ITE students mix it up with Instagram-able mocktails in competition

(From left) Ting Chi Ying, Chow Ying Shun, and Lee Yan Xuan Charlene clinched the top places at The Greatest Mix - F&N Drinks Creation Challenge on Nov 14, 2019. ST PHOTO: TIMOTHY DAVID

SINGAPORE - Presented in a tall cocktail glass, Call Me Peachy is orange, frothy and a toast to strong women. Chow Ying Shun, 18, concocted the drink, mixing four F&N juices with red grapes and topping that off with a garnish of mint leaves and peach slices.

"Independent women are usually mistaken to be 'toxic' as they seem strong. So, I wanted to concoct a drink as a tribute and representation of their soft and sweet personalities," said the the ITE College West Nitec in Hospitality Operations' first-year student.

Call me Peachy clinched first place in this year's The Greatest Mix - F&N Drinks Creation Challenge, on Thursday (Nov 14).

In the competition, co-organised by F&N Foods and ITE College West's School of Hospitality, competitors had to concoct drinks utilising F&N's selection of healthier choice beverages. This year, participants had to create the most Instagram-able mocktail.

Ting Chi Ying and Charlene Lee Yan Xuan, both 17, clinched the second and third places respectively. Gulzar Ali B. Basith Ali, 17, who won the Best Showmanship Award, said: "I explored with different drinks and styles and made a drink which I liked first."

The top three students won cash prizes totalling $900, while $120 worth of Fraser vouchers were given to the three winners of Best Showmanship Award and Student's Choice Awards.

F&B director of One Farrer Hotel, Mr Dennis Ng, one of the four judges in the competition, said that despite being in their first year of school in ITE College West, the students had high standards and, with more guidance, would be on a par with professionals.

Mr Ng also said that students entering the industry should be open to constant learning.

After the challenge, professional flairtender Umar Feroz Khan, 30, put on a special performance for all present. A flairtender is a bartender who also entertains customers with routines such as juggling or tossing the shakers.

Mr Khan, who was previously from ITE College Central, spoke of how things had changed since he started out in the industry.

"I was especially impressed by the contestants' garnishings and I learnt from them as well. When I first started out 14 years ago, I wasn't able to do that," said Mr Khan.

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