Lucas Van Es named World Class Canada 2026 Bartender of the Year

While most Canadians were out enjoying their tacos and Margaritas this Cinco de Mayo, Lucas Van Es spent the day at the Four Seasons Whistler doing the bartender equivalent of running a marathon—and coming in first.

On May 5, Van Es, who works at Vancouver’s Keefer Bar, was named Diageo World Class Canada 2026 Bartender of the Year, edging out nine other highly skilled bartenders from across Canada. After an arduous day of muddling, shaking and stirring, he was given the coveted gilded shaker statue and will now move on to represent Canada at the 2026 Diageo World Class Global Final in Scotland this fall.

So, how good did that feel?

“Obviously it feels amazing,” says Van Es. “It hasn’t fully sunk in, but it’s an incredible honour and it feels great after all the hard work and stress and determination that it takes to prepare for this competition. I’m really proud of myself for pulling it off.”

This was his third attempt at the comp, which is not at all unusual for a World Class contender that sees bartenders work for years to achieve their goals.

“It’s like having a second full-time job,” says Kate Chernoff, who won World Class Canada last year.

“I think what the World Class program does is push you to think about drinks from the inside out, so, I think it increases your intentionality,” she adds. “And that stays with you in every move you make, in every job you have, no matter where you’re working.”

Bartenders who succeed at World Class aren’t only on top of their technical skills, they’re also master storytellers focused on expressing their point of view through cocktails.

“My first serious bartending job was at the Acorn, a fine dining restaurant in Vancouver that sourced locally and used a lot of foraged ingredients,” recalls Van Es, who found creative ways to use them in cocktails. “So, it was at an early point in my career that I became inspired to make drinks that had a sense of place.”

From submission to finals, Van Es made over a dozen unique cocktails featuring as many local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients as possible. His favourite, though, was the Rock Garden, a cocktail he created for the Tanqueray 10 challenge, which involved making a modern classic inspired by an industry icon.

“I chose Hiroyasu Kayama, from Bar Benfiddich in Tokyo,” says Van Es, noting that the legendary Japanese bar owner farms and forages all his ingredients. “I don’t have my own family farm, but I used what I have in my front yard, which is a plum tree, so I made a homemade Umeshu (plum liqueur).

He combined this with a syrup made from fresh chamomile and freeze-distilled citrus juice. There’s no single winning drink in World Class, but the Rock Garden scored well, so it was a factor.

So, what’s next? Van Es is going to try to take a short breather and savour the win after “weeks and weeks” of hard work. But, when you have a second full-time job, there’s never really a break in the action.

“I’m also going to be doing some real hard thinking about what the expectations at World Class Global Finals are,” he says. “I’ll be trying to think up some preliminary ideas and dialing in my techniques bartending skills, so I’ll be prepared.”

The pressure is real. Canada has an incredibly strong record at World Class, with four global champions in the past decade—Kaitlyn Stewart (2017), James Grant (2021), Jacob Martin (2023) and Keegan McGregor (2024). All those folks are in his corner and rooting for Van Es.

“Every single one said to me ‘You’ve got my number, let’s make sure you’re ready. Let’s make sure we get this done’,” says Van Es. “We all want to see Canada continue the streak and hopefully bring back another global win.”

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