Bartenders' Choice Awards

Words by: Sammy Hemmings
Photography by: Bartenders' Choice Awards

The Bartenders' Choice Awards is an annual awards ceremony now entering its 9th year recognising and celebrating greatness in the Nordic hospitality industry.

On 16th December 2018 at Stockholm's Grand Hotel, 800 guests from across the industry in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway gathered to toast this year's deserving winners.

Bartenders' Choice Awards was established in 2010 by Purfict consultancy run by four Swedish bartenders, thus created by bartenders for bartenders, and has grown to be one of the most prestigious awards in the Nordic bar and restaurant industry.

“Voting was extremely tight this year with some awards being won by a matter of one vote,” said ​Michael Bergstrom, co- founder of Bartenders' Choice Awards.​​ “It’s great to see that BCA is having a huge impact on the Nordic scene, encouraging a little bit of inter-country competition, while bringing the bar community together and generally increasing the standard of hospitality across the board, which was exactly our vision when creating this platform 9 years ago.”

Co-founders of the awards, Joel Katzenstein, Michael Bergström, Jakob Sundin & Andreas Näslund

Winners, supporters, sponsors and jury members came together to celebrate at the awards gala as hand crafted desirable statues glazed and hand painted with gold, designed by Swedish jewellery designer Yasar Aydin, were presented to each of the forty winners.

Over 300 industry peers from the Nordic hospitality industry made up the judging panel for this year's awards, and each judge voted for their favourites in all categories after three weeks of deliberations. Take a look at who were deemed the worthy winners below.

We're delighted to have been recognised as Most Influential Publication 2018, and congratulations to all nominees and winners of the night!

Awards Categories

Best Cocktail Bar

Denmark winner: Tata
Nominees: Tata, Gedulgt, Duck & Cover, Strom, Gensyn,

Norway winner: Himkok
Nominees: Ism, Andre til høyre, Pjolter & Punsj, Himkok and Raus

Sweden winner: Tjoget
Nominees: Stranger, Tjoget, Bar Hommage, Svartklubb and Cadierbaren.

Finland winner: Runar
Nominees: Runar, Tiima, Grotesk, Liberty or Death, Trillby & Chadwick

Best New Cocktail Bar

Denmark winner: Paloma
Nominees: Paloma, 1408 Cocktail Bar, Sukaiba, Rastlos and Rudo

Norway winner: Andre til høyre
Nominees: Ism, Andre til høyre, Dark & Stormy, Lukket Selskap and Lokal

Sweden winner: Zamenhof
Nominees: Nabo, Zamenhof, Yellow, Asian Post Office and Yuc Latasian.

Finland winner: Goldfish
Nominees: Goldfish, Kaira, Winter Garden, The Bull & The Firm and Chihuahua Julep.

Best Cocktail Menu

Denmark winner: Duck & Cover
Nominees: Gensyn, Ruby, Gilt, Duck & Cover and Strom

Norway winner: Himkok
Nominees: Himkok, Ism, Raus, Andre til høyre and Pjolter & Punsj

Sweden winner: Bar Hommage
Nominees: Bar Hommage, Tjoget, 20Hundra5, Cadierbaren and Haktet Vänster.

Finland winner: Trillby & Chadwick
Nominees: Trillby & Chadwick, Goldfish, Grotesk, Delorean and Chihuahua Julep.

Best Atmosphere

Denmark winner: Gensyn
Nominees: The Barking Dog, Lidkoeb, Gensyn, Strom and Duck & Cover

Norway winner: Andre til høyre
Nominees: Andre til høyre, Raus, Himkok, No Stress and Bettola

Sweden winner: Tjoget
Nominees: Tweed, 20hundra5, Tjoget, Bar Hommage and Haktet Vanster.

Finland winner: Chihuahua Julep
Nominees: Runar, Chihuahua Julep, 100 Dogs, Grotesk and Goldfish

Best Bartender

Denmark winner: Terkel Kleist, Gensyn
Nominees: Roy Atarodi - Strom, Terkel Kleist - Gensyn, Peter Altenburg - Gilt, Jeppe Nothlev - Ruby and Michael Hajiyianni - Ruby.

