The Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin Marrakech Adventure Cocktail Competition final took place in Marrakech, Morocco last week, with Tom Theuremeister of the Lost Angel in Battersea, London, being named the Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin winning bartender. All the ingredients were sourced during the two hour dash round the Souk, dodging King Cobra’s and monkeys and haggling over ingredients to keep within their budgets.
In second place was Miran Chauhan from Paradise Palms in Edinburgh and third place Filippo Previo from Mr Foggs in Mayfair, London.
The other finalists who joined in the Marrakech adventure were Joe Wild, from Jenny’s Bar in Liverpool, Kaiko Tulloch from 99 Hanover Street, Edinburgh and Wil Wilson from Chaophraya Leeds.
Tom’s winning cocktails Sahara Zahara (Desert Flower) was made by infusing Opihr Gin with cactus pear fruit and shaking it with floral rose yoghurt, adding a squeeze of lime and local honey and serving it in a cup and saucer made by a nomadic tribe who had come to the market to sell their wares, with a prickly pear on the side. His Gaslit Labyrinth was made using a ‘mystery miniature’ spirit, in Tom’s case Kamm & Sons, and combining the ginseng with Opihr, lemon juice and honey and served in a Moroccan tea glass rimmed with crushed sesame encrusted almonds, with cinnamon dusted orange slices on the side.
DRINKS ENTHUSIAST 