Check Out Ten $500 Winning bartenders in Week 3

Here are the winners in week 3 of the Chilled Media and 375 Park Avenue Spirits Toast to the Service Industry Program!

Thank you to all the bartenders who have participated and we hope you will enter again next week.

Here are the ten (10) bartenders who will receive $500 each via Venmo and a chance at competing for more cash prizes during the Virtual Live Stream hosted and judged by industry veteran Jonathan Pogash in May.

Paradise Valley

Bradley Garrison – Stiltsville, Miami

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Van Gogh Blueberry and Açai Vodka
• 1 bar spoon elderflower liqueur
• 1/2 oz. lavender honey*
• 1 oz. acid adjusted grapefruit**
• 4 oz. Prosecco

Preparation: Add all ingredients except for the Prosecco to a shaker; shake until chilled and strain into a stemless champagne flute. Top with 4oz. of chilled Prosecco. *Lavender honey: bring 4 oz. of water and 4 oz. of honey to a boil. Allow a bag of lavender tea to infuse into the honey syrup for up to 10 minutes and remove. Let syrup cool before use. **Acid adjusted grapefruit: Add 1/8 teaspoon citric acid to every 2 ounces of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Using twine or string, tie a wildflower to the side of the flute.

“I’ve always dreamed of living and working in Montana. This cocktail is my interpretation of Paradise Valley in Montana, which is one of the most scenic places in the state surrounded by forest, mountains and rivers. All the ingredients represent the wilderness that is Montana. The cocktail itself is meant to be complex, yet light and elegant. It’s a cocktail simply inspired by one of my dreams.”

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Summer Dreams

Makenzie Helem – Miller’s Backdoor, Bellingham

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Casa San Matias tequila
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. Jalapeño- watermelon shrub*
• 1/2 oz. Aloe Vera liqueur
• 1/4 oz. Raicilla

Preparation: Combine all ingredients into shaker; double strain into Collins glass. *Jalapeño-watermelon shrub: muddle chunks of watermelon with 1-2 jalapeños (depending on how spicy they are) until you have about 2 cups worth. Add 1 cup of granulated sugar. Stir and let refrigerate for a day. Then add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar to the mix; stirring and refrigerating for another day.

“With the sunny spring days and quarantine, all I’ve wanted is to be able to sit on a patio and have a nice Margarita. This cocktail is inspired by those warm picnic days by the water, where you feel refreshed, while eating watermelon and getting your burn on. In what seems like forever ago, a regular dropped off a bunch of watermelon. After eating, there was a bunch leftover and I had been on a shrub kick so I thought it would be perfect for next summer. In quarantine, it felt like the perfect time to turn those vibes into a cocktail. And for some reason Summer Nights from Grease started playing in my head while thinking of a name, which I felt was fitting.”

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Eastern Scoundrel

Steviee Hughes – Seventy 7 Lounge, Los Angeles

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Scapegrace
• 1/2 oz. Yuzu liqueur
• 1/2 oz. matcha sake
• 1/2 oz. yellow chartreuse
• 1/4 oz. fresh lemon
• 1/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1 egg white
• Japanese Shisho Leaf (for garnish)

Preparation: In a mixing tin, quick dry shake egg white and all your liquids, then add ice and 1 Shisho Leaf. Shake and strain into a glass over a large rock and garnish with a Shisho Leaf. 

“I love traveling and experiencing new flavors and cultures but obviously right now with what’s going on in the world we can’t travel so I figured I would bring Asia to myself! The next best thing for me was to take a little trip over to the Japanese market by my loft in little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. It’s one of my favorite markets because they always have all kinds of amazing produce and liquors from Asia that you don’t always see everywhere else. Since Scapegrace Gin has a lot of citrus notes in the flavor profile I decided I would enhance those more by pairing with Japanese Yuzu liqueur and fresh citrus. Since citrus is so good with tea I threw in a little matcha tea sake.  And for a little sweetness, but with herb, I added a little yellow chartreuse  None of these flavors are over powering and instead enhance the natural citrus in the gin. Especially the tangerine notes. It’s very light and refreshing!”

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Spice of India

Alissa Atkinson – High Dive, Brooklyn

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Paul John Indian Single Malt Whiskey
• 1 oz. garam masala honey syrup*
• 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz. aquafaba (the water from a chickpeas can)
• 3 shakes cardamom bitters

Preparation: Place all ingredients into a shaker and dry shake to aerate the aquafaba. Add ice and shake to chill. Double strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg. *Garam Masala honey syrup: Pour 1 cup water and 1 cup honey into a saucepan over medium low heat. Stir to dissolve honey and add 1/4 tsp. cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds, 4 green cardamom pods, 5 cloves, and two cinnamon sticks. Bring to a gentle boil and turn off heat. Let cool completely before straining out spices.

“Inspired by the spice in the finish of Paul John Indian Single Malt Whisky, I created a truly pantry-based cocktail with all of the underused Indian ingredients in my spice rack. Adding chickpea water as an egg white substitute was an extra nod to both Indian cuisine and how we make do with what we’ve got laying around these days! I seasoned and baked the chickpeas as a perfect pairing.”

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The Bougainvillea

Leanne Favre – Leyenda, Brooklyn

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Macchu Peruvian Pisco
• 1 oz. Marie Brizard Parfait Amour
• 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 oz. purple sweet potato syrup*
• 1/2 oz. egg white

Preparation: Add all ingredients to a tin and dry shake. Add ice and shake. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with aromatic flowers. *Purple sweet potato syrup: 1 part sweet potato purée (Sweet Potato Puree: any type of sweet potato can be used if purple potatoes are not available. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into cubes and steam, using a steamer, until soft. Blend until smooth). 1 part water, 1 part sugar blend and strain through nut milk bag.

