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I have been entering every contest that comes across my path for as long as I can remember. I just finished my work on the Mixology Summit for Gran Marnier/ Navan with four new cocktails that I was quite proud of. Still, the chance of success is minimal due to the fact that I called these both "back ground" liquors and played down their roll in a balanced cocktail. My learning curve is sharp because of the pure motivation that comes from competition. Here are two new cocktail contests that I plan to enter http://avernausa.com and http://www.nightclub.com/conventions/las_vegas_2008/shakeitup.html .
The difficulty lies in the fact that you can not use home made pruducts for either. The Averna contest calls for the Liqior to be used as a "base" spirit. Hmmm got coke? The night club contest wants you to use a "local, seasonal, ingrediant" hmm got beats? For godsake it is 3o Degrees out side right now maybe some truffles?
I will post my drinks here and keep this discussion up.
Ooh, I'm doing a Starfruit/Starburst Patron Margarita as my entry!
Do sand and shattered dreams go well with Gin?
David, I'd love to see a more centralized resource for cocktail competitions. What are your sources?
Last night was the Chartreuse Contest hosted by http://www.giltclub.com/ while I had not heard about it till about a week ago It fell on my day off and I was one of the last entries. I was planning to do a carmelised cane/smoked sea salt rim (the flamed chartreuse used like 150 in a spanish) then stir in a chocolate and chilli sabanyon and finish with a steamed milk and Germain Robin mix for a non-coffee coffee style drink. I found out later that we would be making drinks for the entire crowd in plastic mini cups. At this point I was told that the contest would be judged by that sam crowd. This I viewed as imposible so I entered with a much more feasable cocktail..
The Elderwiese
1.5 oz Fazenda Cachaca http://www.caipirinha.us/news/aboutus.asp
.75 oz Green Chartruese
.5 oz St. Germain
Stirred and served up with an orange zest and a dash of Peychaulds bitters
I added the bitters as an aromatic float so I could retain the green hue that we all know so well. This caused me a bit of trouble due to the presentation of the cups and my inablity to lighten my dash.
The winner of the event wasJammie from http://www.parkkitchen.com/ with a NW Winter Sazarac served in a beautiful mayan highball Chartreuse rinsed glass, Jim Beam Rye, a coffee based simple syrup, and a house made NW botanical bitters (it had a nice cinnamon scent)This combo led him to the VEP bottle.
Second Place went to the silent Victory on 3652 SE Division St. He put up a great Lambic based cocktail that was mixed with a "charteuse sweet N sour" it was genius. None of the Bartenders knew what as in the drink some said it tasted like Limoncello.
I took home the third place prise a 750ml of the Yellow type and a $25 gift cert for the Gilt.
All in all It was a great event and there were as many styles as there were participants. The Gilt Club took great care of us I hope they hold it again in the spring so it will get the attention it deserves.
I got a care package from Averna yesterday, and their Limoni mixes incredibly well with their amaro. I thought that might help some of you planning on creating cocktails for the Averna contest. Additionally, if anyone is interested, I do have Averna's press package with Duggan's recipes, history etc if anyone would find that helpful.
I would find the press package quite helpful!
Email me and we'll set up a time for me to scan and email everything to you.
i would love to have a look see at those products I look with my mouth and nose btw
David- I'm free Saturday day if you want to stop by and sample some.
Posting late on this, I'd like to nominate Blair's Sand & Shattered Dreams as the most poetic line to grace the pages of these forums. & it's going on my cocktail menu.
I got selected to attend the Grand Marnier/Navan Mixology Summit in Vail next month. Hey, its a free vacation if nothing else right?
I thought I'd share my recipes-
1) Grand Marnier and OJ
2) Grand Marnier, Vodka and OJ
3) Grand Marnier, Vodka, Navan and OJ
4) Navan and OJ
what are the real drinks you entered.
Honestly, here they are. Not my best work, but I was trying to stay as commercial as possible.
Congrats again on the Mixology Summit. I'd like to see you in the race down the Mountain in CO.
For the record, I HATE snow and I don't ski. I'm a warm weather guy.
You do know you live in Portland, right?
I hate skiing, too, but "a warm weather guy"?
Yeah, I once moved to Lake Tahoe. Spent a whole summer there. As soon as it started to snow I was out of there.
I'm much more Baja than Gstaad, does that work better?
Hello (Alison and David @Treardrop),
On behalf of Grand Marnier and Navan we would like to extend our appreciation for the time and effort that you spent in the 2008 Mixology Summit application process. We received a record number of talented mixologists applications and our panel of judges truly enjoyed reviewing all the profiles and recipes.
The judges performed an extensive review in order to narrow the selection to the top mixologists, it was a very difficult task as many more than 100 applications deserved to be selected to be hired for the event! Unfortunately, we could only pick 100 consultants and your application for attendance was not selected this year.
