Above the clouds

Exhausted I was! When I found myself ordering a gin and tonic on my flight back from London to Istanbul, overlooking the clouds beneath, I thought “Oh God, I need an urgent detox!” Imagine spending a week with the world’s finest bartenders, all 48 of them, mixing, shaking and pouring constantly for five days. The WORLD CLASS™ Bartender of The Year competition is just over, and I feel above the clouds having witnessed a week of magnificent mixes and tasted a great number of them. “Above the Clouds” was also rightly the name of the signature cocktail of Charles Joly from the United States who clinched his championship with his unique signature, which carried the judges to a journey above the clouds. My reason to be above the clouds was more because of intoxication, of course.

Joly from The Aviary in Chicago mesmerized the judges from the very first cocktail he poured and cemented his name in cocktail history by being the sixth World Class Winner. His signature cocktail, Above the Clouds, crafted for the final Punch and Glass challenge was a showstopper. Throughout the week Joly consistently proved his winning credentials to the esteemed panel of judges that included legends and luminaries from the cocktail scene such as Dale DeGroff, Julie Reiner, Steve Olsen, Gaz Regan, Salvatore Calabrese, Peter Dorelli, Hidetsugu Ueno and the formidable Spike Merchant. I was lucky to spot Joly in his very first presentation in Scotland, when he was creating a storm in a glass for his Sensory Challenge. He had his two judges obeying him childishly to open umbrellas, his team helping him to create the atmospheric ambiance: one waving a board in the air to create wind, one flashing lightning, another throwing grains over umbrellas to create rain...