“This cocktail was designed to pay homage to the woman who helped discover the Bougainvillea. French Botanist Jeanne Baré had to disguise herself as a man, so that she could explore the world and become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. Drawing inspiration from her strength as well as from flavors around the world, I created an elegant Pisco Sour variation that showcases the Bougainvillea’s native land, Peru. The Marie Brizard Parfait Amour provides hints of Madagascar vanilla and Spanish oranges. A simple Peruvian purple sweet potatoes syrup adds texture, color and a savory edge to the cocktail. Pisco is the perfect base with bright florality that ties all of the flavors together and highlights the subtle hints rose in the Parfait Amour. This cocktail will transport you!”

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The Blind Alley

Thi Nguyen – The Saap Avenue, Oakland

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Cutty Sark Whisky
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 3/4 oz. Chamomile syrup*
• 2 drops of saline or small pinch of salt
• Coconut ice**

Preparation: Combine ingredients in a Nick & Nora glass. *Chamomile Syrup: 200g wugar, 200g water, 5g dried chamomile, add sugar and water into saucepan with medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolved. And bring it to boil. Add chamomile and let it simmer for 10 mins. Double strain into container. Saline: 20g Salt. *Coconut Ice: Pour coconut juice intro ice tray and put into the freezer.

“I recently had to cancel a trip back to Vietnam due to the pandemic. It’s been more than six years since I have visited my home. One of the things I miss the most is the street vendors scene. It is like an irresistible thing in Vietnam. From the stable stands in the alley to those that go around by bike or foot, we can get all of the delicious foods or drinks from them. I remember when I was young, my friends and I were hopping street vendors from alley to alley. This cocktail is inspired by the street vendors lively atmosphere and popular items such as chamomile and coconut.”

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Bohemian Rhapsody

Zev Glesta – The Modern, Brooklyn

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Becherovka
• 1/2 oz. Mulberry-Chicha Morada
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• Soda water

Preparation: Building the drink: place all ingredients in a highball glass, splash with soda water and incorporate with bar spoon. Place in ice and top with soda water. Give one last mix with bar spoon. Serve with mandarin or citrus garnish.

“What I love about this competition is that you try spirits that previously were not on your radar. Becherovka was an outlier spirit for me, I had never used it although I have seen it around the block a couple of times. When I dove into the spirit a little more, I found that the Czech’s (particularly in Bohemia) love to enjoy Becherovka with currant juice, soda water and a slice of orange.”

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Wellington-Harrington

Naomi Levy – Variety Bar, Cambridge

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Novo Fogo Silver Caçhaca
• 1/2 oz. Campari
• 3/4 oz. beet syrup*
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1 sprig parsley

Preparation: Combine all ingredients and shake. Strain into a coupe and garnish with a parsley leaf.  *Beet syrup: combine in a blender: 1/2 cup roasted beets (I buy them pre-roasted from love beets or you can roast your own) 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 oz. water. Blend ingredients until smooth. Strain through mesh strainer (optional, but recommended).

“This cocktail is inspired by my neighborhood (Wellington-Harrington) in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I have now lived for over a decade. It is a melting pot of Brazilian, Polish, and Italian heritage with bakeries serving pao de queijo a few doors down from ones slinging cannolis. It is a neighborhood where private clubs still abound and the restaurant owners grew up down the street. It is my community that I love and this cocktail exemplifies how something so wonderful can come from disparate cultures and ingredients melding together.”

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Shades of Tjader

Manami York – Con Alma, Pittsburgh

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. JP Wiser’s Rye Whiskey
• 1 bar spoon Soho Lychee
• 3/4 oz. mango ginger tea syrup
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 bar spoon matcha powder
• 1 oz. aquafaba
• Pinch of gunpowder green tea leaves (for garnish)

Preparation: Add all ingredients into shaker tin. Dry shake until frothy, then add ice and chill shake mixture. Strain ingredients into coupe glass. Sprinkle the gunpowder green tea leaves.

“Inspired by Cal Tjader’s 1963 album, “Several Shades of Jade,” this cocktail features a refreshing, juicy spin on a traditional whiskey sour. Like the tracks that comprise the album, the cocktail shares the similarity of integrating Asian influences into a Western concept. Visually, there are several shades of jade reflected in the layers—the cocktail, the aquafaba foam, and the garnish. Being very fortunate to work in a jazz club environment like Con Alma, it’s very easy to draw inspiration from album covers and names, with this cocktail being the perfect example.”

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King Harvest

Peter Hannah – Rose and Crown, Celebration

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. St. James Reserve Rum
• 1/2 oz. strawberry Syrup
• 1/2 oz. lemon Juice
• Sage
• Cava/Sparkling Brut Wine

Preparation: Add all ingredients except Cava to tin. Add ice and shake for 8-10 seconds. Add Cava and double strain over crushed ice. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with orange peel.

“At this time of year Florida has a great harvest of berries. Sadly, due to Corona the farmers here have lost upwards of 50% of their crop as the resorts, restaurants and bars they usually sell to have been shuttered. I wanted to make a thoroughly Floridian drink that showcases the harvest of these workers. Strawberry is such a great ingredient and plays really well with the vanilla and baking spice of the St James Reserve. The sage in the shake provides and earthiness while the sparkling wine is bright and refreshing.”