FORGET swanky cocktails - an Oxford barman has just beaten the world's best mixers with a drink which uses real ale, is heated with a red-hot poker and is served in a tea cup.

Tim Fitz-Gibbon was back in work as general manager of Raoul's bar, in North Oxford, this week after shaking the boundaries of cocktail making at the unofficial 42 Below World Cocktail Cup in Queenstown, New Zealand.

The 26-year-old archaeology graduate, from Bicester, was part of a three-man UK team who beat cocktail makers from as far afield as Thailand, Australia, United States and Dubai, to be crowned cocktail kings of the world.

Going last in the main competition, Mr Fitz-Gibbon and team mates Jose Da Rocha and Kevin Armstrong had three minutes to prepare ingredients and then seven minutes to shake up their concoction.

Dressed as monks the team broke with convention to create a cocktail based on a 16th century old English recipe which was once popular with men of the cloth.

The drink, which was named Friar Briar's Sack Posset included the New Zealand dark ale called Spate's, egg yolks, nutmeg, cream, honey, cinnamon, Benedictine Liqueur, Manuka Honey Vodka and Tahiti rum.

Once mixed the cocktail was given a blast of heat with a poker which had been warmed over a stove and then, to give it an English twist, it was served up in a tea cup on a saucer. Mr Fitz-Gibbon said they came up with idea to make a hot cocktail because it was so cold in the snow-topped mountainous town on New Zealand's South Island.

"We had our own bar in a villa and were given a week to work on the cocktail before we had to create it for three judges in the town centre. On the night we were a bit worried because the wind was picking up as the evening went on, but it was not that bad when we got on stage and going last actually worked in our favour.

"By the end of the evening the judges were clearly cold in their big coats and I think the drink was like having a really nice cup of tea."

Although the final cocktail-making event carried most points in the competition, teams also participated in different activities throughout the week in the extreme sports capital of the world.

Other events included making a cocktail from unseen ingredients on the side of a mountain and shaking up cocktails doing bungee jumps and going over rapids in a jet boat.

The competition was judged purely on the ingredients used and the taste of the cocktail as opposed the competitors ability to perform tricks with glasses and shakers.

Mr Fitz-Gibbon has been working in cocktail bars for six years and was runner-up in the 2004 bar tender of the year awards. He was chosen from hundreds of barmen to earn his spot in the UK team.

He added: "People are fussy about what they eat and should be equally as fussy about what they drink. I love making good cocktails, for me I don't understand why anyone would want to do anything else."

Matthew Davies, who owns Raoul's, on Walton Street, Oxford, said: "Tim works very hard and I think the amount of effort Tim puts into running this place and training staff, it is a fitting prize for him."

Mr Davies said he was hoping to make the world cup winning drink available to warm the cockles of Oxford punters at Christmas time.