The National Restaurant Association wants your signature cocktail and is offering a $5,000 prize for the winner of its Star of the Bar competition, which is to be selected at the International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event in Chicago. Professionals and amateurs are asked to submit a 90-second video of themselves preparing an original cocktail, using at least one product from sponsor Bacardi, and the written recipe by April 26 at www.winespiritsbeer.org. YouTube users will cast their votes to select six semi-finalists, who will then be flown to Chicago to make their cocktail live on Sunday, May 23. From that group of semi-finalists, event attendees will vote to select three finalists, who will compete that evening at Rockit Bar & Grill, where a panel will select the competition winner. He or she will receive $5,000 cash, have his or her cocktail featured on the menu at Rockit throughout May 2010 and the recipe will also be included in American Airlines’ American Way magazine. See contest rules at www.winespiritsbeer.org.
From more than 2,000 bartenders around the world, the United States team emerged as the winners in the sixth 42Below Cocktail World Cup, held in New Zealand last month. Members of Team USA, who were backed on stage by Run DMC, were Mark Stoddard of Happy/Bitter Bar in Denver, Todd Thrasher of PX, Restaurant Eve and The Majestic in Washington, D.C., and Sean Hoard of PDT in New York City. Team USA was crowned for their wordy cocktail ‘I have too much thyme on my hands right now at this point in my life’. Todd Thrasher crafted the winning cocktail, made with 42Below Vodka, apple bitters, lime thyme syrup and an artichoke aperitif. Team USA was crowned after five days of competition with 24 bartenders representing seven countries.
The first round of the United States Bartenders Guild NYC Cocktail Challenge, held in partnership with DonQ Rum, found Brian Matthys of Izakaya Ten in first place for his Shore Leave cocktail (DonQ Añejo, DonQ Cristal, pineapple juice, Benedictine, lime zest and grenadine). Matthys and others now move on to compete in the semifinals at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic in May. Judges included Albert Trummer of Apoteke, The Liquid Chef Junior Merino, James Menite of Porter House New York and Julian Medina of Toloache.