Building a Bartender Community is as Important as Winning: Pankaj Balachandran

What is the most memorable moment from your experience as a brand ambassador?

Oh, that was a couple of years back, I mean it has been 5 years back almost. So I was the first ambassador to have launched the brand in the country, 2016 almost. For me, I think the most memorable moments are always the travels. I've been fortunate as an ambassador to travel around the country, meet new friends, new bartenders and travel around the world, meet new friends, new bartenders who over the course of years have become very close and some of them are working with me. I run bars now and they head my bars and all of them I met through this competition. So for me, that is one of the most cherishing moments.

Can you tell us about your experience in Hyderabad itself?

Last time also you did, I guess last year also you did. I've come back after 4 years. So there was an ambassador, after me there was an ambassador. I was the opening ambassador, right? So I was the ambassador from 2016, 17, 18, 19, 25 years. And then there was Gaurav who was there who was after that from 21 onwards. So I'm coming back to Hyderabad running this competition after 2020. Yes, 2019 in a way because 2020 was COVID, right? So yeah, so 2020 I did the competition. So I've come back after 5 years. So when I came in 2020, I think, you know, the bartenders were all superstars even then. But I think what has changed is their knowledge levels have improved. They become more knowledgeable, they're well-learned, they're reading or they're well-prepped for the competition. Let's take a chance. And now there's more, you know, the today's finalists are, the point difference are 0.2, 0.5, like that's the difference of the top five. So which is great to see.

City round finalists - Aniket from Kin-Rü and ⁠Raj from Tambo

So every year, the format remains the same. We have gradually updated or removed a round and added a round. But I think one of the best parts about this year is that there is going to be a regional finale. So this is the first time where the India champion will travel to a finals, a global kind of finals. And that is happening in Japan. So the winner gets a chance to kind of redo all of this all over again with his counterparts across Asia and across the world, which is a great thing as a competition.

What is the key to building a strong community among the bartenders in India?

So I have been fortunate to have mentored a lot of them and trained a lot of them. I've been in the industry for a decade and a half. And I think it's very important to build a community, right? So even now, even today, what I do with running bars, bars, brands and events is to make sure that you grow that community, mentor them, educate them. And so that you see the next generation of bartenders who are going to take the mantle up. Because I've been there in the industry for almost 15 years now. So how do you cultivate the next set of people who are going to take the things to the next level? And I think it's very important by building a community and training and mentoring the younger lot of bartenders. And I've been fortunate enough to have done that over the years.

Can you share any standout moment from your city-specific competition

I think the format remains the same. I mean, I just finished Delhi and Kolkata right now. This Hyderabad is third. And interesting to see that Kolkata and Hyderabad have scored better marks than Delhi. Which is surprising, right? Like these are, I would say Delhi and Bombay and Bangalore are known to have great bartenders and superstars and whatever. But Hyderabad and Kolkata have really outshined this time, which is a very interesting thing to see. So we have always had winners from either Delhi or Bombay or Bangalore or Goa. And I'm hoping to see a global, I mean, India champion from either Kolkata or Hyderabad or Pune or a smaller city like this.

How many participants will be coming from Hyderabad?

So Hyderabad, I think 50 plus participants here. But Kolkata had about 100 plus. Delhi had about 100 plus. Bangalore is looking at about 200 plus on ground. But the registration is close to 1500–1600 registrations. No, but I'm saying the registration versus people showing up is also a difficult situation. If they had a late night in Hyderabad, they will not come on time and they'll miss the first few rounds. They'll head back. But Hyderabad, currently we have about 60 people, which is a big number for a, I would say an upcoming city, which is great to see. I mean, last year was also about 40–50 and 50–60 this year. So not bad at all. Hoping to see more numbers in the coming years.

How has your journey with Monkey Shoulder influenced your approach in hosting UBC?

I was fortunate to have cut out the program for UBC. So I was the first ambassador to UBC in India. So I think that format has kind of stayed on. It's high energy. It's a lot of under pressure, like what I wanted to build with UBC in India was to create an exact battlefield for bartenders to fight it, right? So I make it feel like they are running a bar and they're competing in the bar, if you know what I mean. So it's high pressure. Everyone screaming out orders, everyone screaming out different things. But you all have to be heavily focused to be a good bartender to go through that power through them. So that is the same format that I've applied in building the entire competition.

What’s the biggest opportunity for Indian bartenders on the global stage through UBC?

This year, I mean, they're getting an opportunity to travel internationally into Japan. From India, only one. And then similarly, every market will have a winner. Like Singapore will have a winner, Indonesia will have a winner. Vietnam, I mean, like so close to about 12, 15. This year is more Asia.