By James Atkinson
BREAKING NEWS: Sydney bartender Tim Philips has won the international World Class title.
Philips, of Hemmesphere was representing Australia for the second time in the World Class global finals run by Diageo in Rio de Janeiro this week.
Philips represented Australia at the Global Finals last year where he placed 6th out of 34 contestants.
He started his bartending career in Melbourne working for venues such as Ffour and Black Pearl before heading overseas to London where he worked at Milk&Honey and also won the 2009 UK Bartender of the year award.
After a stint in France, where he was managing The Clubhouse, a member-only cocktail bar, he returned to Australia and set up camp in Sydney, working at Merivale’s ivy Level 6 bar. He is currently in the process setting up his own bar which is expected to open later this year.
The news of Philips' victory has been enthusiastically embraced by the local bartending community with an overwhelming number of people offering their congratulations through Facebook.
TheShout will provide detailed coverage of the event on Monday.