Angeliqua Rivera Crowned Kenya’s  World Class Bartender of the Year 2019

Angeliqua Rivera, from Dusit D2 Hotel emerged the Kenyan Bartender of the year, at the Diageo Kenya World Class Competition 2019.

Angeliqua created a signature cocktail dubbed Fallen heroes in honour of her colleagues who lost their lives on the 15th of January during a terror attack on 14 Riverside.

“It has been tough for us having gone through what we went through but through hard work, determination and the support of my colleagues I was able to pull through this competition,” said Angeliqua.

“I would encourage the youth especially girls not to shy away from bartending; it is a real career and reliable source of income, I would be willing to mentor any girl who wants to take up the art of bartending,” she said.

She will represent Kenya in the Glasgow Scotland at the international competition in September 2019.

Now in its fifth year in Kenya, the World Class Bartender of the Year competition seeks to upskill bartenders and mixologists through a rigorous training regimen after which they compete for the right to represent Kenya in the international competition.

The competition, which started in May, saw 42 of the best bartenders in Kenya go through an educational masterclass dubbed the World Class Studios 2019.

World Class challenges bartenders across the nation to submit their cocktail creations using spirits from the Diageo’s reserve portfolio; Johnnie Walker, Cîroc, Ketel One Vodka, Tanqueray No. TEN, Zacapa, Bulleit Bourbon, Don Julio, and a collection of single malts.

“We have trained over 5,000 bartenders across the country over the last five years with 210 of them getting the opportunity to compete for the World Class Bartender of the year title. The competition is the ultimate opportunity to enhance skills and profile them on the global stage,” Said Diageo East Africa National Advocacy Manager Douglas Duncanson.

“Last year’s winner got an opportunity to be a lead bartender in a cruise ship and has continued to showcase an impressive degree of creativity and innovation in the industry,” he added.

Finalists were encouraged to exhibit innovation and expertise as they battled it out to become the nation’s best bartender and represent Kenya in the global finals.

“Angeliqua truly stood out as the best of the best, able to master the Diageo Reserve luxury portfolio to create ground-breaking results,” said Diageo East Africa Reserve Brand Ambassador.

Each module within the World Class Studios gains its inspiration from a spirit in the Diageo Reserve portfolio. The finalists went through four studio masterclass sessions: The Single Ingredient with Ketel One, Finishing moves with Bulleit Bourbon, Tech Tonics with Tanqueray 10 and the Science of Smoke with Johnnie Walker Black Label.