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First off, that’s a fresh idea!
Kenneth Bandivas of the superb and superbly well-hidden speakeasy ABV on Jupiter Street will be representing the Philippines in the global finals of Diageo Reserve World Class. That’s bartending competition, BTW.
He first won the local leg of the competition in April this year. In July, Ken flew to Bangkok, where he won the title Philippine Bartender of the Year and the privilege of representing the country in the Global Finals of the competition at Cape Town in South Africa. The global round will happen from Aug 31-Sep 4.
The 25-year-old Ken shares he will have to make 23 cocktails in several challenges throughout the 5-day competition. One of the challenges will have the finalists concoct cocktails that will pay homage to (1) the host country and (2) his home country.
“For South Africa, I’m thinking presenting the drink that looks like beer, but it’s actually a float. I’m doing a cream liquer, Marula flavored cocktail, and I’ll incorporate it with rum and syrup,” he says, explaining that in South Africa, “a lot of commoners would drink beer.” Yes, Ken really did use the word ‘commoners.’
But while that’s intriguing, nothing is more so than the drink he plans to prepare in paying homage to the Philippines: a bourbon based cocktail that he likes to call The Bitter Felipe.
Why bitter, you may ask? Well, that’s because he’s infusing the drink with Amplaya. “I was thinking of ways on how I can interpret it and use it in the cocktail. I’ve decided to incorporate it by doing a homemade bittermelon liquer that I can incorporate in the cocktail.”
No, he’s not taking a piece of the vegetable in his suitcase. He’s already made a bittermelon liquer and plans to bring them to Cape Town in small vials. “I’ll mix it with lime and Palawan Honey. It’s basically a sour cocktail but the bitterness adds good depth to it,” he explains.
Apart from the uniqueness of it, Ken says the Ampalaya is a fitting symbol to Filipinos. “We all know Filipinos can be a bitter bunch. We can be bitter in a lot of things, like relationships. But I also want to show how we are able to transform something negative into something positive.”
Clever, we must say. Here’s hoping for two things. First, that Ken will bring home the bacon. And second, that he’ll soon serve The Bitter Felipe at ABV.
Because when Diageo and ABV threw him a send-off party Monday, The Bitter Felipe wasn’t on the agenda. Instead, Ken served Señorita Marqueza, which he created in honor of his fiancée. “I actually made that during the April leg of th competition,” he shares. Señorita Marqueza (PHP530) is now included in the ABV drinks list, along with the many others that Ken and his team of bartenders have created.
If you haven’t already, you should totally try ABV. It’s a 1920s-style lounge that just opened earlier this year. It pays homage to the prohibition era. It can trigger claustrophobia, because it’s well-hidden, in the basement of a building behind the hotdog and burger joint, Lazy Bastards. But the drinks at ABV are beautiful; full bodied and well-balanced.
Best to visit late in the evening at around 1am as the last stop to your evening, when the pre-gaming boisterous crowd will have already thinned out.
ABV, B/F, 22 Jupiter St cor Galaxy, Bel-Air, Makati. +63 2 8825330. 5pm-2am.
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