Posted 3 August 2011

Brighton Mix Off Cocktail Competition: Round One at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar

Mixology Group’s Cocktail mixing competition gets off to a wet and wacky start as six of Brighton’s finest bartenders compete in the ‘Tiki’ round for the craziest cocktail. A definitely tropical theme, inspired by first round sponsors Havana Club rum, devolved into something akin to voodoo as the ‘witch doctors’ of spirits brewed, boiled, bubbled and smoked up their wild cocktails. Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar became a seething cauldron of fire, ice and tension as judges Andrew Kay [Latest Magazine], Luke McFayden [Havana Club], Dynamite Sal [Sticky Mikes] and Ric Cohen [African and Eastern] tasted and compared the results. After much deliberation, and what Andrew Kay described as a very difficult decision making process the eventual winner was declared to be Mark Stokes of Brighton’s Above Audio bar. Ehren Khoo-Steel of Caprichios and Polish Pete from Hotel Seattle were runners up, whilst Freddy Franchi of French COQ & Co. Ltd, Sam Sidgwick, [also from Above Audio] and Francois Marin of Lucky Voice were the other contenders giving the judges a hard time. Myles & Zoe Cunliffe withTim Carroll from the Mixology Group ran the event with their usual panache, daring and Hawaiian Shirts.

It was a great start to this competition that continues over the next 3 Tuesdays and culminates in the finals on September 1st during the Brighton & Hove Food Festival. For more details, to enter the competition or come along [and perhaps sample the results yourself!] see

http://mixologygroup.wordpress.com/brighton-mix-off

[And yes, in case you were wondering, amongst all this madness and mayhem there were fire blankets to hand;-}]

All photos ©Julia Claxton. Copies can be purchased for personal use through this website. For press and commercial use, and all other enquiries or to commission photography please use the contact page to get in touch.

http://photography.juliaclaxton.net/mixoff1

http://photography.juliaclaxton.net/mixoff1/slideshow