It’s somewhat reassuring to know that a rep from our Johannesburg residence, The Westcliff hotel, has won the Gauteng finals of the Diageo World Class South Africa Master Bartender competition!

To recap, the Diageo World Class South Africa competition pits South Africa’s top bartenders against one another for a shot at the prestigious title of Master Bartender! Bartenders create monthly cocktails to be judged Diageo’s team of mixologists.

And Takunda Mposhi could only impress!

The Westcliff Hotel – 2oceansvibe’s home away from home

This, from the organisers:

Congratulations Takunda!

There ends our qualifying for World Class Gauteng for 2013. We have seen some amazing (and some not so amazing) drinks over the last 9 months. The average experience of our bartenders in the regional final is 2 years but they are making cocktails far beyond their years with finesse and style that any bar around the world would be green with envy to acquire. A great team effort from publicans, chefs and bartenders alike in creating these World Class cocktails… and we’ve only just begun.

To all the regional qualifiers, this is your finest hour: a chance for you to carve your name into the history books as the bartenders responsible for the cocktail renaissance in South Africa.

You’re proving shift by shift, cocktail by cocktail that we are reclaiming our craft and that we are an industry worth taking note of and for that, my fellow veteran bartenders and I will forever be in your debt.

Now is not the time to rest on your laurels, this is when the tough work starts. This is when you need to eat, breathe, sleep, dream and devour cocktails, practice them religiously, rehearse them over and over again, plan, plan, plan and most importantly…. Have fun and make some friends while you’re at it.

Congrats from all of us at 2oceansvibe!

We look forward to hearing of your success in the next leg!

Good luck!