Buddha-Bar Tanqueray competition

Words by Difford's Guide

Photography by Difford's Guide and Buddha-Bar

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14 December 2016

After a hotly contested final in Paris, Francesco Galdi is crowned global winner of the Buddha-Bar and Tanqueray cocktail competition.

To commemorate its first bar opening 20 years ago in Paris, the Buddha-Bar Restaurant Group has joined forces with Diageo Reserve and Tanqueray Gin to create a unique new Tanquerary serve.

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The competition was open to bartenders from the 24 restaurant bars in the Buddha-Bar Group who were challenged to create a new serve using the three main base ingredients of Tanqueray Gin, lemon and sugar.

Francesco Galdi from Buddha-Bar Dubai impressed the judges, which included Jen Le Nechet, 2016 World Class Global Champion, Matthias Giroud, Executive Worldwide Bar-Chef for Buddha-Bar and Stephanie Jordan, Global Ambassador for Tanqueray, with his twist on a classic Julep.

He wins a trip to visit the Tanqueray and Gordon's distillery in Scotland and his winning cocktail will appear on all Buddha-Bar menus during 2017.

Congratulations to Francesco!

The "Far East Julep" by Francesco Galdi, Buddha-Bar Dubai

A twist on the classic Julep, replacing Bourbon with Tanqueray No. TEN

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50 ml Tanqueray Gin
5 ml banana liqueur
10 ml sugar syrup
10 ml fresh lemon juice
20 ml lychee juice
20 ml fresh passion fruit juice
1 shiso leaf

Garnish with a shiso leaf, half shell of a passion fruit in which a lychee is placed, and two edible flowers.

Method: Shake all ingredients with ice, fine strain into ice-filled julep cup. Top with crushed ice.

Recipes of the other two global finalists...

The "Delegate" by Pavol Kulich, Buddha-Bar Prague

Pavol uses a typical Czech liqueur - Becherovka, combined with cherry bitters and almond syrup.

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50 ml Tanqueray No. Ten Gin
15 ml Becherovka
20 ml almond syrup
10 ml fresh lemon juice
40 ml milk
2 drops cherry bitters

Garnish with sweet almond, cinnamon stick, dried grapefruit, moss, leaves, needles and dry ice.

Method: Stir all ingredients and pour into an Earthen vessel. Decorate the plate with moss, a cinnamon stick, dried grapefruit, leaves and needles. Place a large ice cube in the cup. Pour hot water into the plate when serving to create dry ice effect.

The "Castle Black" by Lionel Odor, Buddha-Bar Budapest

This complex cocktail uses poppy seed infused Tanqueray Rangpur Gin with blackcurrant and lime juices and is served with a grey orange foam top.

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40 ml poppy seed infused Tanqueray Rangpur Gin*
20 ml blackcurrant juice
15 ml oat milk
15 ml sugar syrup
15 ml fresh lime juice
Top with grey foam

*100g of grated poppy seeds to 700ml Tanqueray Rangpur Gin. Mix well and rest for one week, then double fine-strain.

To make the grey orange foam premix:
5 egg whites
3 gelatin sheets
50 ml Cointreau
50 ml fresh lemon juice
150 ml fresh orange juice
40 ml sugar syrup
1/2 bar spoon concentrated black food colouring paste

Method for grey orange foam:
Bloom the gelatin in just a small portion of strained fruit juices and the sugar syrup, warm it up (do not boil!), and stir until the gelatin completely dissolves, then cool it down. Add the rest of the juices, Cointreau, egg whites and colouring paste into the liquid, quick stir. Pour the whole thing into the whipping siphon then seal it up. Add 2-3 chargers (for 500 ml sized siphon), give a good shake then put it into the refrigerator for at-least 2-3 hours (24 hrs is the best) to let the gelatin set up. The foam must be dark grey.

Garnish with orange peel, poppy seed and rose petal.

Method: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled wine glass. Top with grey foam and garnish.

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