PICS: Dublin bartender beats 10 Irish finalists to be named as Ireland’s number one bartender

He’ll now go on to compete at the Rum World Tournament in Venezuela next year.

Pat Thomas of Zozimus in Dublin was named as the number one bartender in Ireland at the national finals of the Diplomático Rum tournament in Dublin’s Westbury Hotel on Monday night. The cream of Ireland’s mixologists pitted their cocktail-making skills against one another in The Sidecar in the Westbury, with Thomas fighting off competition from ten fellow finalists to claim the title. All finalists (you can see the full list below) created their own bespoke cocktails to impress the judges on the night and it was Pat’s ‘Duke Mantuano’ (a combination of Diplomático Mantuano Rum with Amontillado Sherry, Fossinola syrup and lime juice) that was deemed a worthy winner. Having won the national final, Pat will go up against the world’s top mixologists from 40 different countries at the Diplomático Rum World Tournament semi-finals, which will be held in Venezuela in April 2017. While there, he will compete to secure a place in the global finals which will be held in London in June 2017. Should Pat end up claiming the prestigious title of "Diplomático’s World Best Bartender", he will receive $10,000 USD (approximately €9,215) in prize money, with $5,000 (approximately €4,605) awarded to the runner-up and $2,500 (approximately €2,305) awarded to contestant that finishes in third. The other Irish national finalists were: -       Fabio Ciccarelli, The Horse Shoe Bar at The Shelbourne Dublin -       Edvinas Rudzinskas, The Westenra Arms Hotel Monaghan -       Michal Lis, The Sidecar at The Westbury, Dublin -       Ryan Sheridan, Billy Byrnes Kilkenny -       Chris Simon, JT Pim's Dublin -       Matthew Cahill, McCambridges of Galway - -       Phoebe Fairbairn, Wigwam Dublin -       Michael Gadzala, Cliff House Hotel Ardmore, Galway -       Richard Delahoyde, VCC, Dublin -       Chris Crowley, Sophie's at The Dean Hotel