The Vinos de Jerez Cocktail Competition is back for 2014!
We are now accepting entries to find America’s best Sherry Cocktail and we’d love to have yours. You may use any style of Sherry from any bodega in Jerez. Please tell us: the precise recipe, the proper garnish, the ideal glass. You must explain in writing: why your cocktail is great, when to serve/how, the exact preparation and steps of assembly, the perfect [bar] food match, and why. MORE>>
Flavor Your Way to $5,000 at The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley Flavor Challenge
The Perfect Purée is challenging bartenders nationally to show off their creativity until September 14, 2014. Choose a flavor, create your masterpiece cocktail, snap a photograph and enter. Step 1: Choose a Flavor Choose one of The Perfect Purée’s delicious flavors to craft your masterpiece cocktail. Want some inspiration? Foodservice Professionals can request samples delivered right to their doorstep. MORE>>
Champagne Can Add Flavorful Balance to Cocktails
Yeasty and buttery, floral and fruity, Champagne can balance out a cocktail with acidic, bubbly flair, according to presenters at a Tales of the Cocktail seminar in New Orleans on July 16th. The presentation marked the first major appearance of Champagne at Tales of the Cocktail, panelists said, but the French wine was apparently a welcome addition. MORE>>
Drink Me Now: Strawberries
Strawberries have many would-be complementary bedfellows when put together in a shaker (or blender). Fresh herbs are a natural match, especially mint, basil, thyme, rosemary and tarragon. A strawberry & basil Caipirinha has long been a favorite of mine and with the addition of a few drops of balsamic vinegar, the Brazilian stalwart becomes deeply complex. Strawberry can also be thrown into almost any classic cocktail that contains citrus, such as a Collins, Sour, Margarita, Swizzle or Fizz, among others. MORE>>
Is that a Dandelion in my Drink? Cocktails Gone Wild
Farm-to-table sourcing is downright tame compared with what some distillers and bartenders are doing to source spirited ingredients. They're foraging for wild-grown plants in local parks, fields and forests. "There are some weeds that you suddenly find value in when you can do something with them," cocktail historian Jared Brown of Mixellany said MORE>>
Record-Breaking Cocktail Created for Commonwealth Games
A drink dubbed the world's most complicated cocktail has been created to mark the Commonwealth Games this month. The “Commonwealth Cocktail” contains a record-breaking 71 ingredients, one from each of the nation’s competing in the games. Ingredients in the drink come from six continents and include Namibian prickly pear, Sri Lankan jakfruit, Canadian logan berries and English red apples, along with Scotch whisky. MORE>>
Melbourne International Spirits Competition August 31 - September 1st, 2014
The Melbourne International Spirits Competition is the first major international spirits competition with TRADE ONLY judges comprised of: buyers from the top retail stores, restaurant owners, cocktail bars, hotel beverage directors, distributors and importers. Unlike other spirits competitions, these judges have purchasing power and the ability to make a direct impact on brand sales. MORE>>
New Booze: Amaro de Angostura from House of Angostura
Known for its bitters and rum-making heritage, the House of Angostura - with the only rum distillery in Trinidad today - marks its 190th anniversary with the U.S. arrival of Amaro di Angostura. Unveiled at Tales of the Cocktail, the world's premier cocktail festival held annually in New Orleans, this is the first time in the company's history to enter an entirely new category of spirits. Amaro di Angostura will be available nationwide in Fall 2014. MORE>>