This is an article I found on AOL’s news site.
Cocktail Competition
I began bartending many moons ago when hardly anyone had heard of a cocktail competition. I’ve judged a few, but only ever competed in one, so I sometimes feel quite old when the young whipper snapper bartenders boast how many competitions they’ve won.
My initial training in Birmingham, Alabama came from a bartender who used to take me to T.G.I. Friday’s so I could see how the “serious bartenders” worked. The flashy, bottle flingin’ bartenders there competed to see who had the best flair — and I’m not just talking about the number of decorative stick pins and message buttons on their suspenders. Friday’s actually held the first ever “flair bartending competition” in the mid 1980’s, inspired by one of their pourers who had a knack for juggling bottles. A few years later, they held the first world championship bartending competition. Fun fact: The winner trained Tom Cruise for the movie Cocktail.
Flair competitions now occur worldwide with large liquor company sponsorship. However, the cocktail competition world has also taken a turn towards actual mixing talent and not just showmanship. Perhaps the Japanese culinary show Iron Chef (with a cult US following) is partially to blame for the rise in competitive drink mixing.
These days it’s almost impossible to keep up with the numerous competitions. Many drink companies solicit recipes to allow bartenders to compete for money, travel, bar tools and so-called glory. Points are awarded for creativity, attractiveness of garnishes, showmanship and personality, use of the (sponsoring) companies’ products, and hopefully flavor. Many times a cocktail recipe entered into a contest is never even reproduced to taste, but just judged on how it appears in a photo, how well-known the bartender already is, and other factors outside of the actual taste. When a contest receives hundreds of recipes, did you really think that each one gets made and tasted?
That being said, the winners aren’t always the bartenders with the best drinks. Sometimes a mixologist’s culinary methods cannot easily be reproduced by the majority of bartenders, so the best-tasting and most creative drink may not win out. If the winning drink is to be rolled out in a nationwide marketing campaign, difficult methods and super expensive or esoteric ingredients could count against a contestant no matter how amazing the flavor turns out.
Once in awhile, a little known bartender from a small town gets the chance to get great press and attention for a winning cocktail. But more often than not, other factors can play a role in determining who comes out ahead. Sometimes the winner earns points for having a pretty, marketing campaign-friendly face. Other times it’s about the marketability of a bartender’s already known name (whether they’re pretty-faced or not). And once, I observed a competition where all the finalists made great cocktails. Although tasty, the winning drink was not my personal favorite. The prize for winning the competition was entry into a bartender training program, and the winner was the only one of the finalists who had not previously attended the school.
No matter how the winner is chosen, competitions inspire creativity and are often great fun for all involved. The nervous energy of the contest makes even the most experienced hands shake a little bit sometimes. Those nervous hands, at least, are shaking up great new recipes for us all to enjoy.
Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she’s been called many things — most recently, the proprietress of Casa Cóctel with partner Demián Camacho Santa Ana. She’s owned her own whiskey label, called Red Hook Rye, and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.
Read more: http://www.slashfood.com/2010/06/11/cocktail-competitions-lenell-it-all/#ixzz0ruQBSnUK
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