Wow, what a fun event. Christine D’Abrosca England, beverage manager at Malo did a great job putting the event together, and everyone had a blast. We also got to sample a great many very tasty cocktails.

Alas, my pictures were wretched, for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that I was more preoccupied with cocktail judging than I was with photography, plus my camera performs very poorly in low-light situations. (That’s on the agenda for this year — a Nikon D90 with a professional-quality flash.) For better photography of the event, check out the shots from Stephen Cheng, the event’s official photographer.

The coolest aspect of the event was the half that featured female mixologists (look out, gentlemen!), all of whom made delectable concoctions that also featured the common base spirit to the event, Gran Centenario’s port-barrel-rested, hibiscus-infused reposado tequila Rosangel. The non-competing featured mixologists were Natalie Bovis, “The Liquid Muse”, Kylee Van Dillen of The Westside Tavern, Tina Brandelli (who used to work at Alembic in San Francisco, but somehow I managed to not find out where she’s working here) and “Liquid Chef” Kim Haasarud (whom I’ve known by reputation for years and whose husband I worked with for years, but whom I only managed to meet for the first time at the event!) who among many other places is arranging the cocktail program for Downtown’s forthcomign Bottega Louie. My good friend Marleigh Riggins was scheduled but wasn’t able to make it due to a bad back (d’oh!), but here’s the cocktail she would have served, with two posts on its creation:

The Mojave Fix
(Created by Marleigh Riggins)

2 ounces Gran Centenario Rosangel Tequila.
1/2 ounce Oloroso sherry.
1 ounce piloncillo-hibiscus-chipotle syrup (recipe below).
1 ounce fresh lemon juice.
1/2 ounce soda water.
Orange flower water.

Shake tequila, sherry, syrup and lemon juice over ice. Strain into a double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice and top with soda. Sprinkle a few drops of orange flower water over the top and garnish with a lemon blossom.

Piloncillo-Hibiscus-Chipotle Syrup

1 cone piloncillo.
3/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers.
5 small-medium dried chipotle chiles (not in adobo).
2 cups water.

Bring water and piloncillo to a boil in a medium saucepan. Simmer until piloncillo is fully dissolved, remove from heat and add hibiscus and chiles. Let syrup steep for at least two hours, up to overnight. Strain through cheesecloth into a jar and refrigerate.

I was thinking about a piloncillo syrup when I first got ahold of this, but not an infused one! Yummers — I expect to have one of these made for me soon, Marleigh!

(I did actually make a plain piloncillo syrup, and I found that the best way to get it to dissolve easily is to place the piloncillo cone into a heavy freezer-type ziploc bag, then place that bag into another bag, then pound the crap out of it with a hammer until it’s powder. Otherwise prepare to wait an hour and a half for that big hard cone of sugar to dissolve.)

I managed to snag a couple of the other recipes, although I was seriously bummed not to have gotten any of this one — Natalie’s shift behind the stick was when I was tasting the competitors’ creations, and I missed it completely, d’oh. Here’s hoping Natalie saved me a little of her homemade ingredient too, ’cause this drink looked lovely.

Flor de Maria
(Created by Natalie Bovis)

1-1/2 ounces Gran Centenario Rosangel Tequila.
1/2 ounce homemade hibiscus cabernet syrup (hibiscus tea syrup with a cabernet reduction).
1/4 ounce Luxardo Maraschino liqueur.
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice.
Spritz of orange flower water (load into mister).
1 – 2″ piece of orange peel.
Lemon peel for garnish.

Muddle orange peel in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add maraschino liqueur, syrup, lemon juice and tequila. Shake with ice for 10-12 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. Spritz with orange flower water. Garnish with a sliver of lemon zest.

I did get to try Kylee’s, and it was delicious; besides the base spirit she uses one of my favorite ingredients these days. Go see her at the Westside Tavern if you’re local.

