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New rating guide will pay you in drinks to review bars

On The Pinnacle Guide's dime, reviewers will be asked to order two drinks at each bar they choose and share details of their experience.
Bartender pours a cocktail through a strainer.
Posted at 12:09 PM, Aug 02, 2023

Love cocktails (or mocktails)? If so, The Pinnacle Guide has a dream job for you.

The Pinnacle Guide, according to Travel + Leisure, is a new company that will use a 1-, 2- and 3-Pin rating system to rank bars all over the world. It was founded by Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne, organizers of London Cocktail Week, and Dan Dove, a beverage marketer and manager.

“The Pinnacle Guide will become one of the bar industry’s most respected accolades of excellence and is designed to sit seamlessly alongside all existing bar recognition and ranking systems,” the guide’s website claims.

The organization notes that its rating system takes inspiration from the Michelin Guide, “an endorsement which has entered the vernacular and is the highest honour awarded to a restaurant.”

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The Pinnacle Guide says it will have no limit on the number of bars that can receive a Pin — the Michelin star equivalent — and will “simply reward excellence based on factual, impartial information.” The group plans to award its first Pin by the end of this year.

Think you’ve got the skills to judge the excellence of your local bars? Fortunately, you can be a part of the selection process — free cocktails included.

The Pinnacle Guide is seeking reviewers to anonymously visit bars in their region.

“Reviewers from a variety of backgrounds can apply,” Sharman-Cox told the publication. “Whether you’re a cocktail enthusiast or industry professional, anonymous reviewers can share their passion and respect for this industry to be part of a new distinction for celebrating hospitality.”

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Reviewers will be asked to order two drinks at each bar they review — on The Pinnacle Guide’s dime — and share feedback and details of their experience.

Interested? The Pinnacle Guide is seeking candidates who are “familiar with top-tier bars” and have “little or no notoriety within the drinks industry” so that reviews remain anonymous, reports Travel + Leisure.

Applications are expected to open later this summer. Once you fill out an online form, you may be chosen for a  short phone or video interview designed to gauge your passion and knowledge. If you pass that, you will undergo an online training program. The role lasts two years (you must reapply after that).

See the full application process on The Pinnacle Guide’s website. Good luck!

This story was originally published by Taylor Kuether at Simplemost.com.