Cheers to Chicago Mixologists

I have been remiss in writing about the achievements of our local mixologists lately, even though some great things have been happening. Here are some highlights:

National Sherry Cocktail Competition
Charles Joly from the Drawing Room won the 4th annual Vinos de Jerez Cocktail Competition in December, beating out prominent mixologists from around the country in the finals. He won a trip to tour the Jerez region, along with a scholarship to the BAR Masters program. Congrats Charles!

Bread & Wine, by Charles Joly
(Photo courtesy of Iñaki Vinaixa via the Sherry Council of America)
1 oz Lustau “Don Nuño” Dry Oloroso
1½ oz Balvenie Scotch Doublewood 12 year
5 dashes Absinthe (preferably Sirene Absinthe - thanks Charles!)
½ oz fresh lemon juice ¼-1/3 oz maple syrup (depending on
tartness of lemons)
Fill Old Fashioned glass with ice, dash with absinthe and set aside
to season. Combine Sherry, Balvenie, lemon juice and maple
syrup in mixing glass. Add ice and shake well. Empty Old
Fashioned glass, coating sides with absinthe. Add Kold Draft or
large pieces of ice. Strain cocktail into glass. Cut a strip of orange
zest using a vegetable peeler. Mist top of glass with orange oil,
rub rim and place decoratively in glass. No straws please.

National Benedictine Competition
Lynn House from graham elliot took second in another huge national competition sponsored by the fine folks at Benedictine with her drink The Grail, finishing ahead of a number of prominent mixologists around the country. She was featured in Esquire in January, and has been mentioned in a number of other major publications recently. Go Lynn!

The Grail, by Lynn House
2 oz Benedictine Liqueur
1/4 oz Esprit Orange Liqueur
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz Fevertree tonic water
3 dashes of Fee brothers orange bitters

Local Competitions
Debbi Peek, the portfolio mixologist extraordinaire for Bacardi USA, won the local Best Bartender contest sponsored by Domaine de Canton in November, and she won a trip to St. Martin to compete in the nationals. Congrats Debbi! Hope that trip is coming up soon, it's cold around here!

There have been a few other local competitions recently as well, with more to come. Daniel de Oliveira of Crimson Lounge and Double A won the latest, sponsored by Absolut, and Todd Appel of Crimson Lounge made to the finals of a recent late-night tv show on mixologists (also sponsored by Absolut).

Best Cocktail Lounge is in Chicago!
And last but not least, The Drawing Room was named the Best Cocktail Lounge in the US for 2010 by Nightclub & Bar Magazine. If you haven't been there yet, you're missing out!

Congrats all! Great things are happening in our cocktail scene, with more to come.

Illinois USBG Holiday Party & Mixoff

Late last month, I had the distinct privilege to be on the judging panel for the 2009 Illinois USBG Mix-Off/Holiday Party, which was sponsored by Skyy. I must admit I was a bit skeptical of having a tiki-themed event sponsored by a vodka company, but many folks really got into it and it was a heckuva great time.

Here are a few pictures of the competitors and the drinks.

Pictured mixologists include Lynn House (graham elliot), Kyle McHugh (Drinks Over Dearborn), Josh Pearson (Sepia), Milan Aquarius, Ari Silver (Bice Bistro), Charles Joly (Drawing Room, in the coconut bra), and Todd Appel (Crimson Lounge). In the end, Charles won the competition, and the cash prize - congrats to Charles!

The evening ended with a group toast, and much celebration. It was a fantastic evening.

March Mix-Off - Illinois USBG

Last night, the Illinois chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild convened at Nacional 27 for our monthly meeting and cocktail mixing party. It was a great time, as always. Here are a few highlights and pictures.

USBG IL Updates
We (finally) got emails yesterday with the results of our Master Accreditation level one tests. We were the guinea pigs for this first-ever testing program for mixologists, intended to follow the Master Sommelier program.

About 25 of us took the test over two weeks ago, and afterward, everyone had many questions. There were some errors on the test itself, and some poorly worded questions - suffice to say, there were issues. Hopefully they sorted all that out before the next group took the test (in Las Vegas at the Bar Show). Luckily, I passed so I won't have to find out!

