Josep Mª Gotarda will chair the Young Cocktail Competition of Catalonia

He is one of the most renowned personalities in Spanish classic bartending. Currently, he directs Barcelona’s Ideal Cocktail Bar, established in 1931. Before the competition, he will also offer a master class to the contest participants and EUHT StPOL’s students.

In 1980, Josep Maria Gotarda won the first edition of the Young Cocktail Competition of Catalonia. 44 years later, he returns as president of the jury, which will also feature Marc Álvarez, president of the Bartender’s Club of Catalonia; Mariona Vilanova, vice president of the Bartender’s Club; and Anna Vicens, president of the Associació de Sommeliers de Catalunya. The 40th edition of the Young Cocktail Competition of Catalonia will have a single jury that will evaluate both the technical aspects and the tasting as well, unlike previous years in which there were two divisions. The contest is free-themed, as the contestants must create an original cocktail with no more than six ingredients chosen by themselves.

Up to 10 students from different culinary and hospitality schools in Catalonia, and young professionals with less than 1 year of professional experience will take part in it. There will be three specific awards, a second prize and an absolute winner, who will take a double prize as they will get a ticket to the Catalan final of the Spanish Cocktail Championship of the Federation of Spanish Bartenders Associations (FABE).

A classic Catalan bartending icon

Josep Maria Gotarda comes from a family with a long tradition in the world of hospitality. His grandparents founded the Ideal Cocktail Bar in 1931, which his father later turned into one of the best-known cocktail bars in Europe in the 1950s, and of which he has now been its director for 30 years. Moreover, he chaired the Barman Club of Catalonia and the FABE association for a decade.

At 17 years old, he won the Young Cocktail Competition of Catalonia, and in 1984, he was the runner-up in the Cocktail Exhibition at Fira Alimentària in Barcelona. In 1985, he moved to Madrid’s Palace Hotel to work at the Balmoral Cocktail Bar. This year, he won the Spanish Young Bartenders Martini Gran Prix championship. In 1986, he moved to Paris to the Warwick Hotel, and that same year, he placed fifth in the Torino International Martini Competition.

He was the Spanish Best Mixologist of the years 1998 and 2008, and in 2000 he received the Diploma of Tourism Merit from the Catalan government. A year later, he placed second in the Golden Flûte-Carpené-Malvolti World Championship, held in Connegliano (Italy).

He was part of the founding global team of Tanqueray Guild Team Bartenders and has held cocktail seminars in various cities worldwide. He has been a professor in hospitality schools in Barcelona, has collaborated with different media outlets, and is co-author of the cocktail book Alquímia freda (2012).