In 2023, Top 50 Cocktail Bars teamed up with Bar-Fabric to bring you the first ever Rising Star award, a way of identifying and awarding emerging talent in the UK bar scene by educating and supporting.
The goal of this award is to highlight and help build on emerging talent in our industry – someone who shares the core values of inclusivity, community, hospitality, innovation and perseverance.
Oscar was one of five applicants who had made it through two rounds of judging who were then invited to the finals in London earlier this year. Set with a brief of creating a unique cocktail that represents them and speaks to one or more of our shared values.
Starting his bar career as a barback whilst working in a supermarket during lockdown, he says ‘I sought out whatever could bring me around people. Pairing this with a love for music and eventually flavour and craft, I found myself seeking out roles in cocktail bars’.
Almost instantly finding a community for himself he continues to develop his skillset which has now led him behind the bar at London’s Murder Inc.
Entering competitions, hosting takeovers and creating and starring in oscar-worthy (pardon the pun) performances on social media, he is certainly making himself known in the industry. He impressed the judges at the finals with his drinks experience and integrated the shared values into the presentation seamlessly.
A worthy winner of our first Rising Star award, we cannot wait to see what else is in store.
