MIXOLOGY BAR AWARDS 2016: THE LONG LIST NOMINEES

It’s that time of year again! We’re a short nine weeks away from the eighth MIXOLOGY BAR AWARDS, which will be held in Berlin. The first procedural step has taken place and the jury advisory board has announced its favorites in the form of the Long List. Familiar faces meet new players in this overview.

Since its inception the MIXOLOGY BAR AWARDS have developed into the German-speaking bar scene’s most important and renowned awards. The evening before Bar Convent Berlin sees the year’s most outstanding personalities and bars awarded for their performance. Amongst barflies and those in the know the bar awards’ signet is a sure sign for higher bar culture and excellent quality.

The Scene has Spoken

Since its beginning, one of the award’s defining characteristics has been the fact that they’re “awarded by the scene”. While other prizes expect their candidates to apply for an award and then actively take part in the procedure, the MIXOLOGY BAR AWARDS relies on a multi-staged nomination process that includes participants from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland’s bar scene.

At this point the jury’s advisory board includes 300 bartenders, industry representatives, bloggers, specialized journalists, and other experts. The board is free to nominate its favorites in secret. The Long List is the product of this process and builds the foundation for the actual juror’s choices.

The jury’s decision is made in a secret, two-step process which then produces the Short List. Basically, the top tier favorites. Each category’s winner is selected from this pool. The judges are unaware of the results leading up to the awards.

Never Change a Winning Team!

Why change a well functioning team? Under the leadership of Munich’s bar icon Stefan Gabányi the award jury is the same as it was last year. The team consists of some of the GSA countries’ most reputable bartenders and bar owners: Klaus St. Rainer (Goldene Bar, Munich), Yared Hagos (The Parlour, Frankfurt), Attila Kiziltas (Shepheard and The Cage, Cologne), Erich Wassicek (Halbestadt, Vienna), Gerhard Kozbach-Tsai (Tür 7, Vienna), as well as Jvan Paszti und Markus Blattner (both Old Crow, Zurich). Our regular contributor and bar expert Peter Eichhorn represents MIXOLOGY MAGAZINE within the jury, though we’d like to emphasize that the magazine’s editorial team has no influence on the award winners whatsoever.

The MIXOLOGY BAR AWARDS 2016 are held on October 5^th 2015 at a festive gala at the Grand Hyatt at Potsdamer Platz. By popular request we’ve added a new prize titled “New Bar of the Year” in which the jury has the chance to honor the newest bar concepts and trends.

Let the Excitement Begin …

The awards are made possible through the generous support of numerous sponsors that hail from the spirits and drinks industry. Below you’ll find all categories’ Long List nominees (presented in alphabetical order without any valuation). The bar scene has voiced its opinion on its favorites and now it’s up to the jury to select the deserving winners. We’d like to wish all the nominees good luck and look forward to sharing a crisp glass of Champagne when once again it’s time for “… and the winner is …!”

Bar of the Year / Germany (presented by Prestige Selection by Pernod Ricard)

Boilerman, Hamburg

Booze Bar, Berlin

Buck & Breck, Berlin

Immertreu, Berlin

Les Fleurs du Mal, Munich

Le Lion — Bar de Paris, Hamburg

Roomers, Frankfurt

Seiberts, Cologne

Spirits, Cologne

Zephyr, Munich

 

Bar of the Year, Austria (presented by Del Fabro)

Bar 67 im Hotel Post, Ischgl

Albertina Passage, Vienna

Dino’s American Bar, Vienna

Eberts Bar, Vienna

Hammond, Vienna

Bar Neuf, Linz

Nightfly’s, Vienna

Roberto’s American Bar, Vienna

The Sign Lounge, Vienna

X Bar im Dots Club, Vienna

 

Bar of the Year, Switzerland (presented by Pussanga)

Abflugbar, Bern

Bar 63, Zürich

Balthazar Bar, Basel

Clouds, Zurich

Hotel Rinvington & Sons, Zurich

Kronenhalle, Zurich

Les Trois Rois, Basel

Leopard Bar, Geneva

Onyx Bar im Park Hyatt, Zurich

Widder Bar, Zurich

 

Hotelbar of the Year (presented by Champagne Gosset)

Bristol Bar, Frankfurt

The Curtain Club im The Ritz Carlton, Berlin

D-Bar im Ritz Carlton, Vienna

Doc Cheng’s Bar im Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, Hamburg

Falk’s Bar im Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich

Karl May Bar im Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski, Dresden

Monkey Bar im 25hours Hotel, Berlin

Roomers, Frankfurt

Bar am Steinplatz, Berlin

Widder Bar, Zurich

 

New Bar of the Year (presented by Beluga Vodka)

Bar im Heuer, Vienna

Jigger, Beaker & Glass, Berlin

LeoBar, Hamburg

Little Link, Cologne

Lost in Grub Street, Berlin

Kinly, Frankfurt

Paul & George, Stuttgart

Seven Swans & The Tiny Cup, Frankfurt

Tales Bar, Zurich

Theresa Bar, Munich

 

