London bartender Alice Ford has taken home first place at the 2026 Flavour in Motion final, winning £2,500 in the Franklin & Sons’ national bartending competition.
Ford, currently bartending at Opium Cocktail Bar, won the competition with a reimagined version of the Long Island Iced Tea.
Inspired by childhood camping trips, her winning creation, “Corr, Blimey”, featured Franklin & Sons’ Orchard Apple & Pear, Lapsang Souchong infused tea and peated whiskey, garnished with a toasted marshmallow to recreate the smoky character of a campfire.
Ford said: “I’ve used Franklin & Sons products throughout my career, so to be recognised by a brand that I’ve admired for so long makes the experience even more surreal. Corr, Blimey was inspired by some of my favourite childhood memories spent on camping trips, so I wanted to reimagine the Long Island Iced Tea in a way that felt both nostalgic and contemporary, and I’m so pleased that the judges connected with the story and flavours behind the drink.”
The brief asked finalists to recreate the first cocktail they ever learned to make, while blending techniques from the past and present.
Ford created an apple and pear sherbet using the fruit skins, this was paired with a sous-vide caramel fat-washed rum.
Judging the competition was Flavour in Motion 2025 winner Alessandro Todini, drinks journalist Clinton Cawood, chef Jay Morjaria and Vander Von Ruinn, the first-ever winner of Flavour in Motion and bartender at Murder Inc Cocktail Bar in London.
The competition runners up included Lili Johnston, of El Siete in London and David Purkiss from Lab22 in Cardiff.
Each of the ten finalists presented their creation at the final of the Flavour in Motion 2026 competition, held at Shoreditch’s Callooh Callay cocktail bar.
This year’s competition celebrated 140 years of Franklin & Sons, challenging entrants to blend the past and the present in their creations, bringing together influences from 1886 and 2026.
Tommaso Cicala, UK brand ambassador at Franklin & Sons, added: “What I love most about the Flavour in Motion competition is how it celebrates and showcases the incredible talent in our industry. We had ten finalists present in the final, and each creation was unique, innovative and exciting. Alice’s cocktail was a strong interpretation of the brief, really showing how the past can be blended with the modern to create an innovative final product.”