Liisi Kütt won this year’s Bacardi Cruise Competition Bartender of the Year award with her innovative apple-and-melon drink, Summer Fair Cocktail. The expert mixologist from the Estonian ferry service Tallink and Silja Lines beat out a field of tough competitors from much larger cruise lines, Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line.
The victory is a first for Tallink and Silja Line, a relatively small ferry company operating mainly in the Baltic Sea in Europe. According to representatives of the company, a ferry trip is often much like a “mini-cruise holiday,” complete with a range of spa, fine dining, and shopping experiences. And now, Ms. Kütt’s recent award has shown the ferry line to be staffed with truly expert-level crew, as well.
Of course, the bigger cruise lines also made an excellent showing, with Carnival and Norwegian dominating the awards. Both companies have been widely recognized for their highly skilled bartenders. In fact, the past two years’ Bartender of the Year awards were both won by Adri Ford, a top mixologist with Carnival Cruises.
This year, the second-place Bacardi Cruise Competition Bartender of the Year award went to Ionna Luncean on the Carnival Sunshine. Rounding out the top five this year were Brian Bent from the Carnival Liberty, Allan Garcia of the NCL Star, and Joeped Garrido of the NCL Getaway. In addition, the first-ever People’s Choice Winner award went to Vera Restarovic of the Carnival Conquest.
This is the ninth year that a Bacardi Cruise Competition Bartender of the Year award has been bestowed. This year saw hundreds of entries from bartenders working for 14 different cruise and ferry companies. These were narrowed down to 25 semi-finalists, each with a signature recipe using Bacardi branded ingredients. Their recipes were featured on the popular CruiseCritic website in the early summer. Judges from Bacardi chose the five winners, while a sixth – the People’s Choice Winner – was determined by a public vote.
