Newcastle cocktail creator Joseph Miller has been named best mixologist in the UK and second best in the world. The bartender at Blackfriars beat 272 mixologists from 18 countries in the #Brocktail contest from Brockman’s Gin. His winning cocktail – Ping’s Obsession – inspired by a 1933 children’s book about a little duck lost in the Yangtze River, is a mix of 50ml Brockmans Gin, 25ml yuzu juice, 20ml blackberry and sage syrup, two dashes saline solution and two dashes Ms. Better’s Bitters Miraculous Foamer. Blackfriars, Friars Street, Newcastle, NE1 4XN, tel 0191 261 5945, www.blackfriarsrestaurant.co.uk
