Lendl Maarman cracks Absolut Invite
By Julia Holmes
The butterflies build up for professional bartender, Lendl Maarman, as he prepares to compete in his first Absolut Invite, a prestigious bartending event hosted in Johannesburg from 14-15 April 2015. Lendl is one of 15 eager contestants, who, from across South Africa, have been handpicked by industry experts to showcase their skills in the challenging areas of Creative Mixing, Sensory and Knowledge.
The 2015 Absolut Invite theme is HANDCRAFT of the cocktail, with Absolut Elyx, a single estate vodka, as the focal product. According to absoluteinvite.com: “The theme emphasises elements such as craftsmanship, single estate, One Source and traceability. Bartenders will be asked to create one cocktail based on this theme for the qualifying round”. With regards to the theme, Lendl says: “You have free range to do almost what you want. Being single state and traceability, they’d like you to play closer to home concerning ingredients but there are no real limitations. It’s all up to your imagination”. In addition, the top class bartenders will be examined in a knowledge test, covering questions about Absolut Elyx and the industry, and a sensory test, where they are required to identify the ingredients and raw materials within various drinks.
With the aim of “placing and announcing himself as a bartender”, Lendl will be representing himself and his future business venture, The Oswald. Throughout the competition, he hopes to “gain knowledge, exposure and to grow as a bartender”. He says: “Port Elizabeth is often referred to as the backwater city with regards to food and drink. I’d like to represent the city and place PE on the map”.
With a “love for anything associated with food and alcohol”, Lendl initially entered the industry for holiday work 15 years ago, and took an interest in professional bartending once exposed to the Bartenders Workshop in Port Elizabeth. He has competed in numerous world class events and prides himself in his presentation and research, where he is in his element and “brings a different aspect to a ‘normal’ presentation”. The confident public speaker adapts a spirit on spirit cocktail style, with a preference for short and strong drinks. He veers away from molecular mixology, the latest craze in the industry, as he feels that “those bases were around 200-300 years ago and will be around another for another 200-300 years”.
Lendl has built up an impressive résumé of signature drinks over the years, with his favourite being the “Blanco Picante”, a non-alcoholic cocktail that he designed when working for the prohibition bar at Father’s House Church. Translated from Spanish as “white and spicy”, the popular drink included ingredients such as litchi, Tabasco, dark chocolate, and grapefruit slices.
Lendl considers events, such as the Absolut Invite, as vital to the industry as: “It is always a good thing when people get together to share knowledge, trend certain ideas and decide which direction to go in”. He believes that “building a fraternity of bartenders as with a fraternity of chefs or franchise members is just as important. The Absolute Invite helps you to not only deliver the overall drink standard at the competition but to bring the standard back to your city, ensuring that you do not lose track with the rest of the world”. In addition to South Africa, Absolut Invite is hosting competitions in Sweden, Germany and Russia, where local winners will travel to Åhus, Sweden from 24th – 26th May 2015 to compete in the Global Final.
Lendl’s advice for coping in such an intensive industry is to “Keep challenging yourself”. “What am I going: try next? taste next? Where do I want to go? What limits to I want to push? What is my next vessel going to be? What is next my story going to be? are just a couple of questions that keep the vibrant professional bartender motivated. He says: “The repetition of the day can get tedious but it’s really up to you to entertain yourself as well as your guests and I think if you entertain yourself first then the guests will be entertained”.
Overall, Lendl “wants to be an ambassador for Port Elizabeth” He acknowledges that “the city is growing economic wise , the Baywest Mall being an example”. As opposed to following the trend of moving to Cape Town or Johannesburg, he chooses “to steer the ship and guide PE to where it wants to be. He says: “It is a hard fight but I think that in 5-10 years, we can catch up to the likes of Pretoria and Johannesburg in terms of culinary and drink. I am here to throw an anchor and cultivate something in Port Elizabeth”
Do we think Lendl has what it takes to make Port Elizabeth proud? Absolutely!
To view Lendl in action, click on the YouTube link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlBdRC_G_7s&feature=youtu.be
Contact Julia on: holmes.julianatalie@yahoo.com