Victory goes to the swift
Monday July 27th, marked the first in a series of cocktail competitions held by the Oregon Bartenders Guild to benefit charity. The proceeds for this event were donated to Portland Schoolhouse Supplies, a free store for Portland area teachers that allows them to provide supplies for their students. The competition was held at Hobnob Grille at 3350 SE Morrison St. Hobnob was an ideal location for the event because of its well equipped, beautiful and lengthy bar and spacious seeting. Tickets were $50 dollars and included a “welcome” cocktail, 12 competition cocktails and several delicious appetizers served by Hobnob.
The competition was also a showcase of 13 spirits produced right here in Oregon, New Deal 88 vodka, Organic Nation Vodka, Organic Nation Gin, Rogue Rum, Snake River Stampede Whiskey, Elemental Vodka, Martin Ryan Vodka, 12 Bridges Gin, Krogstad Aquavit, Subrosa Saffron Vodka, Worker Bee Honey Spirit, Ransom Old Tom Gin and Cascade Mountain Gin. 6 bartenders received two spirits each and had to come up with two unique creations for the competition.
The six competing bartenders were Bradley Dawson of Belly Timber, Sue Erickson of Ping, Kinn Edwards of Aqua (Corvallis), Jacob Grier of Carlyle, Alyson Dykes of Lincoln and Evan Zimmerman of Laurelhurst Market.
The “welcome” cocktail, The School House Rocks, created by OBG board members Dave Shenaut (Tear Drop Lounge) and Chris Churilla (Cloud 9 in Corvallis) was a refreshing summer libation made with a New Deal 88 vodka infusion of fresh hops, fresh juniper and oak, handmade lemoncello, handmade ginger liqueur, cucumber juice and toped with soda water. “We basically made a gin infusion out of a vodka”, said David. Other cocktails of the night included Bradley Dawson’s Strawpocolypse Now, Balsamic Redux, Jacob Grier’s Mandeville and Sue Erickson’s Whipersnapper. Click here to see all of the cocktails and their recipes.
All 13 cocktails were poured and consumed in a literally mind numbing 2 hours. The audience held scoring sheets which divided into 4 categories; taste, aroma, presentationa originality. After the final cocktail was scored the assistants collected the cards and the tallied the votes. In first place was the very “pumped” Jacob Grier from D.C. Evan Zimmerman, also a former D.C. resident, took second. In third place was Bradley Dawson, 4th place Sue Erickson, 5th place Kinn Edwards and 6th place Alyson Dykes.
In all, the OBG raised $900 for Portland Schoolhouse Supplies. Thank you to all the distillers and bartenders for the donation of their materials and time. And most of all A big thank you to all of the ticket holders. The event was full of good people, good food, amazing cocktails and laughter. We hope to see you at the next event!
Cheers,
