On 16 April 2009, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, the Guinness World Records™ total for the greatest number of cocktails was successfully broken. The new record of 662 cocktails mixed in 60 minutes was achieved by Chris Raph (USA), bar manager at The Shout House Dueling Pianos, the city’s premiere duelling piano venue. The Shout House opened its doors in 2004 and has twice received the Minnesota Daily’s Grapevine Award for Best Downtown Bar.

“We’re taking the Shout House’s high-energy entertainment to another level with this unique chance for the public to watch a world record being broken,” said Joe Woods, the venue’s owner, prior to the event. “And if we raise some money for a great local charity, all the better!”

The record attempt started at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, 16 April, and was emceed by the very talented The Shout House Dueling Piano Players. Raph’s years of experience behind the bar of one of Minneapolis’s busiest nightclubs – as well as his participation in many flair- and speed-bartending competitions – clearly served him well. He overtook the previous record of 389 cocktails, set by Matthias Knorr (Germany) in Munich, Germany, by an amazing 273 cocktails.

Raph used different kinds of vodkas, tequilas, sodas and juices in his record attempt and although he had to repeat some of the cocktails during the event he broke the previous record only 37 minutes after starting it with his 390th cocktail of the night: a Citrus Orange Cranberry Fizz.

With 23 minutes left, Raph allowed himself to enjoy the experience and some seconds before the time expired, he prepared his 662nd and final cocktail: a Vanilla Press. He poured out 1.5 oz of vanilla-flavoured vodka, 2 oz of soda, 2 oz of lemon-lime carbonated soft drink and raised his hands to celebrate the historic moment. The record-breaking cocktail was auctioned for $200 on behalf of the Finnegan’s Community Fund, whose mission is to create sustainable change for those affected by the cycle of poverty through profits from Finnegans Irish Amber and other innovative products and events. This charity also benefitted from the ticket sales for the event.

Guinness World Records Adjudicator Carlos Martínez was on hand to declare Raph’s official status as the new official Guinness World Records record-holder for the category.

Chris Raph inaugurated his recent status as a GWR record-holder by showing off his skills in the recent Kentucky Derby.

Pictures by Kevin Masterman and Scott Palmer

23 April 2009