Jester
12-11-2007, 09:31 AM
As some of you know, I enjoy a good contest. For example, I have been in the last ten of a local bar's monthly cookoffs, placing five times (two firsts and three thirds), and have my 11th tomorrow. (The cookoff was featured in a local magazine this month, and while I was not named, two of my dishes were mentioned in the article, and more importantly, a third of my dishes was featured in one of the two photos accompanying the article.)
I have also competed in three bartending contests. Not the kind where you are doing all kinds of bottle tricks, but the kind where you are tasked with creating a new and original cocktail using the sponsoring company's product. All three of these were sponsored by rum companies, and as I am a rum guy, I didn't do too badly: 1st place in my very first bartending contest, DNP in the second, and fourth in the third.
Tonight I competed in my very first vodka bartending contest, sponsored by Finlandia Vodka. This was definitely one of the more organized contests I've been involved with, as Finlandia has been doing this for a while, and really had things down, and as organized as such a chaotic thing can be. I was one of 9 bartenders competing, with the top three getting cool prizes, the top one being a trip to Finland to compete with winners from other U.S. States. And even though I hate the cold, and the trip to Finland is at the end of January, naturally I wanted to win. Heck, I would not mind going to Finland, even in January!
My three cocktails were well received, even my apertif which I had the least confidence in of my three. Sadly, however, I did not place in the top three. (I tried to find out where I placed afterwards, but kind of got blown off. No biggie....I just hope I didn't come in 9th out of 9!) I DID do better than I thought, and was proud of all three of my cocktails....especially since I had never tasted them beforehand, but merely formed the recipes in my head ahead of time. (Though I did taste test and adjust the recipe of my apertif shortly before the contest began.)
The guy who won is apparently damn good....he has won the big local tequila bartending contest the last two Cinco de Mayos. So naturally, he is going to be the guy to beat in future contests.
There were definitely some interesting creations, some of which I liked, some of which I didn't, but all the competitors were really cool, and were often helping each other out in various ways. Which you don't always see in these types of situations.
Also, there were some very innovative things done. The guy who won actually had one drink that had a HUGE piece of ginger root on the rim of the glass as a garnish. (Yes, there was ginger in the drink as well.) But the Jester Award for Thinking WAAY Outside the Box goes to the girl from Orlando: on her dessert drink, she rimmed the martini glass with vanilla cake frosting and brown sugar. Two words: Yum! Mee! :D
And I did not walk away empty-handed. In addition to learning a lot and gaining a lot of experience for my next contest, I also got a messenger bag with a Finlandia keychain, some Finlandia literature (being a non vodka drinker, I will probably read this and toss it! :lol: ), a couple of Finlandia pins, a bottle of Finlandia Mixed Berries Fusion Vodka (we got to pick which flavor we would take, and this was the most palatable to me), and a cool Finlandia "Bartenders are Gods" t-shirt, which I had actually seen before and always wanted.
Oh, and one hell of a late night onset hangover. I crashed at my friend's place for a few hours downtown, as I was pretty lit. :drink: And now my brain is doing laps around my skull. :lol:
I have also competed in three bartending contests. Not the kind where you are doing all kinds of bottle tricks, but the kind where you are tasked with creating a new and original cocktail using the sponsoring company's product. All three of these were sponsored by rum companies, and as I am a rum guy, I didn't do too badly: 1st place in my very first bartending contest, DNP in the second, and fourth in the third.
Tonight I competed in my very first vodka bartending contest, sponsored by Finlandia Vodka. This was definitely one of the more organized contests I've been involved with, as Finlandia has been doing this for a while, and really had things down, and as organized as such a chaotic thing can be. I was one of 9 bartenders competing, with the top three getting cool prizes, the top one being a trip to Finland to compete with winners from other U.S. States. And even though I hate the cold, and the trip to Finland is at the end of January, naturally I wanted to win. Heck, I would not mind going to Finland, even in January!
My three cocktails were well received, even my apertif which I had the least confidence in of my three. Sadly, however, I did not place in the top three. (I tried to find out where I placed afterwards, but kind of got blown off. No biggie....I just hope I didn't come in 9th out of 9!) I DID do better than I thought, and was proud of all three of my cocktails....especially since I had never tasted them beforehand, but merely formed the recipes in my head ahead of time. (Though I did taste test and adjust the recipe of my apertif shortly before the contest began.)
The guy who won is apparently damn good....he has won the big local tequila bartending contest the last two Cinco de Mayos. So naturally, he is going to be the guy to beat in future contests.
There were definitely some interesting creations, some of which I liked, some of which I didn't, but all the competitors were really cool, and were often helping each other out in various ways. Which you don't always see in these types of situations.
Also, there were some very innovative things done. The guy who won actually had one drink that had a HUGE piece of ginger root on the rim of the glass as a garnish. (Yes, there was ginger in the drink as well.) But the Jester Award for Thinking WAAY Outside the Box goes to the girl from Orlando: on her dessert drink, she rimmed the martini glass with vanilla cake frosting and brown sugar. Two words: Yum! Mee! :D
And I did not walk away empty-handed. In addition to learning a lot and gaining a lot of experience for my next contest, I also got a messenger bag with a Finlandia keychain, some Finlandia literature (being a non vodka drinker, I will probably read this and toss it! :lol: ), a couple of Finlandia pins, a bottle of Finlandia Mixed Berries Fusion Vodka (we got to pick which flavor we would take, and this was the most palatable to me), and a cool Finlandia "Bartenders are Gods" t-shirt, which I had actually seen before and always wanted.
Oh, and one hell of a late night onset hangover. I crashed at my friend's place for a few hours downtown, as I was pretty lit. :drink: And now my brain is doing laps around my skull. :lol: