50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship 2023

Creating opportunities for aspiring bartenders

After a hugely successful launch in 2022, The 50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship is back! 

Open to any aspiring bartenders over 21 with under five years' professional experience, the scholarship will offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train at two of The World's 50 Best Bars and attend the awards ceremony in Singapore this October.

From January - April 2024, the winning candidate will receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend two stages (internships) at Alquímico in Cartagena, Colombia, No.10 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2022 list, and Sips in Barcelona, Spain, which stands at No.3. All flights, accommodation and £500 weekly allowance per stage will be included.

Applications for this year's scholarship closed at 11:59pm (BST) on 15th May 2023.

Register on The Blend’s website to find unique content to maximise your submissions.

What is needed for the application?

- Your general details
- What you think the five skills for a modern bartender are (five keywords)
- A short written statement on what you think can be achieved by the hospitality industry to create a more sustainable, inclusive and positive impact on the sector (up to 250 words)
- A short video talking about ‘Future Positive’ ideas: any innovations, small or large, that you think would make a positive impact on the future of the bar industry (up to 60 seconds)
- A few photos of yourself behind the bar or making cocktails (three to five)

Future Positive
The theme of the 50 Best The Blend Scholarship for 2023 is 'Future Positive', encouraging bartending practices and attitudes that will have a positive impact on the planet. Bartenders will be rewarded for their low-waste or local approach to ingredients and push for greater diversity, better representation and balance within the workplace. Scholarship applicants needed to show a readiness to contribute to this outlook.

The selection process
The scholarship recipient is selected via a three-stage judging process:

Round One: Applicants will be asked to introduce themselves and share their vision of ‘Future Positive’ and what it means to them as a bartender in a short video, as well as answering some questions about their career to date.

Round Two: The shortlisted candidates will design a drink, inspired by the ‘Future Positive’ theme, that heroes one local ingredient. The design required evidence of the research, development and creative process.

This stage will be judged by industry veterans and 50 Best stalwarts including Jean Trinh (Alquímico, Cartagena), Simone Caporale (Sips, Barcelona), Kelsey Ramage (The Trash Collective, USA), and Christina Rasmussen (Mallow, Singapore). 

Round Three: Selected candidates will be invited for an interview with representatives from 50 Best, The Blend, the Sustainable Restaurant Assocation, Jean Trinh of Alquímico and Simone Caporale of Sips. 

To read about the inaugural winner, Drew Fleming from the Isle of Man, click here.