We are maintaining a short waiting-list for the event and your application is currently on this list. In the coming weeks, if a chosen applicant can not accept our invitation, a Grand Marnier or Navan team member will contact you and you will be formally invited to be hired among the top 100 consultants. As long as your application is not selected, you continue to own full rights for each recipe included in your submission, and we will not use or publish them.
As always, Grand Marnier and Navan will continue to be actively involved in all bartender and mixologist events so stay tuned and look out for upcoming events and contests in your area! We look forward to working with you in the future and we hope to see your application next year for the 2009 Mixology Summit.
Best Regards,
Your friends at Grand Marnier and Navan
I wonder how many people recieved this same notice and how many entries there were....
Lance, your submitted recipes look well suited for contests such as this. I've been a judge for many cocktail contests, and would like to provide some insight which seems obvious to me, but based on a majority of the recipes I often see submitted might not be quite as obvious to others.
Most contests have an open submission, from which they will select the final set of contestants. There are two ways that this elimination can be done. Either the recipes can simply be "looked" at, and determined if they seem like a good recipe or not, or the judges can actually try making the drinks in order to check the recipe out first hand. My preference of course is always to have the recipe actually tried out, and here-in lies the problem. A large number of the recipes submitted will use ingredients which are difficult or time-consuming to acquire. I've had one recipe which called for a very specific marmalade, which was made by the owners of a bed & breakfast in New Hampshire. Another recipe required the use of a home-made infusion, which would take several weeks to make. Others requiring the use of obscure products which aren't sold in my state, and aren't even available via online liquor stores.
When a judge is looking at a list of hundreds of recipes the very concept of even considering making/acquiring some obscure ingredient is enough to make you want to toss that recipe out of the running.
When I lay out the rules for some of the contests I participate in, I will always try to include some sort of wording that indicates recipes should only use ingredients which would be commonly found in a decent bar, or very easy to acquire/make. A "cinnamon infused simple syrup" may not be common, but easy to make (and always include the recipe for something like this!). Amer Picon might be something you always have at YOUR bar, but you know as well as I do that it is impossible to purchase here in the states. And yet I regularly see people submitting recipes that call for it. Even switching out for Torani Amer wouldn't be recommended, because while it is "available" here in the states, the only real way to get it is through online ordering, and do you really think a judge is going to go through and place an online order for the potentially dozens of different products folks might call for in their recipes?
So I can't emphesize enough the need for really thinking carefully about the ingredients you are using in your recipes OR your garnishes when entering a contest.
Another benefit of making your recipes highly "approachable", is that they will then have a much better chance of actually catching on. Such contests will often publish the winning recipes, so imagine if you were some bar-manager looking through a set of winning recipes and saw one that used ingredients you actually had at the bar... chances are better that you might think about putting it on the menu.
-Robert
Thanks Robert. I definitely try to match the drinks with the contest. I'm trying to stay pretty commercial with the upcoming Averna contest as well. I've actually got a pretty simple (but quite tasty) cocktail that uses their amaro, sambuca and limoni. Its actually turned out to be one of my wife's favorite cocktails.
I took Robert's advice for the Averna "Have" contest.
Isabella
1.25 oz Averna'
.5oz lemon
.5oz lemoncello
3oz Proseco
orange zest
P.S. I (heart) Duggan McDonnell!
Have you looked at the entry instructions? Its funny. One of the conditions is that the name can't harm world peace. There goes my Muhammed Cocktail...
New contest from Sutter, using Blush in a cocktail.
Jamie is doing a three post series on wine cocktails, might want to check his stuff out for inspiration.
Jesus. While I have NO issues with a well made rose during the summer, Sutter Home doesn't make any quality roses and instead ruins a perfectly lovely Zinfandel grape with their swill. And don't get me started on white merlot or white cabernet.
Sorry Blair, I'm not trying to take my anger with Sutter Home ("Aged to perfection on the truck ride up") out on you. Its just that I'd like to see them go belly up more than just about anything in the world. Actually, I hate Gallo more, but SH is damn close.
Oh yeah, I'm with you there Lance, and I'm going to do my part and enter the contest in the hopes that, by winning, I would reduce their assets by just that much more.
Yes, Sutter Home, found at your local coach section of a 747.
And if it weren't for Gallo, how would college students ever learn to appreciate wine? Two buck chuck? I think not.
hah, cheap wine jokes.
I can already see my entry. White Zin, peach schnapps, Stoli Vanil, a splash of pomegranate and a splash of cranberry served up with a "lollipop" rim. I'll call it, "The Diabetic Coma"
garnish with a cherry blow pop, served with pop-rocks Yea BAby.
I lived in Modesto back <cough, cough> years ago and anyone throwing a party always invited someone who worked for Gallo, because they got a "bonus" case of wine every month. This was well before Gallo had a high-end line so we're talking half-gallons of Rose and Hearty Burgundy. Hmmm. Puked up a lot of Gallo in my day. This was just before they bought out Red Mountain, which marketed their Vin Rose for $1.49 a gallon. No lie.
