ITS student Nicole Galea is the overall winner at the 13th G&T Cup 2018, a cocktail competition held in Slovenia.

Ms Galea came first in music combination and in technique and was the overall winner out of 30 competitors from 12 countries.

She was accompanied by ITS student Alana Attard, who also competed and placed in the top 10.

ITS lecturer and the students’ mentor for the past weeks, Richard Pons accompanied the students. He said that as a lecturer, he considered this “the peak of my career. I have had students that are now my colleagues, students working in management at leading businesses, however, to have a student win an international cocktail competition and another getting good points, that I consider as the most rewarding”.

The most striking aspect of this competition is that music is considered an essential link in the chain.

Each competitor was required to work with a cocktail rooted in a spirit base and connect a musical genre to the brand name of the beverage.

The participants had to fashion a cocktail inspired by a particular song or musical genre. Points were awarded according to how successfully the students managed to combine the cocktail and music and explain their creation, coming up with a background story to explain the reason for each specific amalgamation.

Competitors were assessed by means of a written exam, as well as the actual cocktail competition.

In a joint statement, ITS chairman and CEO, Carlo Micallef and Pierre Fenech, respectively, said both students not only represented ITS but also Malta.