Norway winner: Maroš Dzurus, Himkok
Nominees: Maroš Dzurus - Himkok, Jorgen Dons - Raus, Anne Maurseth - Andre til høyre, Truls Thomsen - Pjolter & Punsj and Odd Strandbakken - Himkok.

Sweden winner: Alex Skärlén, Bar Hommage
Nominees: Alex Skärlén - Bar Hommage, Emil Areng - Cadierbaren, Hedda Bruce - Tjoget, Hampus Thunholm - Svartklubb, Ludde Grenmo - Tjoget.

Finland winner: Henri Halonen, Goldfish
Nominees: Henri Halonen, Goldfish, Max Hanhike, Grotesk, Jessi Leivo, Goldfish, Daniel Woodward, Helsinki Distilling Company and Jami Jarvinen, Chihuahua Julep

Improver Of The Bar Industry

Denmark winner: Max Scott
Nominees: Max Scott, Sprit & Co, Jesper Strauss, Carl Wrangel and Sune Risum Urth.

Norway winner: Himkok Bar Team
Nominees: Chris Grotvedt Himkok Bar Team, Jørgen Dons, Anne Maurseth and Stig Bareksten.

Sweden winner: Isac Melander
Nominees: Isac Melander, Barkonsult, Purfict/BCA, Bjorn Kjellberg and Krogare Utan Gränser - Joel & Bergman.

Finland winner: Tiskillä
Nominees: Tiskillä, Henri Lahti, Helsinki Drink Festival, Timo Siitonen and Mika Koivula

Best Restaurant

Denmark winner: Sanchez
Nominees: Amass, Sanchez, Slurp, Best and Barr

Norway winner: Nemesis
Nominees: Nemesis, Katla, Lulu, Brutus and Le Benjamin

Sweden winner: Rolfs Kök
 Nominees: Babette, Lilla Ego, Tjoget, Rolfs Kök and Sturehof.

Finland winner: Baskeri & Basso
 Nominees: Nolla, Gron, Gaijin, Via Tribunali and Baskeri & Basso

Peoples Choice

Denmark winner: Gedulgt
Nominees: Tata, Gedulgt, Duck & Cover, Strom and Gensyn

Norway winner: Pjolter & Punsj
Nominees: Ism, Raus, Hickok, Pjolter & Punsj and Andre til høyre

Sweden winner: Tjoget
Nominees: Stranger, Tjoget, Bar Hommage, Cadierbaren and Svartklubb.

Finland winner: Tiima
Nominees: Grotesk, Runar, Tiima, Trillby & Chadwick and Liberty or Death

Best Signature Cocktail

Denmark winner: Walnut Brown, Terkel Kleist
Nominees: Ama-r Colada - Tina Rovager, Walnut Brown - Terkel Kleist, Rapscallion - Ruby, Across the Equator - Kasper Riewe-Hogh and Espresso Martinez - Anze Pihler.

Norway winner: Birch, Himkok
Nominees: Birch - Himkok, Bloody Mary - Gunnars Generasjonsbar, Miss Basil - Torggata Botaniske, Sustainability - Ism and Onkel Hockey - Raus.

Sweden winner: Pineapple Hustle, 20hundra5
Nominees: Kask - Emil Areng, Pineapple Hustle - 20hundra5, Thai Basil - Asian Post Office, Beets - Tjoget and Theobroma Cocktail - Marcus Erlandsson.

Finland winner: Noche de Rabanos, Chihuahua Julep
Nominees: Fire Walk With Me - Goldfish, Herencia - Henri Halonen, Toxic Avenger - Delorean, Apple Valley - Tiima and Noche de Rabanos - Chihuahua Julep

Global Categories

Best Product: Hernö Gin
Nominees: Italicus, Herno Gin, Three Cents, Supasawa, Spriteriet

Best International Cocktail Bar: Dandelyan, London
Nominees: Dandelyan, London, Himkok, Oslo, Bar Swift, London, Bar Termini, London, NoMad, New York City.

Best Publication: Difford's Guide
Nominees: Imbibe, Difford’s Guide, Med Eller Utan Is, Meehan’s Bartender Manual, Punch

Best Social Media Account: Imbibe
Nominees: Cocktails For You, Imbibe, Tjoget, Nordic Bar Community, Alex Kratena