Per Gazardiel
(Created by Kylee Van Dillen, Westside Tavern, Los Angeles)

2 ounces Gran Centenario Rosangel tequila.
3/4 ounce Aperol.
3/4 ounce grapefruit juice.
3/4 ounce simple syrup.
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice.
2-3 basil leaves, torn.

Muddle the basil with the spirit ingredients, add juices and syrup and shake with ice for 10-12 seconds. Double-strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a whole basil leaf.

Now, onto the competition! The competitors were Juan Alvarez, bartender at J. King Neptune’s in Sunset Beach and current president of the Los Angeles chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild; Mark Blackhart, not a professional bartender but an enthusiast who writes about his cocktail nerdiness at Drink Well; Jason Bran of The Roger Room; Matty Eggleston [formerly] of The Varnish and The Hungry Cat; and finally Silamith Weir, who doesn’t currently work behind the stick but [until recently was] the local brand represntative for the fabulous Martin Miller’s Gin.

Besides myself the judges were ace bartender Marcos Tello (or, to be specific, his alter-ego Marcela) of The Varnish and The Edison The Tar Pit, and pastry chef Cat Schimenti, [formerly] of Craft Los Angeles (and ’09 James Beard Award nominee!). This was my second competition as a judge, and another wonderful learning experience. Working on this with Cat was a particular pleasure, to get the perspective of someone who’s highly trained and has great expertise in flavor but isn’t a bartender. Her approach as a pastry chef was fascinating during our deliberations.

Without further ado, the winner of the judges’ choice award … *drum roll* … Matty Eggleston for his creation called The Lullaby. Before tasting I took one look at the recipe card on Matty’s table and said, “Oh man … tequila and Nutella?! Huevos of steel!” Seriously, Matty is one of the most creative and inventive bartenders I know, and really thinks outside the box when it comes to flavors, both sweet and savory (and even meaty!). As skeptical as one might have been when presented with these ingredients, they combined beautifully in a three-ingredient cocktail in which the preparation belied the simplicity of the ingredients. The tequila flavor was prominent, with the fruitiness of the Rosangel complementing the nutella which, when smoothed out by the steamed milk and accented by the cinnamon garnish made you think of Mexican chocolate. Creative and daring and delicious.

The Lullaby
(Created by Matty Eggleston)

4 ounces Gran Centenario Rosangel Tequila.
3 tablespoons Nutella.
1/2 cup whole milk.

In a frothing tin, steam 1/2 cup whole milk and Nutella. Steam until warm and agitate with bar spoon. Add the tequila and steam a moment more. Pour into four tea cups or larger espresso cups. Garnish with a light dusting of freshly grated cinnamon and orange zest.

I need to double-check the milk amount with Matty — the recipe card was a bit confusing with the way it was printed. It’s either 1/2 or 1 cup.

Now for the people’s choice winner … the creamy, tangy entry from Silamith Weir.

Casa Blanco
(Created by Silamith Weir)

2 ounces Gran Centenario Rosangel.
1/2 ounce Matusalem Gran Reserva.
3 chunks of pineapple.
4-5 basil leaves (shredded).
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice.
1/2 ounce sweetened condensed milk.
1/2 ounce simple syrup.

Muddle pineapple and basil together. Add all other ingredients and shake vigorously. Strain into cocktail glass.

If you have a Latino market near you, Nestle’s La Lechera brand of sweetened condensed milk now comes in handy resealable squeeze bottles, making it perfect for mixing this drink … as well as drizzling on fruit, sno-balls or, um, directly into your mouth. (Okay, into a spoon and then into your mouth.)

Congratulations to the winners and to all the mixologists who participated!

While foraging for Irish whiskey cocktails for St. Patrick’s Day, I got an emil from GreggO this morning about this drink, created by our pal Jackson Cannon at Boston’s Eastern Standard. This looks fantastic, and I’ll bet it’d be super deadly with Irish brown bread.

