“One drink could change your life,” says Jonathan Stanyard, winner of the 2024 edition of USBG Presents World Class Sponsored by Diageo, and the current wearer of the crown of U.S. Best Bartender. It all begins with one drink.
It sounds pretty corny, especially after spending shifts stirring, skating, and slinging hundreds of beverages day after day. Yet, in some cases it turns out to be true, one drink really can be the reason a bartender heads to Denver, then to Shanghai, and along the way picks up on thoughts and skills they would have never learned without stepping out of their comfort zone. Plus, they get to wear the crown of U.S. (or possibly the world’s) Best Bartender. That’s the reality that can come with what’s known around the bar community as “World Class.”
Stanyard, who currently resides in Seattle, first entered the competition five years ago, after being encouraged by a local Diageo rep. With each passing year he progressed further in the competition until this past year when he took home the top prize. But just like every edition before this one, it started with a paper judging round, which is essentially a cocktail idea, and those “ideas” are blind-judged.
The actual process of creating that first drink is “usually not too daunting,” according to Stanyard. “What you need is to put one [drink] together with purpose and put your hat in the ring.”
What’s often forgotten in this era of television competitions and social media personalities is that bartending, and cocktail creation, is an art. Just like painting or sculpting or cooking, mixing great drinks takes years of work, and the best drinks start from interesting ideas and then getting those concepts out for the world to see. And that’s where World Class begins with each new edition, ideas for drinks being thrown in the ring. “You’re gonna have a story or an inspiration behind the cocktail you created, why you created it, what Diageo spirits you’re using, and it’s gotta make sense,” explains Stanyard about the application process. Essentially, however, that’s it. That’s where it begins.
Unlike other, similar competitions, World Class is built on making better bartenders, and with each step further in the process, participants receive more mentorship. The process begins with an idea for a cocktail, from which the Top 100 are chosen. Then the Top 100 create and submit a recipe in response to a new challenge prompt, which will be created, tasted and scored by World Class Judges to determine the Top 30 competitors, who will then head out to the in-person National Competition. Those 30 will be narrowed down to 10, who will then compete for the crown of the World Class US Bartender of the Year, who will represent the United States at the World Class Global Finals that summer. During each step of the process, participants receive more and more mentorship that helps them improve their approach.
For Stanyard, that’s what kept him coming back each year. “Beyond learning from other competitors, you know, once you get to the top thirty, you get assigned a mentor, and these are industry legends that will help you with your challenges,” he explains. “You put these ideas out there and they help and refine whatever you put together. It’s this ongoing mentorship that also kept me coming back because it was like, ‘Oh, one year I had so and so, and this person had this person.’ Just people you would most likely never have a conversation with.”
From there, “It’s also the challenges,” says Stanyard. “They push you beyond what you think you could do. And again, it’s just going to increase your confidence, not only in competitions, but even behind the bar. I think it’s gonna make you just a better cocktail maker.”
The challenges at this past year’s nationals led Stanyard to create two cocktails that spoke directly to his own background. The first, “Apple For Whales,” was created due to the challenge’s focus on creating a cocktail focused on his local community and Stanyard chose a combination that would raise awareness for Puget Sound Orcas, in an effort to support his local environment.
Apples for Whales
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Apple Scrap infused Ketel One Family Made Vodka
- 1 oz Washington Apple Cordial
- 1 dropper of Majestic Orca Bitters
- Garnish: Hop & Honey Air*
Equipment:
- Strainer
- Mixing glass
- Coupe glass
Method:
- *Apple infused Ketel One Vodka: Place discards from apples (core, solids, etc) into a vessel with 12.5 oz Ketel One Family Made Vodka and let infuse in refrigerator for 48 hours. Fine strain and keep in airtight container in refrigerator until use.
- In a mixing glass, add Apple infused Ketel One Vodka, apple cordial, clarified apple juice, celery-cardamom bitters and clarified apple juice ice cubes.
- Stir thoroughly and pour into a coupe glass.
- Garnish with Hop & Honey Air.*
*Garnish: Hop & Honey Air
Ingredients:
- 75 grams IPA beer
- 15 grams honey syrup (2:1 honey to water)
- 10 grams lemon juice
- 1 gram sunflower lecithin powder
Method:
Combine the beer, syrup, and lemon juice in a large container. Using a whisk, slowly stir in the sunflower lecithin powder into the mixture. Then, use an immersion blender to whip air into the mixture.
Another challenge focused on Ron Zacapa’s “House Above the Clouds,” the name of the distillery’s aging facility, which sits 7,545 feet above sea level. Through his cocktail, Stanyard told a story about an adventure to the facility and ended up naming his cocktail after one of the most-popular songs from one of Seattle’s most iconic indie rock bands, The Postal Service.
Such Great Heights
Ingredients:
- 0.75 oz Ron Zacapa Rum Edicion Negra
- 0.75 oz *Coconut Cold Brew
- 0.3 oz Pineapple Amaro Liqueur
- 0.3 oz Sherry
- Garnish: Coffee Ground Sugar Dust
Equipment:
- Strainer
- Shaker
- Martini glass
Method:
- *Coconut Cold Brew: Combine 1:4 coconut water with freshly ground coffee beans and let saturate overnight. Finely strain through paper filter.
- Combine Ron Zacapa Rum Edicion Negra, Coconut Cold Brew, Pineapple Amaro Liqueur and Sherry into a shaking tin with ice.
- Shake thoroughly and strain into a martini glass.
Years of competing eventually led Stanyard to Shanghai this past summer, a world apart from his Seattle home. “You wanna talk about, not only skillset, technique, presentation style personalities, but just culture, that’s something that I’m so interested in. These people come from [in many cases] much older countries that have these cultures that are deep and rich in traditions.”
Things started off with the 44 competitors doing an icebreaker at a local tea house and getting the opportunity to meet judges and other competitors. With each year, the competitions change, but what remains unique about World Class is that it’s more than just a competition. “It was such a wild experience,” notes Stanyard. “More than just competition, it’s what’s going around at the World Class competition. There are seminars and education events and popups and guest shifts, and that’s not just in the host hotel. Right outside the walls is this World Class festival.
“Hopefully I may get to Global someday as a mentor or just a visitor or something, so I can absorb all those other opportunities. Not that I didn’t learn and grow so much just from competing there, but to get to sit in on these next level educational events.”
The reality is that it all started with “one drink,” and that first drink ended up taking Stanyard around the world.
Applications for this year’s competition are due October 15, and you can enter here.