Barteam of the Year (presented by Asbach)

Boilerman, Hamburg

Booze Bar, Berlin

Bristol Bar, Frankfurt

Gekkos, Frankfurt

Kronenhalle, Zurich

Le Lion — Bar de Paris, Hamburg

Roomers, Frankfurt

Schumann’s, Munich

Seiberts, Cologne

Spirits, Cologne

 

Host of the Year (presented by Red Bull Cola)

Andrej Busch, Boilerman, Hamburg

Gabriel Daun, Gekkos, Frankfurt

Arnd Henning Heissen, The Curtain Club & Fragrances im The Ritz Carlton, Berlin

Emanuele Ingusci, Barroom, Munich

Dietmar Petri, Les Fleurs du Mal, Munich

Sven Riebel, Seven Swans & The Tiny Cup, Frankfurt

Alessandro Romano, Ona Mor, Cologne

Peter Roth, Kronenhalle, Zurich

Volker Seibert, Seiberts, Cologne

Andreas Till, Pacific Times, Munich

 

Mixologist of the Year (presented by Sierra Tequila)

Gabriel Daun, Gekkos, Frankfurt

Christian Heiss, Kronenhalle, Zurich

Arnd Henning Heissen, The Curtain Club & Fragrances im The Ritz Carlton, Berlin

Stephan Hinz, Little Link, Cologne

Lars Holzem, Little Link, Cologne

Lukas Motejzik, Zephyr, Munich

Dietmar Petri, Les Fleurs du Mal, Munich

Volker Seibert, Seiberts, Cologne

René Soffner, Kinly, Frankfurt

Goncalo de Sousa Monteiro, Buck & Breck, Berlin

 

Newcomer of the Year (presented by DeKuyper)

Tim Anders, Amano Bar, Berlin

Stefan Bauer, Bar im Heuer, Vienna

Max Bergfried, Gin & Jagger, Essen

Marcel Dalbech, Beuys Bar, Düsseldorf

Sarah Deuss, Blauer Fasan, Bremen

Gönke Hansen, Onyx Bar, Zurich

Michele Heinrich, Kinly, Frankfurt

Paola Labansat, Trific, Hamburg

Dominik Mohr, Spirits, Cologne

Andreas Schöler, Passage 46, Fribourg

 

Bar Menu of the Year (presented by Gin Mare)

3Freunde Bar, Hamburg

Fairytale, Berlin

Les Fleurs du Mal, Munich

The Grand, Berlin

Little Link, Cologne

Lost in Grub Street, Berlin

Ona Mor, Cologne

The Sign Lounge, Vienna

Bar am Steinplatz, Berlin

Zephyr, Munich

 

Brand Ambassador of the Year (presented by  Thomas Henry)

Christian Balke, Havana Club/Pernod Ricard

Nils Boese, Jägermeister

Karim Fadl, Bacardi & Bombay Sapphire

Joscha Henningsen, French Brands/Bacardi (Grey Goose, Noilly Prat, DOM Bénédictine, Cognac Otard)

Axel Klubescheidt, Absolut Vodka/Pernod Ricard

Mike Meinke, Diageo

Andreas Mühlböck, Blue Gin

Sebastian Schneider, Fernet Branca

Hasan Sivrikaya, Bacardi-Martini/Switzerland

Sven Sudeck, Sierra Tequila/Borco Marken Import

Markus Heinze, Glenfiddich

Editor’s Note: At his own request last year’s winner, Brand Ambassador of the Year 2015 Sven Sudeck, withdrew from the nomination, and the subsequent chance at winning again. Sven would like offer a larger circle of his expert colleagues, particularly the younger ones, a chance at winning the MIXOLOGY BAR AWARD this year. We regret this decision but, of course, we respect it. With this team spirit in mind, Markus Heinzige has taken Sven’s spot. We still hope to see Sven Sudeck at the awards.

Sales Representative of the Year (presented by Nespresso)

Adrian Baldino, Diageo

Diana Bohne, Campari

Rainer Claßen, Diageo

Sonja Erler, Sierra Madre

André Mader, Jägermeister

Bernhard Stadler, Diageo

Christoph Stocker, Pernod Ricard

René Tempel, Bacardi

Benjamin Weih, Jägermeister

Kaja Weiss, Pernod Ricard

 

Spirit of the Year (Bar Convent Berlin/Reed Exhibitions)

Ron Botucal Bianco

Ferdinand’s Quince

Hudson Baby Bourbon

Jinzu

Pontica Vermouth

La Quintinye Royal Rouge Vermouth

Star of Bombay

Tanqueray Old Tom Gin

Tesla Sljivo

Ziegler No. 3 Gin

The juror’s bars, and all including employees, are naturally excluded from the nomination and award process.

 

The original article was translated by Liv Fleischhacker.