So the cheapest way for me to get to London is by coach and for some reason I booked one for 5.30am. Like who does that? It ended up being a great idea, but at the time it felt like the biggest mistake of my life. I was so tired. 

So as things had transpired the week before I'd managed to get myself a job volunteering for LCW. I still wasn't quite sure what I would be doing but I was eager to find out.

The way my day was booked I had work at 4, couldn't check into my hostel until 2 and I was about to arrive in London at 9.30 in the morning giving me 6 1/2 hours to kill. I decided to buy some clothes on Oxford Street before heading to Covent Garden and Seven Dials to collect my wristband. I planned to grab it and go all the way back to Edgware road where I was staying, check in and finally head back to work. What a mission. Most people would have jumped on the tube but me being as awesome as I am I walked it all.

After I'd collected the wristband and met the people I would be working with/for I took a seat in the Ketel One hub. Somehow I got talking to a woman called Jane Ryan who wrote the articles for DiffordsGuide CLASS magazine and it turned out that she was the person that had written the article that I was featured in. 30 of the best cocktails invented since 2000 and I was number 5 on the list. After fangirling slightly I decided to check out the other hubs and pop-up events in the area. I ended up attending a Bacardi Brown Forman seminar pretty much by accident and ended up learning so much about White Rum in less than an hour. There were free tasters too. I was already enjoying my first day.

I made my way to the Hostel and checked myself in. I showered and got changed and started to make my way back to Seven Dials for work. I realised that the walk would take me about 50 minutes so I shortened my journey down to 8 by catching the tube. 

From 4pm I worked my ass off with an iPad helping people to collect their wristbands for the week and also explaining what LCW was about. As an indicator to how busy we were on the first night alone, the 6 of us assigned over 2000 wristbands which in the space of just 5 hours was around 300 wristbands each in total.

Work wrapped up pretty quickly. There was none of the clean up operation that you would normally get with a bar. One of the girls that I was working with and I headed out to the 7 Dials club where Portobello Gin had set up a gin parlour for the week. Walking in it seemed like quite a tacky place but it quickly overthrew my initial judgements and ended up being a really great night. 

Each bar for cocktail week had created/listed a £4 cocktail on their menus and the clubs special was a Tom Collins. It was really great but went down a little bit too easily, so I tried a Paloma next. Being a huge lover of Tequila and a non-lover of grapefruit I wasn't sure what to expect. Again it was really tasty but too easy to drink. Finally I settled on a Manhattan as my choice drink of the night. Classic right?!

Now I like my Manhattans a little on the sweet side but I wanted to let the bartender make it. After all I'm willing to try anything once. He stirred it up and gave it a taste and then proceeded to throw it down the sink. I was really surprised that a bartender would A) throw away stock and be so nonchalant about it and B) see no way to fix the drink by adding something to balance it out. He made me another one and was happy with his result. Boy was I impressed, it was perfect.

I met up with some more of the team as they arrived and the night exploded from there.

This really cool Jazz/Gypsy band started playing and all of a sudden the dancefloor was full of people doing the Lindy Hop and the Charleston and I was blown away by the calibre of it all. 

I was introduced to Tim Robinson who owns Twist London, a big bar events company and he told me I could work for him. Wow a job offer on my first night!!!

Then I met a guy from Cardiff who manages the only modern mixology bar there and became instant friends.

Above: The Worlds 50 Best Bartenders

Words by: Ian Cameron

It's the biggest and arguably the most difficult bartending challenge in the modern drinks industry: welcome to the Diageo Reserve World Class 2013 Global Final.