Danny Wilson has won the 2019 Australian Coffee in Good Spirits (CIGS) Championship, his second Australian CIGS title in a row, at Manly Spirits Co. Distillery in New South Wales on 2 May.
Tristan Clark of Soul Origin placed second and William O’Neill of Molly Bar placed third in the Australian Speciality Coffee Association (ASCA) and Monin hosted event.
The competition saw eight of Australia’s best baristas turn their skills to cocktails as they competed for a spot at the World CIGS Championship in Germany from 6 to 8 June.
In the competition, the mixologists produced two Irish Coffees and two coffee-and-alcohol-based designer drinks.
For his designer cocktail, Danny served a twist on a classic Manhattan cocktail, which he named the Cafe Manhattan. He says that inspiration for this cocktail came from competing in the 2018 World CIGS Championships in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
“I wanted to build on what I did last year and incorporate more of an understanding about classic cocktails and bartending,” Danny says.
“The Cafe Manhattan was intended to be a drink that brought together the world of specialty coffee and the world of classic cocktails.”
Danny used a throwing method several times in order to mix the Cafe Manhattan ingredients and bring them to serving temperature, before serving it over ice with a vermouth toffee garnish.
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For his Irish Coffee, Danny used a Trinity coffee brewer to extract his coffee into a hyper chiller, before adding it to a mixture of Manly Spirits Co vodka, home made coffee bitters, maraschino cherry syrup and rye whiskey. This was topped with a layer of thickened Riverina Fresh cream.
“It was a pleasure to return to the stage and be a part of this competition,” he says.
“I’m looking forward to working on some more drinks and presenting them in Berlin.”