We covered some other upcoming events, most notably the Illinois finals for the World Cocktail Competition is scheduled for March 31st at Boka. Should be another fun competition, and the winner goes to San Francisco to compete in the national competition.

This Month's Sponsor: Tru Organic Spirits
My friends Melkon Khosrovian and his wife, Litty Mathew, make Tru Organic Spirits out in Los Angeles. They kindly sponsored this month's session, and Melkon brought along his organic vodkas & gin for us to taste and use. Melkon gave a brief presentation about their upcoming bitters challenge at Tales of the Cocktail this year, and also about their spirits.

Cocktail Competition
Our monthly competitions are typically not as rigorous as formal competitions, and this one was no exception. Most contestants were aiming for a pre-dinner drink, and brought along all their ingredients, per the instructions. But since we were working in his bar, Adam Seger also offered his full array of syrups, fruits and mixers, which is one heck of an offer.

The competitors included Adam Seger from Nacional 27, Benjamin Schiller from In Fine Spirits, Daniel de Oliveira from Boka, Cristi DeLucca from The Drawing Room, Chris Bloom, who is a member-at-large (and a lawyer by day), and Martin from Maxwell Street Trading.

This group came up with a wide array of cocktails and used a broad range of ingredients. Four used Tru Gin as their base, while two used the straight vodka. Only one used any egg, and three used Aperol, while one used miso and rice wine vinegar. Benjamin even created some homemade gelées with Aperol and Tru Gin, and a fun (and novel) presentation for his garnish (in picture at far right).

The winner, in a very close decision, was Chris Bloom. The judges said his drink had the edge based on aromatics. Congratulations to Chris!

Here's his recipe:

Puesta Del Sol, by Chris Bloom

1½ oz Tru Organic Vodka

¾ oz Aperol

¾ oz Wild Turkey American Honey Liqueur

¾ oz Lime Juice

Orange Bitters (Regans)

Garnish: One blood orange slice, one long lemon curl and dried, grated Seville orange zest

Combine Vodka, Aperol, American Honey, Lime Juice and 3 dashes of orange bitters. Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass rimmed with dried orange zest. Place Blood orange slice on top and twist lemon peel across glass.

Here was Chris's description of the drink: "Puesta del sol means sunset in Spanish (literally 'place the sun' - - as you place the orange slice to float on top of this drink). Hopefully it reminds you of a summer sunset on a beach relaxing at the end of a beautiful summer day."

Afterward, it was off to the Drawing Room for more cocktails and conversation. A blast, even if I did get home at 3:15 am (yawn).

Chicago Drinking News

A variety of things have come out in the last week or so that I thought might be of interest, at least to my readers in Chicagoland. I've got some updates on what's happening in our bartenders guild chapter, as well as an interesting update from the TTB about some settlements reached with Chicago-distributors for alleged violations of federal liquor laws.

Updates from the Chicago USBG Chapter
Last week, we had the first Chicago USBG chapter meeting of the year, as well as the first informal mixology competition. This was a great opportunity to reconnect with friends in the chapter, and also hear about the goings on.

• Bridget Albert developed some cocktails that will be served at one of the inagural balls tomorrow night, and she was asked to go to DC to oversee the bars at the event. Congratulations Bridget!


• The USBG is implementing a more formal certification program, somewhat similar to the Master Sommelier program. The roll out starts this year, and formal testing will be required to advance to the various levels.


• There are some great cocktail competitions coming up, and many of our members will be participating. Chicago is hoping to increase our presence in the national and global scene in the coming year. Peter Vestinos has won a couple of competitions recently, and a newcomer, Zack, won the informal competition after the meeting (sorry, I didn't get his photo - the photo at right is another member, Benjamin from In Fine Spirits).

TTB Settles Trade Practice Investigation in Chicago
As most people who spend any amount of time in Chicago come to realize, many things are a bit crooked here. This week, a press release came out from the TTB, which is the federal agency that regulates the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages on the federal level. It seems they imposed fines on all of the big distributors in Chicago, as well as several of the smaller ones, to settle alleged trade practice violations. Interesting, although somehow I don't think $800k collectively is that much to these companies, and I wonder if it's really much of a deterrent to future violations.