London regional final, UK Bartender of the Year
Five minutes, three judges, and a drink whose principal talking point was half a teaspoon of Marmite.
The format is five minutes. You build two identical drinks in front of three judges while explaining what you are doing and why, and you are scored on the drink, the method, the story, and whether you cleaned up after yourself. People lose marks for the clearing up. People lose the competition for the clearing up.
Most of the field brings something floral with an unusual bitter in it. I brought Marmite.
The Nightwatchman
Blended Scotch washed with Marmite and strained back, oloroso sherry, a bar spoon of sugar syrup, two dashes of saline. Stirred, up, no garnish, in a chilled coupe.
Marmite-washing works the same way fat-washing does. You stir it into the spirit warm, leave it, freeze it, and strain out everything that solidifies. What is left is not salty and does not taste of Marmite. It tastes like the Scotch has been given a job — there is a savoury, almost meaty depth underneath, and it makes the sherry taste like it has been aged another decade.
The middle judge asked me to confirm the ingredient. Then she asked me a second time. Then she wrote something down, and I could not see what.
They gave it to me on the drink and the method, and marked me down on the story, which I think is fair. My story was “I had some Marmite.”