Seven Days to Go Until the 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup

It’s The Final Countdown. Seven Days to Go Until the 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup. Things Are Going To Get Very, Very Weird.

There is less than a week to go until the eighth 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup 2012 kicks off in Queenstown. On Monday September 3rd, teams from the US, UK, Italy, Australia and New Zealand will touch down at the bottom of the world and immediately be thrown off a cable car suspended 134 m above an icy river, hopefully with a bungy cord attached to them.

This year’s theme is ‘Lab Experiment’ and the bartenders, or guinea pigs, will be expected to push the boundaries of modern mixology, creating cocktail concoctions never before seen. They will take part in a series of team challenges we’ve spent months plotting and scheming. They will also have a chance to rub shoulders with some of the industry’s most influential tastemakers.

With cleverly thought out titles like, “How to Win (or at least, not suck) in Cocktail Competitions” these seminars are a unique opportunity for some of the world’s best bartenders to hear from the global leaders of modern mixology. Among them, one of America’s most decorated bartenders and former 42BELOW CWC champion, John Lermayer. His inside word on winning cocktail competitions will be co presented by former 42BELOW Vodka Professor Jacob Briars. Turns out he’s never won one himself, but he’s organized and judged more than his blue drinks infused brain will allow him to remember.

One of the world’s most inventive bartenders, the UK’s Tony Conigiliaro is the champion of molecular mixology. His inventive approach to cocktail flavour and technique has changed the way many of us are drinking. His seminar, 'Beyond Mere Mixology: Using Science, Senses and some rather Fancy Kit to Make the World's Most Interesting Drinks' will give competitors an insight into success or failure in the 42BELOW Lab Experiment.

In the spirit of secrecy and terrifying the pants off our bartenders, there will be no information released about the various challenges, activities and experimentation they will undergo. But rest assured, they will involve heights, high speeds, some of the world’s most spectacular scenery, and of course, incredible drinks making.

For the first time ever, bartenders will be facing competition from the ‘All Startenders’, a team made up of three of the most talented mixologists to ever grace our competition. In another first, Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, will host the 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup convoy. The entire melee of bartenders, judges and international media are travelling north from Queenstown for a top secret, grand final event on September 7th. It’s going to get weird. Be prepared.

ENDS

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