Bushmills in the Afternoon
Adapted from Jackson Cannon, Eastern Standard, Boston)

1/2 slice (about 3/4-inch thick) of artisanal wheat bread or Irish brown bread.
2 ounces Bushmills Irish whiskey.
1 egg.
1/2 ounce honey syrup (1 part honey dissolved in 1 part warm water).
1/2 ounce fresh orange juice.
Dash of Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6 (or other orange bitters).
Freshly grated cinnamon, for garnish.

In a mixing glass, muddle the bread with the whiskey for 1 minute, then pass the mixture through a tea strainer into a cocktail shaker, pressing on the bread to extract all of the whiskey (you should get about 1-1/2 ounces). Add the egg, honey syrup, orange juice and bitters and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds to 1 minute longer, until the drink is frothy and well-chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a small pinch of freshly grated cinnamon.

Oh Jaysis … this was really, really feckin’ good. 🙂

While foraging for Irish whiskey cocktails for St. Patrick’s Day, I came across this one I had forgotten about, an original by Dave Wondrich, appearing in his book Killer Cocktails:

Weeski

2 ounces Irish whiskey.
1 ounce Lillet blanc.
1 teaspoon Cointreau.
2 dashes orange bitters.

Stir and strain, lemon twist.

This follows Dave’s formula for creating new cocktails from the various contents of your bar. It doesn’t always work, but it works most of the time, sometimes really well.

The basic recipe template is:

2 ounces base spirit (whiskey, rum, tequila, gin, genever, brandy, whatever), 1 ounce aromatized wine (vermouth, port, sherry, quinquina, Lillet, Dubonnet, etc.), 1 teaspoon/barspoon liqueur, and 1-2 dashes bitters. Start digging in your liquor cabinet and give it a try sometime.

Yeah, I know I haven’t posted since Mardi Gras. Yeah, I know I’m a lazy bastard. God Emperor of Procrastination. Now, let’s move on and have a drink.

Wes was just grabbing bottles and letting ideas burble forth in his head the other night, and came up with this really delicious drink inspirted by the Perfect Martini. I couldn’t find anything in CocktailDB with this particular combination of ingredients, so in the amazingly unlikely case that nobody’s thought of it, we need to try to get him to name it. He’s thinking of it, and I’ll update with a picture tonight. In the meantime …

[Hours pass by.]

Okay, I think the drink has been officially named now. I suggested this one, which is only fair, since Wesly came up with the brilliant name for what was to become my Réveillon Cocktail, when I was just about to give it a really, really stupid name.

“Anodyne” means something that relieves or eliminates pain, and it was particularly appropriate as he came up with the drink while suffering a bout of pretty nasty neck and shoulder pain. (He was being persnickety, after a bit of googling revealed that a “true” anodyne is only applied externally; I said, “It’s a great name, so hush,” or something like that.) It’s also the name of Uncle Tupelo’s final album, and they’re one of my favorite bands of all time, so we get an extra level of oomph in the name.

Try to avoid substituting. Use Lillet and Punt E Mes, and don’t swap out the gin for something less intense. The cocktail works best with the specified ingredients, and they’re common enough.

The Anodyne Cocktail
(by Wesly Moore, Los Angeles, 2009)

2 ounces Beefeater gin.
1 ounce Lillet blanc.
1/2 ounce Punt e Mes.
3 dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6.
Orange peel.

Combine ingredients with ice. Stir for 30 seconds and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Flame the orange peel over the drink, and garnish with the orange peel.

This is really, really tasty.

Here’s one of the winning cocktails from the Los Angeles Downtown Sub-District Cocktail Competition of 2009 (details and rules here), judged by Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh.

Jewelry District Cocktail
(by Rhachel Shaw, Malo Taqueria)

3/4 ounce Bourbon (Bulleit)
3/4 ounce Applejack
1/2 ounce Sweet Vermouth (preferably Vya)
1/2 ounce Honey Liqueur (Barenjäger)
2 Dashes Orange Bitters
2 Dashes Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters (Fee Bros.)

Stir & strain.
Flamed Orange Peel – Cocktail Glass