Have You Applied for the Vail Mixology Summit?

If you are looking to mingle with other bartenders / mixologists from around the country in the bars and on the slopes of Vail, this might be the contest for you.

In their words: "If selected, GRAND MARNIER and NAVAN will use your skills to help build their great brands. In addition to learning from your mixology expertise, we will have fun in Vail -- skiing, snow tubing, seminars, dining and parties. "

Submit your application / recipes via this link by NOVEMBER 30, and you could win airfare to Vail and be invited to participate in fun activities and share your mixology ideas at the Grand Marnier / Navan Mixology Summit. (You pay for your own 2 nights lodging.)

Good luck!

Calling Los Angeles Bartenders!

L.A. Downtown District Cocktail Contest

New York has cocktails named for its neighborhoods and boroughs: The Manhattan, The Brooklyn, and The Bronx. Recently, a couple of bartenders from New York got together and decided to finish naming cocktails after their beloved neighborhoods: The Bensonhurst, Greenpoint, and Little Italy.

Now its your opportunity to create a drink for parts of the City of Angels. Marcos Tello, who heads up our L.A. bartender group called The Sporting Life, is a native Angeleno and leading this competition. Apparently, our downtown is is trying desperately to become a recognized city – like Santa Monica or Beverly Hills, and Marcos’ idea is to create and name cocktails after the 17 Sub-districts in Downtown Los Angeles. Here's how it breaks down:

Eligibility: Bartenders who reside in Los Angeles or the LA area, and native Angelenos who now tend bar elsewhere. (L.A. based enthusiasts are invited to participate, too.)

The Rules: The drink must be a stirred cocktail using a base spirit, modifying vermouth, liqueur (ie. benedictine, curacao, etc.) or sweetening agent, and some type of bitter. No citrus. Ingredients must be readily available, meaning no homemade ingredients or extremely obscure, hard to find ingredients. These need to be made on a regular basis and promoted around the city.

Competition: These cocktails will be presented at January’s The Sporting Life gathering in front of the judge, L.A.’s resident cocktail guru, Ted Haigh. Please do your homework on cocktails that have already been invented as we will discard cocktails too similar to already-established recipes.

Leo Rivas, who works at Seven Grand, inspired this idea with his Arts District Cocktail, so that one is already done. You can choose to honor one of the following districts and submit your recipe to Marcos by December 31:

• Spring Street
• Broadway Theater District
• Civic Center
• Gallery Row
• Fashion District
• Financial District
• Flower District
• Toy District
• Jewelry District
• Bunker Hill
• Chinatown
• South Park
• Old Bank District
• Historic Core
• Skid Row
• Central City West
• Little Tokyo

Good luck – and give L.A. a little love!

Cherry Heering: The Stylish Girl’s Perfect Fashion Accessory…

Or Is It the Other Way Around?

I know I’m a bit late to the game in falling in love with Cherry Heering. I first tasted it in New Orleans this past July in one of the more unique tasting rooms at the Tales of the Cocktail. The imaginative team behind the sweet Danish cherry brandy liqueur paired the luscious elixir with dresses to fit any kind of woman. Now, that’s one way to get a woman’s attention.

Feeling sexy and wild? A sparkling cocktail dress livens up any hot date or upcoming holiday party, particularly with a classic cocktail in hand. Feeling sultry and sweet? Romance your man with a flirty frock and a tasty drink.

Best of all, YOU can get in on the fun. The Accessorize 2009 Competition is a global fashion and drink competition intended for the world’s most talented mixologists and aspiring designers. See below, then submit your entry.

· Cherry Heering is looking for designers to create a cocktail dress inspired by a Cherry Heering cocktail and mixologists to concoct a cocktail based on the dresses and glassware.

· The grand finale will host winners from 12 different countries at the legendary Raffles Hotel in Singapore (birthplace of the Singapore Sling).

Are you excited to open a bottle of Cherry Heering and see what all the fuss is about? While its integral in the aforementioned, and yummy, Singapore Sling, I’ll let you in on a little secret… My favorite cocktail du jour is Blood & Sand.

