Matt Arnold

"It's no secret that COVID-19 impacted every aspect of our beloved industry. Overnight the rising prospects of the hospitality sector lost the ability to network, to be mentored, and to be trained in ways that I and the more experienced generations before me have been. This is why our Ketel One Garnished for Good serve, The Prep Shift, aims to bridge the gap left by COVID-19 between current bartenders and the next generation.

Our serve partners varying levels of experts with up-and-coming talent and focusses on building cross functional hospitality relationships and allocating a support network within local communities.

To start this conversation it was important to me to get the rising talent out to pick the ingredients for our serve and work alongside a mentor to create the serve itself. Each serve is garnished for good with a physical token that takes the guest directly to our website where they can read all about the charity partners and aim of the drink.

The token is then also encouraged to be handed to fellow industry professionals for them to get a chance to explore the local charity's help. A set amount of £1 per cocktail gets donated to our chosen local charity: "So Let's Talk" a charity that supports hospitality professionals with education, networking events, mental health sessions, and activities to encourage a life outside of work.

The prep shift is a Garnished for Good Programme made by the local community for the local community."

The Prep Shift

Glass: Highball
Garnish: Strawberry & Sorel Sherbet
Method: Garnish frosted glass first and then build over ice.
Ice: Cubed

Ingredients:
40 ml Ketel One Family-Made Vodka
100 ml Strawberry & Sorel Soda

To make Strawberry & Sorel Soda:
Take 30g of Red Veined Sorel and 270g Simple Syrup and Vacuum Seal. Allow to rest in a refrigerator for 24 hours. Then, Blend 400g of Strawberry's with 2g of Pectinex and Sous Vide at 30 degrees celcius for 30 minutes.
Once passed through the sous vide. Take 400g of Strawberry Pulp and mix with 60g of Sorel Syrup. Then Spin through a centrifuge at 3200rpm for 15 minutes. Strain off the clarified liquid and add a third of its weight in water. Transfer to a vessel in which you can carbonate the liquid and force carbonate until you have a high concentration of small bubbles in the soda.

To make Strawberry & Sorel Sherbet:
Transfer the solids left within the centrifuge tub and spread thinly over a baking tray and dehydrate at 80 degrees Celsius until brittle. Blend this in a spice blender with 50% caster sugar and 2.5% Citric acid by weight. Transfer to a bone dry container, label and store.