If you’re lucky enough to have Cal Byrne offer to mix you a drink, you should say yes. An award-winning mixologist, he manages to find the balance of flavours in his serves, and also in his demeanour, for he’s both warm and cool at the same time.
Byrne, who studied sculpture, learned his cocktail craft at The Blind Pig Speakeasy and used the lockdowns to concentrate on amping up his skills. Having made it to the top 10 Diageo World Class finalists in 2021 — the first Irish bartender to do so — he topped one of the group rounds with a Don Julio tequila creation.
Now Ireland’s Diageo World Class and luxury spirits brand ambassador he exudes the class, determination and approachability of any Irish person on an international stage.
World Class is a global cocktail-making competition, run by the drinks giant since 2009. Thousands of top mixologists from across the globe compete in heats in the hope of reaching the world final, which this year will be hosted in September in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
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“Diageo Reserve World Class helps to discover the next generation of bartending talent and is transforming fine drinking experiences and cocktail culture,” says Hilary Quinn, marketing director at Diageo Ireland. “A celebration of creativity and innovation the World Class Dublin final exemplifies the passion these bartenders have for their craft.”
The national final of the contest takes place next month and is the closing act of Diageo’s accompanying World Class Cocktail Festival, designed to bring the shake, rattle, and roll of the competition into some of Dublin’s best bars.
A CREATIVE ART
While Covid decimated the bar trade the lockdowns made people better appreciate the art of mixing drinks and the art in blending ingredients. He says the general thinking was, “how hard can it be to make a dirty martini”?
“The skill is knowing what’s in the bottle, how much to use, how to use the ingredients appropriately and how each will play,” Byrne explains.
Behind the bar in the whiskey distillery Roe & Co he creates a whiskey-based cocktail called Don’t Slip featuring banana peel and finished with a single spritz of vanilla spray to bring out the ball of malt’s vanilla tones. This presents the drinker with a heady olfactory experience as well as considering the visual and taste aspects. It is small details such as this that got him noticed in the first place.
COCKTAILS ARE BACK
His rise is timely for cocktail culture has changed. Gone are the cheap ingredients and sugary mixes. “Now it’s all about premium ingredients,” Quinn says, whose portfolio of brands include the premium Roe & Co whiskey, Ketel One vodka and Seedlip, which is a range of distilled non-alcoholic spirits.
She also explains that 62 per cent of consumers are now very likely or quite likely to pay more for a quality cocktail than they were 12 months ago, according to a report by market research agency CGA.
“There’s a huge spectrum of what cocktails can now be which is great. People are starting to realise that. Bottle cocktails became really big during Covid, people were ordering them to their house,” Byrne says.
Going out and having a beautifully crafted and properly garnished cocktail was considered something special,” he explains.
That remains the case, but the theatrical bottle-throwing shapes that you might have associated with actor Tom Cruise in a certain 1980s movie, “flare”, as it’s known in the trade, is now somewhat outdated, says Byrne.
“The bar trade is moving — it’s less about three-piece suits and white shirts and flare. People want a more calm and relaxed experience, but the quality of the drink has to be high.”
DOWN TO ZERO
A study this year by market research firm Kantar showed that 20 per cent of consumers are drinking less alcohol now than they were a decade ago. The same report shows non-alcoholic beer and spirit industry is worth €53 million. Byrne says that Ireland is “at the forefront of that movement globally” and that people are taking zero-alcohol drinks seriously.
“The word mocktail has been dropped. The word ‘mock’ suggests it’s not serious. On a menu we prefer to use ‘low or no’ for something that’s low or has zero alcohol,” he explains.
“As bartenders, our job is to facilitate and curate an experience for a customer,” he explains adding that every customer deserves the same amount of time, whether they’re choosing alcohol, or they prefer something with near zero alcohol. “I always push for a separate zero menu. The rise of non-alcoholic spirits means that it’s more than an afterthought now.” There are many options. For gin fans, Tanqueray London Dry gin has just introduced Tanqueray 0.0%, a non-alcohol option that retains its delicate botanical complexity.
IMPRESS YOUR GUESTS
Byrne says some cocktails are easy to make and are made for sharing. “Punch is a great one. It’s a communal thing, easy to put together, spirit, flavour modifier and tea. It’s fun, you can make it look exuberant, it’s very little work and has a natural progression — it’s strong at the start but melts down over time.
To catch the finalists in action, sign up here to be in with a chance to win a ticket to the national heat.
The World Class Cocktail Festival runs in venues in Dublin from Thursday, May 4th to Saturday, May 6th.
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