Jillionaire to judge Angostura’s Global Cocktail Challenge 2020

MAJOR LAZER’S Christopher “Jillionaire” Leacock will be the celebrity judge at the prestigious Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge on Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Port of Spain. The celebrated Trinidad-born DJ, music producer and entrepreneur will also perform a set at the after party. Jillionaire is also a part owner of Clyde’s, named after his grandfather and hailed as the first Trinidadian cocktail bar in Brooklyn. Clyde’s adjoins Trinidadian restaurant Pearl’s, run by his business partner, Fallon Seymour.

The challenge is a hallmark event on the global bartending calendar, held biannually. This is its tenth year, and will take place during the heart of the Carnival season.

The nine finalists come from all over the world, including TT’s own Shana Rajahram. She’ll be up against Marv Cunningham from The Bahamas, Chad Lawrence (Canada), Gustavo Costa (Brazil), Mike Jordhoy (France), Rohan Massie (Australia), Simon Dacey (United Kingdom), Vasile Dorofeev (Dubai) and Agung Satria (Vietnam).

Joining Jillionaire on the judging panel are head judge and James Beard Award-winning beverage professional, Maxwell Britten; Eryn Reece, Bar Director at New York’s The Wooly Public; Joe Schofield, co-owner of Schofield’s Bar in Manchester, UK; Angostura Chief Brand Educator, Raymond Edwards; and the reigning Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge champion, Raymond Letoa.

Angostura’s CEO, Peter Sandström said via a media release that the company wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. “Partnering with Jillionaire made so much sense as his roots are inherently connected to the House of Angostura. He has a strong understanding of Angostura’s place at the heart of TT culture, enormous passion for locally inspired music and drinks and his global following helps elevate the competition to showcase the extraordinary talents of our competitors to an international audience.”