HLC Global Bartender Scholarship winners feature five bartenders from Asia. By Holly Graham.

The HLC Global Bartender Travel Scholarship 2022 has announced its 18 winners, who will each be awarded USD$1000 to travel to their chosen cocktail festival to network and hone their skills. Selected by a panel of global industry experts, the winners span 15 cities and the overall applications came from 116 bartenders across 32 countries.

To mark the 18th anniversary of Hanna Lee Communications, the agency pledged $18,000 across 18 bartenders to give back to the community and help develop bar talent. Applicants were asked to post in Instagram with a caption detailing why they chose bartending as their career and the cocktail conference they’d like to attend.

For the full list of winners, see below:

Hnin Pwint Aye (Club Rangoon, Hong Kong), London Cocktail Week

Marcela Alvarez (Clarito Bar, Cartagena, Colombia) Athens Bar Show 

Olarchi Chigor (The Backyard, Port Harcourt, Nigeria), London Cocktail Week

Fifi Bruce (Orania.Berlin, Berlin), Barra México 

Joshua Alabi (Passionglory Lounge, Tema, Ghana), Tales of the Cocktail

David Barr (Front Back, Accra, Ghana), Singapore Cocktail Festival

Abed Foraged Mixologist (Ghana foraged / botanical bartenders Accra, Ghana), Tales of the Cocktail

Jason-Candid Knüsel (NoMad London, London), Tales of the Cocktail

Yeongjun Jo (Villa Records, Seoul, South Korea), London Cocktail Week

Baylee B. Hopings (Forza Storico, Atlanta), London Cocktail Week

Rohan Matmary (Bar Trigona at Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Athens Bar Show 

Alisa Muraviova (A Bar with Shapes for a Name, London), Sydney Bar Week

Riccardo Lugano (Connaught Bar, London), Tales of the Cocktail

Becca Melvill (Cause Effect, Cape Town, South Africa), Bar Convent Berlin

Jesideh Clinton (Precious Bartending, LLC, West Orange, N.J.), London Cocktail Week

AJ Delgra (Amor y Amargo, New York), Tales of the Cocktail

Richie Cruz (Marikina, Philippines), Tales of the Cocktail

Joey Lai (Sunset Terrace at Amanpuri, Phuket, Thailand), London Cocktail Week