50 Best Bars Roku Scholarship 2024

Creating opportunities for aspiring bartenders

After two hugely successful editions, the 50 Best Bars Scholarship has returned in 2024 in partnership with Roku Gin. 

Open to any aspiring bartenders over 21 with under five years' professional experience, the 50 Best Bars Roku Scholarship is offering a once-in-a-lifetime, all-expenses paid opportunity to train at three world-leading bars and attend the awards ceremony in Madrid this October.

The winner, who will be revealed at The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 awards ceremony of The Worlds's 50 Best Bars 2024 in Madrid on 22nd October, will embark on an educational journey at famed Australian bar Maybe Sammy in Sydney (No.15 in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023) alongside a stage in Japan, where the winner will be taught traditional Japanese-style bartending at Tokyo institution High Five, followed by a contemporary masterclass at Asia’s 50 Best Bars high-flyer Virtù.

Applications for this year's scholarship CLOSED at 23:00 on Monday, 24 June 2024. Please watch out for announcements around applications for next year's scholarship in 2025. This year's winner was revealed as Calliope Draper from Edmonton, Canada. 

What is needed for the application?
- Your general details
- What you think the five skills for a modern bartender are (five keywords)
- A short written statement on what you think can be achieved by the hospitality industry to create a more sustainable, inclusive and positive impact on the sector (up to 250 words)
- A short video talking about ‘Future Positive’ ideas: any innovations, small or large, that you think would make a positive impact on the future of the bar industry (up to 60 seconds)
- A few photos of yourself behind the bar or making cocktails (three to five)

Future Positive
The theme of the 50 Best Bars Roku Scholarship for 2024 is 'Future Positive', encouraging bartending practices and attitudes that will have a positive impact on the planet. Bartenders will be rewarded for their low-waste or local approach to ingredients and push for greater diversity, better representation and balance within the workplace. Scholarship applicants needed to show a readiness to contribute to this outlook.

The selection process
The scholarship recipient is selected via a three-stage judging process:

Round One: Applicants were asked to introduce themselves and share their vision of ‘Future Positive’ and what it meant to them as a bartender in a short video, as well as answering some questions about their career to date.

Round Two: The shortlisted candidates designed a drink, inspired by the ‘Future Positive’ theme, that heroes one local ingredient. The design required evidence of the research, development and creative process.

These submissions will then be judged by an international panel of experts, comprised of Philip Bischoff from BKK Social Club (No.13 in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023), North America’s 50 Best Bars Roku Industry Icon Award 2024 winner Claudia Cabrera of Kaito del Valle and James Bowker, Global Advocacy Manager for House of Suntory. Together, they will decide on a five-strong list of candidates to advance to the final interview stage.

Round Three: Selected candidates were invited for an interview with representatives from 50 Best, Roku Gin and upcoming stage hosts Stefano Catino of Maybe Sammy, Keith Motsi of Virtù and Hidetsugu Ueno of High Five.

Read about the previous winners, Drew Fleming and Apoorva Kohli, here.