Monaghan, owner of Below Stairs Bar, beat 30 other bartenders from around the world in a virtual edition of the competition which challenges entrants to make the most ‘spectacular’ sustainable cocktail.

Steamship is a zero water waste cocktail made with home-made cacao and lime bitters, coffee liqueur made from re-used Nicaraguan coffee beans and Fair Trade certified sugar, saline solution and Flor de Caña 12, served over ice on a coaster made from dehydrated pear.

“I wanted to create a beautiful cocktail that captured the essence of Nicaragua and proved that sustainability can be embraced behind the bar to improve the flavour and experience of our cocktails,” said Monaghan.

As the first Global Champion of Flor de Caña Rum’s Sustainable Cocktail Challenge, Monaghan was awarded US$10,000 and his original cocktail creation will be promoted globally by the brand.

Carlos Sierra from Colombia and Joe Ngui Wee Kwong from Malaysia earned the second and third spots in the competition, winning a prize of US$5,000 and US$2,500 respectively.

The competition was judged by Salvatore Calabrese, Julio Cabrera, Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne. Each drink was evaluated based on four criteria: sustainability, flavour and appearance, creativity and inspiration.

The Sustainable Cocktail Challenge is a celebration of Flor de Caña Rum’s commitment to sustainability and its way of sharing and promoting these values with the global bartending community.

In addition to being the world’s only Carbon Neutral and Fair Trade certified spirit, its rum is distilled using 100% renewable energy and all CO2 emissions during fermentation are captured and recycled.