Matt Arnold of Passing Fancies in Birmingham has become the first bartender to win World Class Great Britain for a second time, prevailing as he did from the 2026 final at The Ned in London yesterday.
This week’s three-challenge final was the climax of a competition that has run since February, drawing in the contributions of almost 400 bartenders from up and down the country.
Arnold, a stalwart of the competition, having competed in multiple editions and taken the champion’s title in 2023, emerged from the Top 10 contenders on Tuesday night alongside Chelsie Bailey of Stonegate and Oscar Perry of Murder Inc.
Yesterday’s Visionary VIP Experience challenge saw the three finalists create a concept bar at host venue The Ned, with the help of designers, and serve a menu of four cocktails to a 200-strong throng of hospitality professionals.
The brief required the cocktails to be suitable for a VIP lounge at a summer music festival.
Arnold’s menu of bold and bright modern cocktails picked up on the transcendent nature of music, attempting to connect emotions to flavour through the lens of four biomes.
His Desert cocktail was a dry serve with Seedlip Garden, jara lemon cordial, and salt; Ocean was a mizuwari-style drink that took in Johnnie Walker Black Label, elderflower, and a blend of waters, including tap water from Birmingham; Forest was a Paloma twist with Don Julio, purple shiso, strawberry, and grapefruit that was served long; while Arctic was an aptly frozen drink in a martini glass with Singleton 12, blueberry, kumquat, and honey.
Chelsie Bailey, meanwhile, made bartenders the protagonists of her bar’s theme, Ace of Cups, hitting the festival drinks brief square on with delicious classical spins that included a Freezer Rob Roy, Passion Fruit Radler, Yellow Pepper Paloma, and Strawberry Pimm’s Cup.
Oscar Perry’s Provenance menu was imbued with cultural messaging, picking up on themes of art and expression. Each of his cocktails featured an “archival ingredient”. Big Honey Moments saw wild honey, Gravity Gimlet included heritage apple, Factory Reset featured a fig leaf from his mother’s garden, and Poet’s Paloma was garnished with poetry.
Judges for the final challenge, Millie Tang, De Vie; Ryan Chetiyawardana, Mr Lyan bars; Iain McPherson, Panda & Sons; Maura Milia of Rosewood Chancery; Hamish Smith, CLASS; and Stefanie Anderson, World Class GB, scored the cocktails on concept, menu and taste, guest experience, and execution.
Those scores were then added to those accrued in the first two challenges, with Arnold triumphing in a close-run contest.
Arnold said: "I’m incredibly proud and overwhelmed with the win. I couldn’t have done it without the support of a list of people that is far too long – but no one more than Eve and the rest of the Passing Fancies team.
"I just want to do us proud – and make good on my promise to give Erik Lorincz a GB friend among the winners!"
Anderson told CLASS: “We couldn’t be happier to crown Matt as our World Class winner. What an amazing few days and what an incredible winner.
"Matt is a true credit and representative of the British bartending community and we can’t wait to mentor him in his journey to the global finals in Scotland."
The night also saw the crowd have their say on their favourite bar and drinks, with Chelsie Bailey taking the most votes in the People’s Choice Award. The Top 10 bartenders were polled too, in the Bartender’s Choice Award, with their winner being Oscar Perry.
In Challenge 1, The Cavita Table Experience on Monday, the Top 10 (which also included Carrie Smith, Hawksmoor Edinburgh; Yen-Cheng Chen, Tayēr + Elementary; Laurie Howells, Archive & Myth; Luke O’Toole, Lyaness; David Riera, The Rivoli Bar, Ritz Hotel London; Alex Goacher, Sister Ray; and Rory Sorrell, The Royal Cocktail Exchange) were tasked with creating a menu of Don Julio cocktails to pair with Mexican food, each hosting a table of hospitality professionals at Cavita restaurant in London.
Arnold impressed in this round with dessert drink The Jewellery Quarter, made with Don Julio Reposado, Alphonso mango, and spices.
In Challenge 2 on Tuesday at the Vault in the bowels of The Ned, the Top 10’s attention focused on Martini drinks - first a time-capsule rendition that best represented cocktail-making in 2026, followed by a future-gazing cocktail of the sort that might be served in the year 2076.
One of Perry’s creations saw the use of an inactive Champagne yeast to bring brioche notes to his Tanqueray Martini.
The week’s challenges followed the World Class × Schweppes Judging Roadshow 2026 and the inaugural Palomarama Festival, in which the World Class GB Top 50 competed to make this week’s finals.