasting drink, but still the same outcome — a cocktail that’s fresh, clean, gingery, herbaceous, sweet/sour and delicious.”

To be sure, the judges had assessed the cocktails for aroma, balance of flavours, character appeal, inspiration, story behind the creation of the cocktail, presentation, as well as the outcome of the finalists’ marketing efforts over the last three months to prove the “legacy” quality of their cocktail before making the final decision.

David Cordoba, a leading global bartender, former Bacardi Global Brand Ambassador and one of the competition’s judges, enthused: “It is incredible to see an amazing talent from Singapore. In the last few years, the development and professionalism of the young talented bartenders have been absolutely incredible … I can see that Singapore is, at the moment, in the running to become one of the best cocktail scenes in the world.”

Unlike other cocktail competitions, bartenders only need to present one drink. The competition aims to seek out the bartender who can create the next Bacardi-inspired legacy cocktail, earning a place alongside classics such as the Mojito, Pina Colada and Daiquiri. The winner of the global competition will have his or her cocktail recorded in the company’s archives and have the honour of serving the winning cocktail at some of the finest bars around the world.