Vancouver’s top fourteen bartenders took place in a challenge yesterday, where bartenders were given only 40 minutes, and $30 to purchase ingredients to make a delectable drink.
The winner of this challenge get’s an advantage in the upcoming MadeWithLove national mixology competition is September. The winner of yesterday’s challenge gets the advantage of working with their first choice of spirits, however all fourteen contestants will be competing in the B.C. preliminaries of the MadeWithLove competition.
Drinks are judged based on their originality, presentation and taste. Below are the top three drinks from yesterday’s challenge as selected by the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association!
1) Keenan Hood (Keefer Bar)
“Unpredicted Season”
2 oz Hornitos Tequila
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz salted plum/anise & chrysanthemum syrup*
1 egg white
Shake vigorously, double strain in to classic cocktail glass. Garnish with salted plum and anise clove.
2) H. (Jules Bistro)
“White Lady Guanjin”
2 oz Chinese black rose tea infused Hendricks gin
1 oz homemade triple sec (dried mandarin orange peel, Skyy vodka, sugar, Campari, Appleton rum)
1 oz lemon juice
1 duck egg white
Shake and strain in to a cocktail glass, garnish with lemon twist.
3) Rob Scope (Calabash Bistro)
“Little Italy in Chinatown”
1 1/2 oz pandanus leaf infused Hornitos tequila
1/2 oz Lapsang Sauchong tea infused fireweed honey
1 bar spoon Italian plum preserve
1 oz fresh lime juice
Serve on the rocks in a mason jar, garnish with pandan leaf.