Bartender Schuyler Hunton (pictured atop) is bringing home some hardware to his city of Boston.
The Tiger Mama mixologist this week was named 2016 Most Imaginative Bartender at the annual competition hosted by Bombay Sapphire.
Hunton beat out nine other contenders, his fellow regional finalists from across the United States and Canada.
This was the event’s 10th anniversary. In honor of the milestone, it was held for the first time at England, where the regional finalists were flown to tour Bombay Sapphire’s new distillery, Laverstoke Mill, and compete in a series of challenges to determine the final winner. The final took place in the Rumpus Roomat the Mondrian Hotel London.
As champion, Schuyler will be given the opportunity to travel to Tuscany to learn about a selection of the botanicals that make up Bombay Sapphire and will be featured on a special edition cover of GQ Magazine’s December Men of the Year issue.
Not only did Schuyler take home the grand prize, but for the second challenge, “Guest Bar Shift,” the finalists were tasked with creating a curated cocktail menu at a top local bar, which earned Schuyler extra points for his overall score. Each bartender had the day to source local ingredients throughout London to prepare and batch three different gin-forward cocktail styles: a Gin & Tonic, an aromatic, stirred cocktail, and a long, refreshing cocktail.
Schuyler also was crowned the People’s Choice Winner for the night
Celebrating the program’s 10th year milestone, the evening also featured the “10 Years, 10 Cocktails” gallery, displaying artwork of the past 9 winning MIB cocktails incorporating paints created from the ingredients used in the cocktail recipes.
The 10 regional finalists competing in the 2016 Most Imaginative Bartender in London.
