Monkey Shoulder, the premium Speyside blended malt Scotch whisky brand, recently held its esteemed Ultimate Bartender Championship (UBC), a bartending competition created to discover the finest talents in the mixology industry.
First launched in the UK in 2005, Monkey Shoulder is a 100% malt whisky rich in flavour with notes of vanilla, orange & spice – the perfect whisky made for mixing. This year, Monkey Shoulder’s Ultimate Bartender Championship 2024 is bigger and better than ever, wherein the championship in Indonesia stands as one of the biggest in the world, setting the stage for unprecedented excitement and fierce competition.
Continuously scaling up its Indonesian edition of the competition and expanding its platform for talented mixologists to showcase their capabilities and test the ‘Skills That Pay the Bills’, Monkey Shoulder hosted the Ultimate Bartender Championship event in Jakarta for the sixth time. Additionally, the competition was also held in Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang, and Bali, marking the second time the Ultimate Bartender Championship was held in the cities.
Beyond the conventional bartending competition, the Ultimate Bartender Championship was designed to inspire fun while testing participants in a series of high-energy challenges with Scotch whisky to prove their proficiency in every aspect of what it takes to be at the top of their game.
Over three weeks, 360 of the best mixologists from Indonesia competed for the championship in their respective cities. Five participants from each city emerged victorious and proceeded in the competition to claim the coveted title of the Ultimate Bartender 2024. In the finals, Putu Agus Setiawan was crowned as the National Winner of the Ultimate Bartender Championship 2024.
“For me, UBC is more than just an ordinary competition; it pushes our skills as bartenders and strengthens our sense of camaraderie. Returning for a second year isn’t just about competing – it’s a vital mission for the industry. Last year, I was so nervous and it held me back, but this year I’m calmer and more determined to achieve my mission: to elevate Indonesia’s bartending industry and showcase our unique flavours to the world,” said Putu Agus Setiawan.
The first and second-place winners of each city were prized with a bottle of Monkey Shoulder and an exclusive two-night bartending workshop, dubbed Monkey Camp, spearheaded by Monkey Shoulder’s Brand Ambassadors: Brendon Khoo (SEA) and Wawan Kurniawan (ID). Moreover, the national champion will also receive a UBC ring and a flight to Taipei, Taiwan, to compete in the international competition in 2025.
“We’ve always been excited about the energy participants bring in the Ultimate Bartender Championships. Therefore in this UBC 2024, we’re adding new games and entertainment to make it even more fun, while building a strong community, celebrating our top bartenders’ hard work, inspiring healthy competition, and highlighting those who truly embody the Monkey Shoulder spirit,” mentioned Wawan Kurniawan, Brand Ambassador of Monkey Shoulder Indonesia.
The Challenges – A Test of ‘Skills That Pay the Bills’
The Ultimate Bartender Championship comprised six rounds, where the first five were all worth 10 points. These challenges were designed to highlight that no one skill is more important than any other, a great bartender is one who can master them all. The four contestants with the highest scores from the first five rounds proceeded to the final challenge to face off against one another to determine the winner.
The competition kicked off with its first round, the Quiz Challenge, 50 quick-fire questions in five rounds to test their industry knowledge and drinks know-how. The second round was the Pouring Challenge, a measure of speed and accuracy where participants must accurately serve five drinks in the shortest time possible.
The next round was the Nosing Challenge, where participants had to identify five different spirits using their memory and sense of smell in 3 minutes. This was followed by the Table Service Challenge, where they had the difficult task of serving a table with orders as fast as possible without stumbling.
Then, the Perfect Serve Challenge tested their ability to concoct and serve a Monkey Sour cocktail as quickly and accurately as possible. They were judged on speed, balance, taste, and most fundamentally, customer satisfaction.
Finally, the two highest-scoring competitors faced off in the Round Building Challenge, which comprised the semi-final and final stages. It was a race against time as the finalists had to create six drinks in the semi-finals and 10 drinks in the finals.
“I believe every Ultimate Bartender Championship we have is special. It’s a skills-based competition that helps us to unearth a lot of a country’s new young talent. In Indonesia, our national winner is Agus from Bali who is only 23 years old so it just goes to show it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been working in bartending. If you’ve been able to develop your skills in certain aspects you can win that prize,” shared Brendon Khoo, Brand Ambassador of Monkey Shoulder Southeast Asia.
Determining the Ultimate Bartender Champion depended on only the highest standards of the judging panel, who were asked if they would pay for the drink based on ingredient and method accuracy, speed, and most importantly, taste. In addition to expanding the competition in Indonesia, the Ultimate Bartender Championship was also held across Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
“Aside from it being great in unearthing talent, it’s a great way for the community to come together. A way for bartenders from across the country to meet and build connections. The winner gets to go on a great trip with us to Taiwan next year, and Agus will be joining the winners from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. He will get to expand his network as a young bartender in all these different countries. To me, that is something special and that’s an opportunity that may not always be given to many bartenders with any other competitions,” Brendon added.
To find out more about Ultimate Bartender Championship, please visit ultimatebartenderchampionship.com
