Playing it cool was the secret to Delvin Caines retaining his title as Bermuda's best bartender.

Fresco's jovial and charming bartender won the Third Annual Taste of Bermuda's Bartender's Competition for the second year in a row. In 1997, Mr. Caines took home the silver medal in the inaugural Taste of Bermuda event.

The `mix-meister' served up three frozen drinks that froze out the competition at last week's contest.

"I made three drinks,'' explained Mr. Caines. "They were all frozen. One was rum based, called Grand-dad's Applesauce, the second was vodka-based, called Strawberry Supreme and the third was a non-alcoholic drink called Joy's Banana.'' "I would like to congratulate Delvin once again,'' said Taste of Bermuda chairman, Graham Redford. "A past winner of the competition, he is definitely setting the standard for his fellow bartenders.

"The Taste of Bermuda is proud to have Delvin as a member of our culinary team. He will definitely be an asset as we compete in the Taste of the Caribbean in Miami at the end of the month.'' Mr. Caines, a graduate of the New York Institute of Bartending, will accompany the Bermuda Culinary Team to Miami, Florida for the Taste of the Caribbean Culinary Competition.

The prestigious contest, which takes place July 28 to August 1, provides education and inspiration through seminars, workshops, tastings and demonstrations that are created to enhance performance, style and profitability in food and beverage operations.

Earlier this year, Mr. Caines won a bronze medal at America's Food and Beverage Trade Show which was also held in Miami.

"I might make the same drinks when I get to Miami,'' said Mr. Caines. "It depends on how I feel.'' The three original concoctions are not the first to be created by the cocktail master.

"I have a whole menu of my own concoctions,'' he revealed. "I have created everything from shots to after dinner drinks.

"I look at bottles and I say `ok, that will go with that and that' and then I think of a chaser. They usually turn out very good -- if I make a drink, it has to taste good.'' Anyone can walk in to Fresco's and ask Mr. Caines to create a new and original drink for them.

"The other day a guy came in and wanted me to make him a wine-based drink,'' he recalled. "I usually don't use wine as a base, but I managed to come up with something and he loved it.'' Most of Mr. Caines' original drinks contain fresh fruit since he shuns carbonated beverages.

"All my drinks have fresh fruit in them,'' he said. "There's no soda in my drinks because soda is bad for you. I only use fruit juice as a chaser.'' Caines is Bermuda's best bartender "I have created about 30 original drinks,'' he added. "And almost every recipe I have created is kept filed in my head. I have only written a few down because I know that I will forget it.

"I hope to come up with a book soon.'' Mr. Caines said it was his love for his work that prompts him to exercise his creativity and brew new liquid refreshments.

"I love my job,'' he exclaimed. "When you enjoy your job as much as I do you become creative and make stuff up.

"The best part of being a bartender is meeting new people and hearing them say `God, you make good drinks!''' Mr. Caines said he became a bartender because he grew weary of being a waiter.

"I was tired of being a waiter,'' he explained. "And bartenders make more money than waiters.'' And he said that the key to becoming a master barman was simple -- practice.

"Just like anything else, you have to practice to become good at it,'' he said. "For anyone thinking of becoming a bartender, start at the Bermuda College and do their course.

"After that, hopefully they'll get the chance to work under the direction of a mixologist who will show them the ropes.'' Mr. Caines said that he owed some of his award-winning skills to bartender Maurice Harvey at Coral Beach.

"He taught me bar etiquette and how to mix,'' he recalled. "He's my mentor.''