Ever the showman and expert cocktailian, Head Bartender Mark Thomas of B Bar at Bacchanalia won a place at the Diageo SEA bartending championships by wowing judge and cocktail guru Gary Regan with his creative pizza-based vodka concoction. Here we chat to him about his strategies for the regional finals (starting today!).

Tell us about your winning cocktail.
It was a Ketel One challenge, hence I wanted to play on the natural qualities of this beautiful vodka. Ketel One is made from wheat and that made me think of dough and bread. That eventually led to pizza. The buttery quality of the vodka is what sealed the deal. I decided to take a huge risk and think outside the box and go towards the savory end because I didn’t want to hide the latent qualities of the vodka. And when I realized Gary moved to the States at the age of 22, I thought of a cosmopolitan society much like Singapore and rationalized pizza as the equivalent of our chicken rice. I wanted to show Gary how creative the Singaporean cocktail culture is.   

What can we expect from you this round?
I've got something special in store for one of my serves. A cocktail riddled in history garnished with an epic story a lot of people can relate to.

Are you doing something special to prep for the competition?
Nothing too secretive, just learning different methods to remain calm and collected on stage. But I received advice which resonated with me, which was “Just be yourself. It has brought you this far.”

Is there something that could make you stand out from the others?
Each one of us is different. For me, it’s the connection I make with the judges. I’m keeping my drinks simple but applying lessons close to my heart. I think that when I speak about the drinks, the judges can see the love for what I do in my eyes.

What's your go-to cocktail and base?
My go-to cocktail is either the classic Last Word or a rum Old Fashioned. But if I'm thinking bases, my love for rum drowns out all else--one in particular, Ron Zacapa 23. That on ice is heaven after a long day's work.