Drinks industry veteran steps up to give a ‘Hand Up’

When master mixologist Brent Perremore found himself in hospital in 2019, diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, his hospitality industry friends stepped forward to help him fund an expensive leg brace that helped him to walk down the aisle.

That act set in motion a R450 000 programme, funded by global drinks producer Diageo, to train and mentor bartenders.

The autoimmune disorder which damages the nerves left Perremore temporarily paralysed, however, the father of one and owner of Cape Town’s award-winning The Art of Duplicity Speakeasy, has made a full recovery.

“After the hospitality community gave me a hand up, I started to think of a way to give back,” Perremore said. Later that year, in tandem with industry players Bradley Jacobs and Cassandra Eichhoff as part of their Diageo World Class bartending academy entry, he came up with the idea for a mentorship programme for bartenders who need a ‘hand up’.

The Hand-Up Programme Mentorship Programme, sponsored by Diageo, was born, and kicked off in August this year, where 10 of South Africa’s foremost bar industry experts are mentoring 100 young black men and female bar staff from Gqeberha, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

The programme aims at upskilling entry level bartenders to become competitors in Diageo’s World Class competition, which has supported, trained and inspired over 400 000 bartenders across 60 countries. Perremore has entered World Class eight times since 2012, and was the first South African to clinch the title, which he has won twice since then, most recently in YEAR.

“I hope Hand Up will touch a few lives by helping our bartending staff to become more professional, and to earn more by being better bartenders and business people,” he said. “We want to see more people of colour and more female represented in the industry; the World Class competition is always dominated by a white male demographic, mostly because of privilege and the fact that these guys have had the opportunity to be mentored.”

The five-part course takes the mentees through modules on sustainability - teaching bartenders how to make the most out of ingredients; classic cocktails – the origins of bar keeping; bar economics – better bar design; the business of bars - costing of drinks and how to market themselves on social media, and state of mind – wellness, looking after your body and personal finances.

“Being a good cocktail mixologist is about combining many elements, and I don’t only mean in the cocktail. Besides having an original recipe, with a story that goes along with it, you need to be good at presentation, interacting with your audience. You need a dash of sleight of hand, mentalism and art and craft, so that you reel your audience in,” Perremore said.

“When I first competed at Diageo World Class in 2012, I was a fish out of water with the international competition. In the speed round, you’re called on to make 12 cocktails in 10 minutes. To demonstrate how I have grown, in 2019 and earlier this year, I was able to make 14 cocktails in that same time, trying to blow my competition of the water.”

“It is a tough industry I would say to someone who is just starting out as a bartender, that if this is what you want to do, you have to give your all. Be willing to learn, have passion and stay humble. It is a great career - I always wanted to be something in the creative arts, like a DJ or a photographer but I kept at bartending and worked hard at it, and have risen to be a leader in the industry.”