Comps

Features

It drinks like a natural wine, only better: get the recipe for the Bartender of the Year’s winning drink

The Dream Catcher presents and pours just like a natural wine, and it blew away the judges (and the competitors, too). Indeed, after Gregory’s presentation had concluded and the competition ended for the night, you could see more than a few of the bartending industry’s big names clamouring for a swig from the bottle.

Ones to watch in 2018: James Irvine, from Sydney’s Swillhouse

We knew already that Irvine has a way with drinks — the Pastis Fizz he created for Restaurant Hubert was just about our favourite drink of 2016 — but it was his off the cuff banter on stage whilst presenting his drinks in front of 600 people at the Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards that saw him as a crowd favourite for the competition.

Meet the 2017 Bartender of the Year, Daniel Gregory

The competition in the 2017 Bartender of the Year sponsored by BACARDÍ & De Kuyper was closer than it’s ever been this year. At the end of three gruelling rounds of competition, one new entrant joins the Bartender of the Year club: Mr Daniel Gregory.