BARMAN Cino Garcia-Hernandez is Chester's king of the cocktails.

He came out on top when the movers and shakers of Chester's drink-making elite went head to head.

Cino Garcia-Hernandez represented Upstairs at the Grill with his Talisker-based cocktail with a touch of honey. Cino stole the show and was crowned the winner of Chester Cocktail Competition 2005.

The festival played host to the mixing skills of staff from seven bars across the city as they battled to produce the perfect tonic.

Twelve talented bartenders from across Chester took part in the cocktail competition by entering their very own original drink, created especially for the nationally renown

judging panel headed by Tom Innes, editor of Flavour and Adam Freeth from Shaker UK.

The bartenders were required to base their drink on one of five ingredients - Smirnoff Blue, Johnnie Walker Black Label, Talisker 10-year-old, Jose Cuervo Tradicional and Tanqueray Gin.

Bartenders came from Living Room, The Office, Bar Lounge, Upstairs at the Grill, The Farndon Arms, Slug and Lettuce and Fiesta Havana demonstrated their expertise.

The blending of alcohol and fruit juices to create the perfect cocktail is a highly skilled art and the Chester bartenders rose to the occasion with style.

A complimentary concoction of pomegranate and gin helped get everyone into the true spirit of the event - organised in conjunction with Tanqueray Gin and Shaker UK.

The cocktail 'shake off' began to a thumping soundtrack and in front of an enthusiastic crowd of supporters.

Young Nathan Williams from the Office created a very tasty and inventive cocktail made up of wild berry skittles, Tanqueray Gin and vanilla ice cream, but competition was very tough. Places were announced to third place and it was Rick Warrier and Brendan Moradi from Bar Lounge who took third and second place.

Organiser Nerys Atkins, of Marketing Projects, said: 'The evening was a great success. Unfortunately Cino's winning cocktail has got a bit of a rude name so we can't repeat it!

'It was essentially a mixology competition, so everyone was judged on the taste of their drink. Cino was very proud to win.'

As the winner Cino will be put forward for Flavour's Competition Heats in September/October 2005 and received an official engraved plate on the night.

Nerys added: 'Everyone really enjoyed themselves, the bar was flowing and we had a capacity crowd. Rumour has it the exclusive after show party at Upstairs at the Grill went on until the early hours.' selena.odonnell@cheshirenews.co.uk