Patrón Perfectionists 2024 France Finalists

Louis Schofield

A Parisian of English origin, after finishing his studies in sports management, Louis decided to fully dedicate himself to the bar industry. Firstly, manager of a Scottish pub in the Latin Quarter of Paris, then director of a bistro in the 11th arrondissement, Louis joined the famed Cambridge Public House cocktail bar in July 2021.

Entry Challenge cocktail inspiration
The idea for "El Colesterol De Fito" Paloma twist is to reproduce the flavour of a grapefruit meringue tart while clarifying the cordial to obtain the simplest and most translucent cocktail possible - a little nod to the chic Parisian style.

Louis Schofield's Cholesterol de fito

Bar: Cambridge Public House, Paris
- 30ml Patrón Reposado
- 60ml Grapefruit Meringue Cordial*
- 90ml Sparkling Water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
This cordial is made of two separate preparations.
1) Grapefruit Sherbet
- Grapefruit: 1 unit
- Grapefruit juice: 90ml
- Vanilla sugar: 70g
- Citric acid: 1% of the weight of the sherbet
Zest the grapefruit over the vanilla sugar then crush everything with a pestle until you get a paste. Leave to infuse for 1 hour. Add the grapefruit juice and blend in the thermomix. Strain through a sieve, leaving the leftovers for the meringue. Add the citric acid and mix with a spoon.

2) Almond cream
- Liquid cream: 40ml
- Milk: 40ml
- Salted almonds: 20g
First, cut the almonds in half and bake in the oven for 7 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius. Add the almonds to the milk and cream and leave to infuse in a cool place for 24 hours. Strain the next day into a superbag.

- For the final cordial: Once the cream has been filtered, mix 1-part almond cream to 2-parts grapefruit sherbet (by weight). Leave to curdle for 1 hour in a cool place. Filter through a coffee filter.

Other finalists

Jean-Baptiste Fancagne's Citrus Maxima

Bar: Fatcat Bar, Toulouse
- 45ml Patrón Reposado
- 70ml Clarified lacto-fermented grapefruit cordial*
- 35ml Sparkling water

* Home-made cordial recipe:
1.Lacto-fermentation in brine:
1 whole Chinese red grapefruit pulp in 1 litre of mineral water + 2% Guérande salt (40g) for 2000 volume (water + grapefruit). Ferment for 3 days. Strain through a sieve and then blender the pulp to recover as much flavour and juice as possible.

2. Cryo-concentrate:
Once the lacto-fermentation has been filtered, freeze it, wait 24 hours and then leave to thaw to separate the water from the grapefruit juice. The result is a more concentrated and saltier flavour.

3. Second lacto-fermentation :
Supreme of grapefruit (pomelo):
19.2g (2%) guérande salt for 960g grapefruit. Fermented for 5 days. Strain through a sieve and then blend the pulp to recover as much flavour and juice as possible.

4. Super lacto-fermentation juice:
Microplane grapefruit zest:
17g for 50g citric acid leave to infuse. Blend the two fermentations then add oleo zest + citric acid and mix well. Then filter through a super bag. 200ml cryo + 700ml grapefruit lacto + 50g citric acid infused grapefruit zest + 240g agave syrup.

5. Clarification of lacto-fermented super juice with condensed milk and soya milk 700ml. At the end of the clarification process, infuse the finished product with keffir lime leaf (combava)

Luigi Giannini's Paloma mentonasque

Bar: Coya, Monte Carlo
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 50ml Citrus and Leaves Cordial*
- 40ml Soda water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
Made with honey of lemon tree and thyme typical from Menton. Grapefruit peel and lemon zests to perfume it. Add some figue leaves with a bit of gentian to remind the bitter side of grapefruit and give it some tasty complexity.

Colin Lach's Napoli Paloma

Bar: Monsieur Moutarde, Dijon
- 35ml Patrón Reposado
- 50ml Burnt Grapefruit and Clarified Tomato Cordial*
- 80ml Sparkling Water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
Zest two pink grapefruits, then peel them. Cut into quarters and spread out on a wire rack. Toast evenly with a blowtorch. For 450g of burnt grapefruit flesh, add 300g of tomato flesh and blend. Measure the volume of the purée and for 650ml of purée, heat 100g of water with 1g of agar agar to activate it. Add the water/agar mixture to the purée and blend again. Place the mixture in a container and freeze overnight. The next day, slowly defrost the frozen purée in a sieve over a container to recover the clarified juice. For 20cl of clarified juice, add 40g sugar, 1.8g citric acid, 1.1g malic acid, 0.8g tartaric acid and 0.8g ascorbic acid. Mix until completely dissolved and bottle

Dorian Tumbarello's Des racines et des ailes

Bar: Harry's Bar, Cannes
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 60ml Grapefruit, rose and radish cordial*
- 40ml Sparkling Water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
Equal parts radish and grapefruit juice with sugar, citric acid and a dash of Timut pepper for balance.

Max Gaillardo's Agravio

Bar: Gigi Restaurant, Paris
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 30ml Grapefruit cordial / orange carrot / green cardamom*
- 80ml Sparkling water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
Squeezed zested grapefruit, centrifuged orange carrot. Both juices over a low heat, plus lime juice with crystal sugar and crushed green cardamom. Once the sugar has dissolved, leave to rest for 2 hours, then strain.

Jeanne Voignier's Le repos des nasrides

Bar: Tempête Bar, Toulouse
- 45ml Patrón Reposado
- 30ml Andalusian cordial*
- 50ml Sparkling water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
Squeeze and filter the juice of an organic grapefruit and heat it over a low heat, adding 75g of sugar for every 120ml of fresh juice, until the sugar dissolves completely. Once off the heat (at the first signs of simmering), add 120ml of rose-pomegranate infusion prepared beforehand (at a ratio of 20g/L infused at 90 degrees until cool), 60ml manzanilla sherry, 4g citric acid and 3g malic acid.

Vincent Laumonerie's Namsan

Bar: Ayawasca, Bordeaux
- 45ml Patrón Reposado
- 35ml Cordial Gochugaru and Grapefruit Soju*
- 50ml Sparkling Water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
200gr grapefruit soju
8gr gochugaru chilli powder (used for kimchi and classic Korean dishes)
2gr citric acid
160g white caster sugar
150gr grapefruit juice
zest of 2 grapefruits
50gr lime juice

Place everything in a vacuum-sealed bag and infuse at 65 degrees for 2 hours in a bain-marie or steam oven, then stir well until the sugar has dissolved and filter.

Oscar Barrera's On D Way Paloma

Bar: Andia, Paris
- 45ml Patrón Reposado
- 70ml Cacao way cordial*
- 30ml Sparkling water

*Home-made cordial recipe:
Cold macerate the grapefruit zest with water, corn liqueur and cocoa seeds in a cream siphon for 4 hours. Strain the liquid from the siphon and add the citric acid, grapefruit juice and agave honey.