Steve Yang at the 2024 USBG World Class competition (Photo by Shannon Sturgis)
When Steve Yang packs his car and heads to Atlanta May 18-20 for the United States Bartenders’ Guild World Class competition, the Richmond-based bar director will be transporting his personal arsenal of housemade syrups, cocktail mixers and hand-selected glassware. He was the first Virginia bartender ever to participate; now, he’s back for the fourth year in a row representing the commonwealth at one of the most prestigious mixology marathons.
Yang — who devised the bar menu for the forthcoming Slack Tide Fish Co. restaurant in Scott’s Addition and previously worked as beverage director for restaurateur Brittany Anderson’s Brenner Pass, Black Lodge, Metzger Bar & Butchery, and Pink Room ventures — says, “It’s the holy grail of cocktail competitions.”
Bringing together the best bartenders from around the world, the 15-year-old global event is a high-intensity showcase of fine-tuned skills, expert speed and unmatched creativity. Every year, 50 countries hold their own World Class program, and the champions from each gather in a global mix-off. The destination for the 2025 finals is Toronto.
And while New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and New Orleans may be the expected hot spots for the nation’s best in bartending, at this year’s competition, Virginia and the D.C. metro area are well represented. Among Yang’s competitors are Jon Schott, a D.C.-based bartender responsible for creating the cocktail menu at the recently opened Cirrus Vodka tasting room in Richmond, and Clay Bennett, a bartender from The Glass Light Hotel in Norfolk.
The event is not simply a gathering of highball slingers and pint pourers; leading up to the competition, there are cocktail recipe submissions; explanatory essays; and plenty of prepping, polishing and practice. Supplied with the parameters in advance, competitors have been recipe testing, fine-tuning and texting (there’s an active group chat with the 30 finalists) for the past six months.
Likening the experience to rehearsing for a play, Yang says, “You cannot go into World Class without practicing. You’re not competing against people; you’re only competing against yourself and how much work you’re willing to put in ahead of time to challenge yourself.”
The competition will test their wits behind the well through a series of timed and judged challenges. A food pairing portion of the contest will task them to create a cocktail using Bulleit bourbon and pair it with a Southern dish. The “Mercado Mix-off” requires competitors to make a drink using items traditionally found in a Mexican market while relying on Don Julio Cristalino tequila. Additionally, they also have to whip up a tequila-based cocktail that is considered unique and unexpected. The final segment, by far the most arduous, is the speed round. Participants will present a bar concept they’ve created and produce six seamless sips in eight minutes. Exuding the “Top Chef” anxiety of a ticking clock, participation is simultaneously stressful and satisfying, full of risks and hopes of high reward.
Schott, who is competing for the first time, says of preparing for the event, “I know how much work I’m going to put into something like this to get here, so I know everyone else is there, too. I know they’re working possibly multiple jobs right now and doing this thing, which is sort of like a side job. It’s impressive.”
For bartenders, the competition allows them to tap into their own styles and be unbound by the parameters of a restaurant’s persona. Yang plans to explore how ingredients travel the Silk Road and use components including apples, stone fruit and spices in his creations. Schott is doing a comic book-themed pop-up called Alter Ego, leaning into the idea that drinks have superpowers and the potential for transformation.
Beyond the serious stakes of earning the top spot is a strong sense of camaraderie. “We all come out of World Class with, like, this weird trauma bond,” Yang says with a laugh.
Providing a platform for professional bartenders to collectively push the boundaries of where a cocktail can go, World Class also fosters mentorship and education and has organically established a network of industry movers and shakers. While all finalists, particularly repeat competitors like Yang, hope to win their way to Shanghai, participating presents nearly as many opportunities as winning.
Schott says of the process, “There’s a lot of growth and leaps and bounds in it. And I think the community aspect of it is sort of unreal.”
