You think mineral water is boring? Think again! There’s a whole competition based on creating cocktails made with water, and Malta placed among the top 10 in the world.
Non-alcoholic cocktails, or mocktails as they are often derisively called, have come a long way from being simple mixes of sweet cordials and fruit juices. These days they can be as creative and experimental as their alcoholic counterparts, if not more so, and there is even an annual competition to select the best non-alcoholic cocktail in the world.
The 21st Mattoni Grand Drink, now known as the 8th World Championship in mixing non-alcoholic cocktails, was held recently in Prague, featuring representatives from 21 countries, all members of the International Bartenders Association. Malta was represented by Panos Foteiadis, a 32-year old Greek bartender who has been working in Malta for the past two years and is also an instructor at the Malta Bartending Academy.
Panos Foteiadis with his Red Riding Hood cocktail
The competition was held on the occasion of the World Day of Non-alcoholic Cocktails between 15th and 17th June, and the strict rules stipulated that the cocktail had to contain at least 100ml of Grand Mattoni mineral water produced in the Czech Republic. Yes, water. In a cocktail. Oh, and the cocktail must amount to less than 65kcal per 100ml, be “innovative” and “easy to prepare” in under eight minutes.
As Malta’s representative in the competition found, it is far from easy. “It is much harder to create a non-alcoholic cocktail because the ingredients don’t give you space to play. With 100ml of water per cocktail, it makes it hell to create something good,” admits Panos. “It is very challenging. When people think of non-alcoholic cocktails, they imagine something fruity but at the world championships, water is your main ingredient.”
And not just any bartender is eligible to compete either. As Matthew Mallia, president of the Malta Bartenders Guild explains, the selection process is just as arduous as the competition itself. “The MBG chooses the competitor to represent Malta based on a points system throughout the year. Bartenders get points for participating in master classes and cocktail competitions. The winner of the first prize receives the bartender of the year award, and the second place gets to compete for the Mattoni Grand Drink.”
The MBG is now aiming to find a branded water sponsor to bring the preliminary competitions for the non-alcoholic cocktail world championships to Malta, where bartenders will then be selected to compete at the Mattoni Grand Drink.
Panos’ competing entry was called Red Riding Hood, and was served inside a lantern, which earned him a third place for presentation. It was inspired by the eponymous fairy tale, of course. “As fairy tales have so many things to teach us and play with our fantasy, I believe that a good bartender can offer that journey through the flavours and character of his drink. He can create new fairy tales,” explains Panos, poetically.
The cocktail was made with egg white, aromatic bitters, fresh lime juice, salted caramel syrup, fresh ginger and of course, sparkling water.