Although it can seem like a weird combination of ingredients when you first read it – trust me when I tell you that it is freakin’ delicioso! You know I wouldn’t lie to you. You can also impress your pals during cocktail party chit-chat by informing them that this wonderful Fall drink is actually one of just a few scotch cocktails, to boot.

Blood & Sand

3/4 ounce scotch
3/4 ounce Cherry Heering
3/4 ounce Sweet Vermouth
3/4 ounce orange juice

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist. Garnish with the outfit that best suits your mood…

The Art of Mixing

Hennessy Cognac’s Cocktail Contest

Three of L.A.’s finest barmen went cocktail shaker-to-cocktail shaker at the swanky Coco De Ville, a couple of weeks ago. The boutique nightclub is tucked next door to its big sister, STK (which you may remember from my Hot Chicks and a Hunk of Meat post earlier this year). My pal Debbie and I arrived on the early side, which left us plenty of time to settle in with a couple of Sidecars as bartending friends and cocktailian colleagues slowly filed in.

The great Tony Abou Ganim flew in to be Master of Ceremonies, Vincenzo Marianella lent support, and mixology stations were set up around the venue so everyone could get in to try their hand at working with one of the top selling cognacs in the world. Lovely ladies passed around samples of the three competing cocktails, and we, the willing crowd, sipped our way through them, raising glasses and voices for our favorites.

A big congratulations to Joel Black who took home top honors. And, of course, Joe Brooke and Daniel Nelson ain’t no mixology schlumps either. Let’s just say we drank well, that night! Joel now goes on to compete against finalists from New York, Miami and New Orleans. Go Joel!

Joel Black, Comme Ca Restaurant
"Clockwork Orange"
2 oz. Hennessy
3/8 oz. pureed bing cherries
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1/2 oz. orange juice
4 dashes of orange bitters
5 mint leaves
1 pinch of brown sugar
top with Moët Champagne

Muddle mint with brown sugar and bitters. Add lemon, simple syrup and orange juice and Hennessy. Shake and strain in a cocktail glass. Top with Moët Champagne.

Joseph Brooke, Bar Marmont
"Bel-Air Timeshare"
1 1/2 oz. Hennessy
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. apricot preserves
1/4 oz. yelllow Chartreuse
1/4 oz. clover honey syrup
1 dash peach bitters

Shake and strain all ingredients in a cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon peel.

Daniel Nelson, The Doheny
“The Closer”
2 oz. Hennessy
1 barspoon pumpkin puree
4 to 5 dashes of peach bitters
3/4 oz. Ruby Chai Tea infused Navan

Shake and strain all ingredients in a cocktail glass. Garnish with shaved nutmeg and shaved semi-sweet chocolate.

Get Crowned in Monthly Cocktail Competition

Social networking and a cocktail competition have come together in the Christiania Crowns.

Pros and amateurs, alike, have the chance to win a mixology session, Christiania vodka for your next birthday bash and $100 Amex gift card (or Shell gas card). Each month, a different flavor or ingredient is featured (this month is blackberry). You can log in and upload your profile and recipe entry here. From what I can gather, you can enter several times and save up your crowns to redeem them for bigger and better prizes along the way.

Now, ain’t that a prince of a deal for playing around in your home bar!

Bols Video Cocktail Competition

If you have itchy feet and want to win the chance to participate in a 'bartender exchange' in an exotic locale of your choice, then this is the competition for you!

Bols invites you to submit a 3-minute video of yourself making your drink and submit it to their website. The winner gets sent to the country of their choice. Details here.

Celebrity Sips – Drink Like The Queen of England

While watching the recent TV special on England’s Royal Family, I made a mental note that the Queen’s favorite cocktail is gin and Dubonnet. This thrilled me to no end because I had recently bought a bottle of Dubonnet.

My mom, who is English, sipped a glass of it nearly every evening while making dinner, while I was growing up. So, when I saw it on the shelf at BevMo, a little shiver of nostalgia got the best of me, and I decided to take some home. Dubonnet is not expensive or one of those ‘trendy’ drinks every bar is slapping on its menu --- which is actually one more reason to like it, in my opinion. But for some reason, I still felt almost a little defensive placing it in my shopping cart.

