Young Pinay champ reveals secret to world-class bartending

MANILA, Philippines - One shot of determination plus a shot of passion; add a glass of skills and a dash of charm and you got the winning formula of Rizza Umlas.

At 21, Rizza Umlas of TGIFridays Glorietta was hailed as the youngest and the first ever female grand winner in the recently concluded TGIFriday’s World Bartender Championship held at the House of Blues in  Dallas, Texas.

What started as a hobby when she was 18 years old led her to bagging one of the most coveted titles in the world of bartending and mixology.

“Di parin ako makapaniwala. I worked hard for this. Yung magawa lang namin yung mga pinaghirapan at pinagpractisan namin okay na, but God did not fail us he gave us the win,” said Umlas at the press conference held at TGIFridays, BGC when asked how she felt when she bagged the coveted title.

While most would probably think that bartending is just a matter of accurate pouring skills, flawless bottle flipping techniques and suave moves, Umlas claims that the secret ingredient to her win is her interaction and engagement to the audience.

“Personality wise, I think that (engagement) made me win. I had to do five cocktails under 10 minutes and it was very hard and nakakapressure pero yung interaction sa audience, yun po siguro and nagdala,” she said.

Asked about her “secret weapon” during the competition she said, “Always smile, do eye contacts,maging masaya ka lang sa ginagawa mo and always anticipate guests' needs kasi yun yung pinakamaimportante, how you read your guests.”

This is the first time in 25 years that the coveted title went to a female bartender. According to Umlas, being a female and the youngest one in the competition earned her an instant edge.

“It’s not a usual thing na babae yung bartender. Common thinking ng mga tao,bartender is lalaki, pero iba pa rin kapag babae,may impact pa din po,” she explains.

During the competition, she topped both the Compulsory Round (drink exam, pour test, wine bottle opening) which made up 50 percent of the total score as well as the Freestyle Round (mixing five drinks under time pressure), besting 10 of the best mixers and shakers behind TGIFridays bars from all over the world.

“We were given 150 drinks to memorize, then wala kaming idea kung ano yung lalabas dun. Lalabas lang is 20 out of 150. Sa pour test naman po, ibibigay nila yung ingredients then kami na bahala magcalibrate,” recalls Umlas.

For the freestyle round, Umlas was tasked to do Amaretto Sour, Screw Driver, Black Russian, Vodka Martini and Electric Lemonade.

The World Bartender Championship represents Fridays' longstanding heritage, knowledge, expertise and innovation in the beverage industry. It began back in the late 80s and has produced world-class bartenders some of whom hail from the Philippines.