Event Report: 3rd PBO Cocktail & Bar Festa 2017

Intro

August 27th was the 3rd PBO Cocktail & Bar Festa 2017, held at Courtyard Marriott Ginza Tobu Hotel. "Bartending Experience" was the theme of this year's event, so in addition to the standard lineup of vendor booths, PBO had an entire section of the venue devoted to allowing attendees to try various bartending techniques for themselves.

PBO is Japan's "Professional Bartender's Organization," but I'm still not clear on how's it different from the Nippon Bartenders Association (NBA). In any case the PBO, established in 2002, is a non-profit with a mission to assist in the development and growth of professional bartenders through education and training of cocktail creation and techniques.

The PBO Cocktail & Bar Festa 2017 is the 3rd time this event was held, but the first time I've attended. And now I'm kicking myself for not having gone in years past. It was a lot of fun!

Since the event was split into three different zones (Experience of Bartending Zone, World's Liquor Selection Zone, Worldwide Competition Zone), I'll structure this event report in the same way. Let's dive in! Click through below to move to the next page.