Ah, the good old days, as the Aussies say, laughing at the lawn.
Jeff,
I went to high school in Turlock unfortunately. I knew some of the Gallos that went to Central Catholic. Never thought much of people who made their money off selling T-Bird and Nighttrain to winos. I am tempted to see if I can incorporate some TBird into a cocktail one of these days (ooh, or maybe Cisco) to make it palatable. Might be something good to blog about since I'm in a very experimental mode these days.
Turlock?! Ho ho. Right down the road from my high school in Modesto. Both of them great places to be from. You should incorporate some canned apricots or peaches.
Ah, the Central Valley. The only place in the United States where black jeans pass for formal wear.
Maybe I'll do an almond and turkey cocktail in honor of Turlock. Then again, maybe not.
^^ explains alot.
OK, I did my worst. I figured White Merlot was less of an abomination than White Zin or White Cab. Here is what I submitted. I called it a "Shenaut Sunset"
3 oz Sutter Home White Merlot
.75 oz Stoli Vanil vodka
.75 oz Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
2 dashes Regans Orange Bitters
served over the stem with a spritz? It is a honor, thank you.
I just got this from Averna. I didn't know there were "regionals" per se.
Thank you again for entering the ?Have a New Look at
Averna? Cocktail Contest which concluded March 31, 2008 at
11:59pm EST.
The screening process is underway and we will begin
announcing the Semi-Finalists on Friday, April
4th,starting with the entrants from the Western region, by
email and phone call.
SAVE THE DATE!!!
Three Regional Semi-Finalist Competitions will be held as
follows:
Western Regional Competition - Monday, April 14th 6PM
Cantina, 580 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA - (415) 398-0195
Includes entrants from all U.S. states west of the Rocky
Mountains
Northeast Regional Competition ? Monday, April 21st 4PM
Devon Tavern, 363 Greenwich St, New York, NY - (212)
334-7337
Includes entrants from all U.S. states north of North
Carolina and east of the Rocky Mountains (excluding IL &
IN)
Southeast/Midwest Regional Competition ? Monday, April
28th 3:30PM
The Lounge at Casa Tua Hotel, 1700 James Ave, Miami, FL -
(305) 673-0973
Includes entrants from all U.S states south of Virginia
and east of the Rocky Mountains
Semifinalists must be present for the competition in order
to participate. Semifinalists will be permitted to
appoint a representative on their behalf if they are
legitimately unable to be present for the designated
regional competition. Winners will be announced during
the competitions. From the regional competitions a total
of 5 semi-finalists (min 1 per region) will be chosen and
sponsored by Averna USA to fly to Italy and compete for
the grand prize (a $1500 AmEx gift card.)
So they start announcing semi-finalists on the 4th, and you have to be in SF on the 14th, which is a Monday? Kind of harsh for anyone not laying about on piles of money.
They'd better be paying for airfare. Otherwise its not worth it.
Good Evening,
I Just got this. And it is worth it to go to Cantina for Mezcal.
Congratulations! You have been selected as a semi-finalist in the "HAVE a
New Look at Averna" Cocktail Competition. Your Averna Cocktail recipe was
selected from hundreds of entries to move on to the Western Regional
Semifinal Competition.
Western Regional Semifinal Competition - Monday, April 14th 6PM
Cantina, 580 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA - (415) 398-0195
Please let us know no later than 5:00PM EST on Monday, April 7th if you will
be able to participate. It is imperative that all semi-finalists are
present to prepare their own cocktail or that they appoint a representative
to prepare the cocktail at the time of the competition. If you cannot be
present at the competition in San Francisco or cannot appoint a
representative, your spot will be filled by an alternate entrant.
Participants are required to provide any "obscure" ingredients necessary to
prepare their cocktail.
Are any of you pros competing in that rum contest? I just found out about it and the deadline is 4/15, but I might give it a go anyway.
I plan on submitting something but it is in New York so....
Kelly, Lance and I met with Lexie at Rogue last night. The OBG will be running the Great American Distiller's Fest Mixology Comp this year. It is going to be much bigger than last year with celebrity judges, cash prises and (of course) an after party. Stay Tuned.
I'm going to open a Guild only post for more on the OBG/ GADF contest
Hi all,
Two new really exciting cocktail contests coming up. I think that both are pros only and might end up being OBG pros only. I'll open separate posts in the Guild business area so I can share the relevant details.
These are the best contests that I've seen yet. By far.
The GADF/OBG cocktail contest is on Aug 23-24. Finals will be on Sunday at 4 pm. We are working hard with Rogue and Imbibe to make this a killer NW event. The entry fee will be $25 for the contest and the Judge panel is looking great. You can get involved with the event even if you do not want to compete. We will need volunteers with OLCC licences to help man the booths of absentee distlillers and to bar back the contest. We also need a time keeper for the contest. We are hoping to have a side bar that is pouring original drinks from the contest as well as a list formulated on this forum. If you are interested in any of these things please shoot me an email this is your chance to get involved.
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