Enjoy and Relish Coffee Like Never Before.

He asked me ‘Why aren’t you excited about life?’ I replied, ‘I’m excited about nothing before 11am’. Little did he know I was talking about the first cup of coffee I have at the start of my day. 

Well, you can relate if you’re a person whose day starts with a cup of coffee, also if you’re someone who can have coffee at almost any time of the day. Coffee for me is a kick-starter, it makes me who I am and moreover it gives me my ‘Me time’. In case you’re wondering why coffee has such a precious place in my life, it’s because the flavor of coffee gives me the warmth that nobody ever can, it increases my heart-rate and relaxes me at the same time. I often wonder how a beverage can be the reason why so many things in life are amazing.

From being a supreme drink originated in the 18^th century to a mass-produced item in this world, coffee has always been my savior in bad times and good. It has perhaps turned into a fashion accessory, a fad in the recent times that just increases the reputation 10x. With the ever hyped coffee outlets like StarBucks, Costa Coffee etc the demand and boaster about being a coffee addict is on a high too.

True coffee addicts, you and me, are usually the ones who are bold, who won’t back-off a fight, the intellectuals, the thinkers, the dreamers, the movers and the shakers. Say Yay! It doesn’t matter where I have my coffee brewed, all that matters is whether it is brewed my way and just how I prefer my coffee to be. And if I want it my way, I might as well make it myself than spending hours in a queue at an over-hyped café in town.

Talking about brewing my own coffee, there’s a coffee maker brand I’d like to mention, Vero Coffee, so Vero has a couple of coffee capsules that brew excellent coffee, out of the 6 coffee capsules  by Vero, I have used two and believe me, there’s been a phase where I actually had different type of coffee each day for almost a week. From cappuccino to Americano, espresso and a latte, this coffee maker is a bliss to have, especially if you love coffee as much as I do or more (not sure if you could love it more than I do). They have a variety of coffee flavors that just add to the beauty of Vero, Seven seeds, Arabica, Anamalais and Coorg, these names are just enough to describe the quality of coffee that you can get. I then realized that my love for coffee doesn’t have to be limited to a café or just plain coffee that I could brew at home.

World Class 2016 Grand Finale

On 1st June, 2016 the bartenders got a chance to show their unique bartending talent in the Diageo Reserve World Class. The winner will not only get a chance to showcase his talent in India but also he will get a chance to represent India in Miami on September 2016. This is a unique platform to nurture the young and potential bartenders with the right knowledge. The 20 mixologists were brought together from the leading hotels of India at the Shangri-La hotel, Bengaluru. The judges for this event were Nicholas Ord (USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador), Jamie Walker( (USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador),  Serhan Kusakisizoglu ( Director of Corporate Projects, Shangri-La), Feroze Merchant (Head Of Luxury, USL Diageo), Nicole Faria (Ex-Miss India Earth) and Chef Manu Chandra( Chef Partner Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru ).

The Host- Dan

There were total 3 rounds in the competition- The Pantry Round, The Speed Round and The Mystery Box Round. The contestants were judged on the basis of these rounds. Each bartender went through rigorous training procedure and everyone was very excited to get a chance to represent India in Miami. The competition was all about mixing the right ingredients and speed. 

Top 6 Contestants

The top 6 contestants were selected after the Pantry round after which each one had to go through the speed round. The speed round was about making a perfect drink the fastest. 

The Top  6 Contestants in Speed Round

The top 3 bartenders who successfully impressed the judges were announced then and they were: Vikram, Dilbar and Jitender Singh.

Vikram, Jitender and Dilbar with Dan

 Jitender edged his competitors and mesmerized the judges with his speed, execution and balanced cocktails in the Final round.y. Runner up Vikram Ku and Dilbar Singh from Delhi too impressed the judges and the attendees with their creativity and thus earned the second and third position respectively. 

The winner Jitender Singh said "It's real honor to be the Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year 2016 .  The platform has given him the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry and I can confidently say that I have grown enormously as a professional through the journey, It feels extremely rewarding to compete with the best bartenders in the world and represent India at the global finals in Miami. I can't wait to bring the global title back to India "

Let's all congratulate Jitender and wish him good luck readers! 

You can check videos and tweets for the event at: #WorldClassIn 

Garden City #LoveScotch with Anushka and Nakul

Bengaluru is known for its pubs and climate. It's always said that beautiful weather with good music and drink always makes your day. The celebration of #LoveScotch continued on 26th May 2016 in the garden city. The sensational diva Anushka Manchanda and the well known mind reader Nakul Shenoy hosted the event for us. The event began at The Pemit with some candid conversations around scotch and whisky.

We bloggers got the chance to meet Anushka and Nakul and got to know about their favorite drinks. Both of them got behind the bar and prepared a special and exotic cocktail with the help of Andrew Qadri. Anushka went with the West Coast Julep made with the iconic Johnnie Walker Black Label while Nakul created Sunset Cinnamon infused with Black Dog Black Reserve. We got to see their excitement while creating their special cocktails. Anushka shared about her father's love for scotch ans she always gets him a bottle of scotch whenever she glob trots. Vat69 is favorite drink for Nakul and he gets a totally different feeling whenever he drinks it.

Nakul and Anushka

The bloggers then got a chance to take selfies with Anushka and Nakul. We all had a great time interacting with them and knowing about their likes and experiences. 

 

After The Permit, it was followed by cocktail making sessions in the Arbor Brewery and the bloggers who drink got their hands on the amazing drinks made by them. They even said that the pub crawl gave them a chance to know more about the whisky and also show others the love for it.Around the world, the consumers enjoy the Scotch in many different ways. Indians love it with more spices and exotic ingredients.

The evening became more interesting when both Anushka and Nakul showed their skills to the audiences. The #LoveScotch event was one of the unique experience for us to witness the love for music and scotch in the people of Bengaluru. All the people got the chance to showcase their love for scotch and whisky. 

There will be many more exciting events in the future. Keep reading and keep crawling.