Tom Cruise who?

Though the cliché of the modern bartender closely approximates Tom Cruise's free-wheeling character in the movie Cocktail, today's reality is significantly different. Throughout Europe, Asia and the America's, professional bartending is a highly-respected vocation requiring discipline and dedication, with the best practitioners spoken of with same reverence as top chefs. Despite the traditional lack of this cultural reference, the quality of bartending in South Africa has developed rapidly over recent years to produce world-class exponents of mixology and flair. Ryan Duvenage is one such bartender, having won the 2008 round of the Classic category of the SA National Cocktail Competition, so earning the right to represent South Africa in Berlin this year. There he was placed 7th in the world - the highest ever ranking for a South African cocktail bartender.

Ryan's proficiency in cocktail creation stems from a longstanding passion for classic cocktails and mixology blended with a broad base of experience. As one of the chief facilitators at Barcode Bar Academy, he oversees the development and implementation of training courses for aspiring bartenders, and consultancy services to players in the hospitality industry. One of his associates at the Academy - and a valuable source of competition advice - is Timothy Townsend, himself a three-time competitor in the World Cocktail Competition and arguably South Africa's most internationally experienced bartender.

The 2009 competition saw competitors from every country competing in a preliminary round from which 12 finalists were selected. Cocktails were judged on Aroma, Taste and Appearance as well as Overall Impression. The bartenders were also judged on Technical Skill in their preparation of the drinks. 12 Finalists then competed again for the World Championship title and the eventual winner was Vladimir Banak of the Slovak Republic. Ryan's exceptional 7th place was secured with a simple twist on a classic sour, evidencing Ryan's stylistic preference for classic minimalism and eliciting a judge's comment that his cocktail was one of the few to stand out or achieve an impression of balance.

South African flair champion, Travis Kuhn, did well in the flair category with a solid routine, unfortunately just missing out on a spot in the final but achieving a very respectable 12th place - another national best. The combined efforts of these two competitors have done much to raise the bar (literally) of the local industry and bring awareness to a growing profession. This was perhaps confirmed by the bid to have the IBA 2010 World Cocktail Championship hosted in Cape Town, a first attempt that was unfortunately lost to Singapore, but a positive sign for the future direction of South African bartending. If all goes well, it will not be too long before we see the likes of Ryan, Travis and the rest of the world's best competing on our home soil.

For more information on Barcode Bar Academy and the opportunity to learn from some of the world's best, please visit http://www.barcode-academy.com/