The Spirit of Competition

On October 24-25 2009, the Oregon Bartenders Guild, and Rogue Spirits, hosted the Great American Distillers Festival at the Bossanova Ballroom in Portland, Oregon.  Integrated into festival of local and nation micro distilleries, was the 3rd Anual Mixmaster Challenge.

Twenty-Four bartenders from Oregon, Washington, California (Ali Tahsini), and Louisiana (Ricky Gomez) competed for a $1000 grand prize (thats a lot of frickin green) donated by House Spirits.   The contest began with the bartenders choosing their local spirit a few weeks ahead of time and developed a cocktail around that spirit, and had 7 minutes to create and execute 4 cocktails.  3 for the Judges, and 1 for the audience.  After 5 hours of competition, the four bartenders that rose to the top were, Evan Zimmerman (Laurelhurst Market, Portland), Ali Tahsini (Bourbon and Branch, San Fransisco) , Jim Romdall (Vessel, Seattle), and Andrew Friedman (Liberty Bar, Seattle).

On Sunday, October 25 the contest continued in the late afternoon, with the contestants not knowing what spirit they will use to compete for the $1000 grand prize.  The only thing they had with them were their, tools, the products donated by the festival, and their whits.  After some anxiety, and anticipation from the contestants, it was revealed that the final products were from the House Spirits Apothecary Line.  Evan Zimmerman drew first and chose the House Spirits White Dog.  A corn distillate that if aged eventually becomes bourbon.  Ali Tashini pulled Ouzo, Andrew Friedman pulled Palinka (a plum brandy) and Jim Romdall pulled the Gammel Kroggstad (a barrel aged Aqavit).

Each contestant had 10 minutes to create and execute 5 cocktails for a panel of Celebrety judges including Robert Hess (aka DrinkBoy) Christian Krogstad (House Spirits), Charles Munat, and Neyah White. 

After each bartender completed their cocktails, and after each cocktail went through the ringer of critics and judges, Evan Zimmerman's White Dog Cocktail came out on top.  He claimed his grand prize with a perfectly balanced combination of White Dog, Dolin Blanc, and Dolin Dry vermouth, Apricot Liquer, and Peychauds bitters. 

All weekend long the city's bars were buzzing with this congregation of bartenders, cocktail bloggers, and distillers.  There was a great feeling of community and positive energy that was created all parties involved in organizing, and participating in the event.  It was an honor to be a part of it and we are already looking forward to next year.