This year is the 25th year of the Giffard West Cup Cocktail Competition, hosted by industry leading, family-owned liqueur company, Giffard.
The Giffard West Cup started simply as a local competition in the West Coast of France (hence the name) in 1997, with family spirit and conviviality making up its core philosophy. The competition has grown spectacularly since then to include 17 countries and counting. Around 800 bartenders applied to compete in the 2019 competition, and after two years of relative isolation, a very enthusiastic turn out is expected once again.
The Giffard West Cup has the artistry of cocktail creation at its heart, asking people from all over the globe to create drinks, according to a specific theme, with the winner from each territory coming to the historical Giffard distillery, founded by the family in 1890, to compete against other national winners in a live mixing competition. The Grand Finalists will proceed to compete against each other, in the final round where one last cocktail must be created to decide the fate of the Giffard West Cup Champion 2022.
This year’s chosen theme is “Listen to the Flavours.” Candidates will be asked to create a cocktail inspired by music with Giffard liqueurs and must link to a song that inspires life behind-the-bar. Giffard believes that music permeates the universal work of bartenders, and this is in keeping with the Giffard family’s historic belief in the strong and dynamic link between mixology and art – a notion founded by Emile Giffard in 1885. This year, Giffard invites us to turn up the sounds, clink our glasses and Listen to the Flavours.
Rules:
- Create a cocktail inspired by music
- Liqueurs Matter! Giffard liqueurs have to represent at least 50% of the total alcoholic volume of your cocktail
From March to June, a series of competitions in participating countries will decide the national finalists, who will be invited to the Grand Final, which will take place from the 25th until 28th of September. The final will be hosted this year at the first Giffard distillery, built by Emile Giffard in 1890, and now the home to the Angers School of Fine Arts.
At the Grand Final, the national winners will be invited to make their cocktail in front of a live audience for respected judges from around the world. The theme of the second round will be announced to the same contestants nearer to the time but for now we can say that they will be challenged to create a delicious drink that incorporates Menthe-Pastille, Giffard’s founding liqueur, without which Giffard wouldn’t exist.
All finalists of this year’s competition will kick of the penultimate weekend of the competition as guest bartenders, as they take over the Giffard booth in the Cocktail Street at Whisky Live Paris 2022. Whisky Live was founded in 2004 and now the largest event in Europe dedicated to whisky and fine spirits, it attracts exhibitors and guests from all over the world.
Although there will be a prize awarded for each round, the winner of the 2022 Giffard West Cup will be judged to have the highest aggregated score from both rounds.
The winning prize is a tour of three guest shifts at bars in the country of the winner’s choosing, selected from a list provided by Giffard.
17 countries will participate in the Giffard West Cup Finale:
- UK
- France
- Germany
- Spain
- Italy
- Portugal
- Ireland
- Norway
- Croatia
- Greece
- CZ Republic
- USA
- Canada
- Asia Pacific
- Australia
- Japan
- Morocco