Martin Sokoráč (source: Courtesy of Hubert Cup)
On Saturday, June 19, elite barmen and barmaids from Slovakia and the Czech Republic met for the 10th annual international Hubert Cup 2010 bartenders’ competition. The mixed beverage throw-down took place in the Park Inn Hotel in downtown Bratislava. The event, organised by the Slovak Barmen’s Association and Hubert, J.E., a producer of Slovak sparkling and still wines.
Twenty five bartenders demonstrated their skills in two categories “Sparkling Wine Cocktail” and “Flair”. The events were judged by members of Slovak and Czech professional barmen’s associations and representatives of the Hubert company.
In the “Sparkling Wine Cocktail”, thirteen bartenders had 6 minutes to prepare drinks containing sparkling wine, other spirits and liqueurs as well as fruit juices, syrups, herbs and spices. Czech Zbyněk Špičák, who works for Karlovy Vary Mineral Waters in the Czech Republic, won the event with a concoction called Michelin.
But it was the second round, “Flair”, that turned out to be the real crowd-pleaser as the acrobatic bartenders mixed drinks with juggler-like precision to the strains of up-tempo music. Martin Sokoráč of the Kaskády hotel in Kováčová, central Slovakia, won it with a saucy potion called Spring Baby.