Created by Joseph Dubonnet, the fortified wine was intended to help the French Foreign Legion drink down their malaria medicine. Like the gin-and-tonic drunk by the English brigade in India, this health aid soon became a popular drink. Like Campari, Dubonnet is more commonly enjoyed in Europe than the States --- again, one more reason to imbibe. (“Trendy” is not always better…)

You can leave your imprint on history by submitting your own Dubonnet cocktail to www.doyoudubonnet.com. After all, if its good enough for Her Majesty, what are you holding out for?

The Shake Down

The Vodka Cup was divided into two competitions. First, the five US champions participated in the US Shake Off. The winner from this event went on to represent the USA in the International finals, a few hours later.

Both competitions took place at this bar, made entirely of ICE, in the Ice Hotel, in Lapland, Finland.

In both competitions, the bartenders made three rounds of drinks; an aperitif, a long drink and a dessert drink. Each round was timed, so the bartenders had 7 minutes to create their cocktails, consisting of up to 5 ingredients and a garnish. When the buzzer went off, the compeleted cocktails were taken back to the judges who sat in a separate (heated) building.

The main room, in which the competition took place, was well below zero (as was the whole ice construction) and the bartenders hands shook (from nerves and the cold), while the rest of us sipped warm beverages in our full-body snowsuits (my favorite was the Finlandia Mango with Hot Chocolate... YUM!) God bless the bartenders!

The Five US Regional Finalists are:

Lisa Combs
Region: Detroit
Drinks: Mango Tango
Sparkling Berrilicious
Bera Skin Rug

Paul Stern
Region: Chicago
Drinks: Mango Warm Up
Thai Lime Cooler
Fin Berry Brulee

Katriva Riggins
Region: Miami
Drinks: Coy Fin Cocktail
Fin Vine
Mocha FINal

Jason Magers
Region: Arizona
Drinks: Helsinkian Nuclear Wombat
Starlight Margarita
Wildberry Joe

Aaron Specht
Region: Denver
Drinks: Wango Mango
Finnish Fama Mama
Key to Finland

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on the winner of the US Shake Off, who went on to meet 21 international competitors in the finals... (and, yes, I will be providing drink photos and recipes!)

Arriving in Helsinki, Almost Perfect...

Much to my delight, when I checked in for the second leg of my journey, from NY to Helsinki, the woman behind the counter smiled and directed me to the Ambassador's Lounge to wait for my flight. They don't do that if you're flying economy, so it was a huge relief considering its a long flight.

I met up with "Team Finlandia" in the lounge bar. Then we did what travel writers, bartenders and liquor company associates do best - we ordered a few rounds. It is a fun group, and the bartenders look to be a talented lot, indeed! So far, I've met the US Finalists and one from El Salvador. I think we meet the European winners tomorrow, in Lapland. I am going to try to get some info up on each one, so you can play along, in Sipsterland, and choose your favorite.

The first thing that struck me as we approached the airstrip in Helsinki was the plane window. It was covered in frost. Yep, its gonna be a cold one, kids!

Tonight, we are in Hotel Klaus K, in Helsinki. Simple and swank. Signature minimalist Scandinavian design, incorporating natural materials and clean lines. Adorable room. By adorable I mean small, yet well-decorated. I'd love to link to it and show you, but for some reason my tool bar isn't working... (almost perfect)

Now, the bad news... my luggage is nowhere to be found. Finnair has no answers. I've been calling all day. Yes, all my warm weather purchases are in my suitcaes. It is about 12 degrees (F) here (read: freezing) and we haven't even headed north yet. Then, when we got to the hotel, half of our rooms weren't ready.

So, a little group of us walked just a few blocks from the hotel, to get coffees (awesome lattes!) and sandwiches (amazing sunflower seed bread stuffed with meat and cheese). With my hat, gloves, long johns or $25 dollar socks locked safely within my missing suitcase, I shivered til I went numb. Upon return to the hotel, Carol, who represents Finlandia vodka, took pity on me and lent me a pair of long johns and socks. God bless her!

Cocktails in the hotel bar can heal everything, though. That's the El Salvadorian bartender up on the bar (left) doing bar tricks and already flirting with every lady in the room. I'm thinking this is gonna be one hell of a cocktail competition!