This year , France ’s Jennifer Le Nechet was crowned World ’s Best Bartender of 2016 in Diageo ’s annual World Class Competition , beating out nearly 10,000 other bartenders from around the world . While the title alone is telling , Le Nechet also go on to be the first woman ever to deliver the goods a ball-shaped bartending competitor . When not contend globally , Le Nechet work as a bartender in Paris ’s Steampunk - themed barCafé Moderne — her first craft bartending gig — where she ’s been behind the pin for about a year and a half .
Le Nechet , along with her fellow competitors , was label not only on her drink - make skills , but also on her technique , knowledge ofspirits , creative thinking and execution under pressure throughout the final competitor , which included a blind scotch tasting and multiple cocktail - making challenges .
“ Jen really demo her personality and determination , ” says Mido Ahmed Yani , cobalt - possessor of Café Moderne and a 2014 World Class finalist . Yani encouraged Le Nechet to enter the competition and ply backing throughout the mental process . “ laborious work always pays off . Jen is the real image of that , ” he says .
Photo courtesy Reuters
We take in up with the engaged fighter to speak about her late win .
Supercall : What do you think about being the first woman to deliver the goods a global bartending competition?Jennifer Le Nechet : Finally ! It ’s about time . It ’s something quite special to be a fair sex in this industriousness and to win such a giving competition such as World Class . I really hope that I will inspire ladies to enrol this competition and to work behind the bar . I would like to help give them the courageousness to express themselves through cocktails .
SC : What was it like to compete in World Class?JLN : I learned a fate about myself by competing — I had to push my own limits and I feel like I ’ve grown up since infix this competition . It ’s the most complete and complex contention in the reality — I’m really happy to have been crowned the global competition winner . This was a life - changing experience .
Le Nechet’s El Taco Rojo cocktail.|Photo courtesy Reuters
Security Council : How did you prepare for the competition?JLN : I practise every sidereal day and worked for about eight month and thought about all of the details . World Class is not the kind of competitor you come through alone . I had a plenty of service from the Gallic bartending industry and the brand ambassador in France , who are doing an amazing job . I received help and feedback from family and friends in the industry and made them try out drinks that I had created . You ask to have somebody behind you to prepare you .
SC : What was the most nerve - rack challenge?JLN : The most intriguing part for me was the Johnnie Walker Blending Room challenge . We had to examine eight dissimilar Scotch malt whisky in a blind tasting , then we had to cypher out which was which . For me that was really , really hard because this was something you have to turn at to evolve your palate to be able-bodied to identify those scotches .
Palmetto State : Which cocktail was your biggest accomplishment?JLN : It was one that I had to train during the cocktail Superstar Pool Party challenge [ in which competitors had to create two cocktails and one punch for a famous mystery couple ] . I made a punch called El Taco Rojo for Barack and Michelle Obama . I was exhort by Latin American food and crapulence civilisation , so I infused Don Julio Blanco with grill corn whisky keep an eye on with a red Vanessa Bell pepper shrub and a planetary house soda with fresh herb . The whole drunkenness was about make the taste of a taco .
SC : What are you looking forward to as the young Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador?JLN : I ’m looking forward to go and working closely with Diageo to go suffer raw bartenders around the world and divvy up my experience with World Class and my knowledge with everybody I contact .
mention : This interview was conducted with the assist of a translator .
