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Julien Escot Wins Havana Club International Cocktail Grand Prix 2012

Julien Escot of the bar Papa Doble in Montpellier, France has won the 2012 Havana Club International Cocktail Grand Prix. 

All images provided by Havana Club

Escot beat out 40 bartenders from countries around the world (not including the US due to the embargo) to win the title. The competitors first made drinks in the semi-finals. They had to prepare a twist on a Cuban classic and an original creation. 

From those 40, just three bartenders were chosen to go into the finals. They were Julian Escot, Ryan Chetiyawardana of London (who is working on some new bar projects currently but has spent time at venues including Worship Street Whistling Stop and Bramble in Edinburgh), and Chris Hysted of Black Pearl in Melbourne, Australia. 

For the finals, the three bartenders repeated their two drinks from the semi-finals. They then had to make a new creation with a box of mystery ingredients they were given half an hour to work with. Finally, the bar was open to all attendees and the bartenders had to make drinks for the crowds. For this part they were judged on their speed and accuracy and service, as well as cleanliness of their work station and how well they worked with their barbacks. 

Ryan Chetiyawardana prepared a drink with roto-vapped Daiquiri syrup in his spin on the classic cocktail. For his original, he used something he called "beer vermouth." In his mystery box drink, he used avocado, coconut, mango, grapefruit bitters, parsely, and other ingredients.

Chris Hysted made a Mojito variation with Fernet-Branca and carbonated horchata (!). He also made a variation of the Japanese cocktail, and his mystery box drink included clinatro, cucumbers, chilis, anise, watermelon, and chocolate bitters. 

Julien Escot's drink recipes are below. He created a twist on the Daiquiri with vanilla syrup, allspice, and egg whites, and a Julep with allspice liqueur and falernum. His mystery box drink included grapes, basil, peach bitters, and curacao.

Congratulations to Julien Escot winner of the Havana Club International Cocktail Grand Prix 2012! 

Recipes from Julien Escot of Papa Doble in Montpellier France

WEST INDIES (twist of Daiquiri)
Shaker / coupette / cubed ice
50 ml Havana Club 3 Year Old
20 ml fresh lime juice
20 ml homemade vanilla syrup
5 ml Pimento Dram, The Bitter Truth
10 ml egg white
2 dashes Creole Bitters, The Bitter Truth
Garnish: grated nutmeg

CARIBBEAN JULEP (creation)
Build/ Julep Tin / crushed ice
80 ml Havana Club 7 Year Old
10/12 fresh mint leaves
5 ml Pimento Dram, The Bitter Truth
20 ml Homemade Velvet Falernum
Garnish : mint sprig , candied orange zest, crushed spices (cocoa, star anise, cinnamon, cloves)

HOMEMADE BOURBON VANILLA SYRUP
Infusion of vanilla, coffee bean and cinnamon in boiling sugar syrup
Sirop de sucre de canne
2 pods of Bourbon vanilla
Cinnamon stick
Coffee bean

VELVET FALERNUM MAISON
Infusion of the ingredients in boiling sugar syrup. Then Mixed with Havana Club 3 Year Old
Sugar syrup
Pod of Bourbon vanilla
Stalk of lemongrass
Piece of ginger
Cloves
Coffee beans
Almond extract
Mint leaves
Havana Club 3 Year Old

 

Spicy Tequila Pops

Over at FineCooking.com, I've posted a recipe for Fiery Chili Lime Tequila Pops from the book Slushed! More Than 150 Frozen, Boozy Treats for the Coolest Happy Hour Ever by Jessie Cross.

Image from the book Slushed!

I made them at home and they are yumz. 

The recipe is here.

Cuba Libre Plus Plus

In a recent FineCooking.com column, I wrote about the Cuba Libre (Preparado), which I found in the book Home Bar Basics and Not-So-Basics.

Author Dave Stolte found the recipe from Paul Harrington, who in turn learned it from a customer from Venezuela.

The drink contains rum, Coke, bitters, gin, and lime juice. Get the recipe here.

Edible Cocktails from The Liquid Muse

In my latest post over at FineCooking.com, I review and share a recipe from the new book Edible Cocktails by my pal Natalie Bovis, aka The Liquid Muse.

The new book Edible Cocktails by Natalie Bovis (known in the cocktail blog world as The Liquid Muse) is a recipe book that builds drinks around fresh ingredients. 

The book doesn't merely call for fresh juices and herbs, it instructs readers on how to use fresh ingredients to make jams, jellies, syrups, infusions, liqueurs, and other mixers, and then use them in fresh-forward cocktails.

Most drink recipes in the book include sub-recipes for homemade ingredients from items found in the garden or farmer's market. To crafty Fine Cooking readers with experience making all sorts of preserves the book will guide with recipes in which to use them, and for cooking-challenged mixologists (self included) the book is full of ideas on how to turn all those fresh fruits and herbs into drinkable liquid ingredients. I think it's the best garden-to-glass cocktail book out there and I'm looking forward to working my way through all the drinks.

The book looks awesome. For now, I have posted a recipe from the book for the Brazilian Breakfast, which was created by Jacob Briars. It's a take on Salvatore Calabrese's Breakfast Martini, but made with cachaca.

You'll have to check out FineCooking.com for the recipe.

A Blackberry and Beer Cocktail from A New Book

In last week's FineCooking.com post, I put up a recipe from the new book  Beer Cocktails, by Howard & Ashley Stelzer. 

As I said in the post I really like the book and the recipes are very original.

"The drinks are divided into recipe categories by beer type: lagers, Belgian/trappist ales, stouts and porters, and other dark beers. They include ingredients like root beer liqueur, mezcal, and pistachio liqueur to go along with the brews, plus lots of fresh ingredients like herbs and berries. Many beer cocktails feel a bit forced, but these flavor combinations are pretty fun and I look forward to trying more of them out."

The recipe over on FineCoking is for the Sloe Work Day, a drink with IPA, blackberry puree, sloe gin, St. Germain, and other ingredients. Go Get Some!

The Sangria Spectrum in Fine Cooking Magazine

In the June/July issue of Fine Cooking magazine I have a story about sangria.

We kind of rewrote it a bunch of times and now it's mostly a list of tips on how to make a good sangria, but here is the intro.

Traditional sangria is delicious, but it can also be a bit predictable: a pitcher of red wine with orange liqueur or brandy, slices of citrus, and sometimes a splash of soda for fizz. Recently, though, sangria has been showing up to the party dressed in new shades—pink, white, and even yellow—thanks to a base of rosé, white, or sparkling wine. The fruit accessories have diversified, too. Some recipes call for vibrant peaches or pastel pears, and others boast a rainbow of kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries. With so many options, today’s sangria is practically a year-round drink, changing to suit the season and the occasion.

There are also two sangria recipes. The first is from Kathy Casey, a strawberry-melon sangria in a deep red color.

The second is by Kim Haasarud, author of 101 Sangrias. It is a yellowish pineapple-orange sangria with peach vodka and Riesling. 

The pictures are better in the print magazine, I promise. 

One For the Road

I found the cocktail for last week's FineCooking.com column from the blog of Dylan Regan, who is riding a motorcycle across the country on his way to the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. 

The cocktail is from Bryan Dayton of Oak at Fourteenth in Boulder, CO. It contains Hendrick's gin, Pimm's, lemon and orange juices, honey syrup, and bitters. 

Photo by Dylan Regan

The recipe is here.

Or you can find this and other great recipes from Regan's road trip on his blog over on TastingPanelMag.com.

The Seelbach Cocktail

In last week's post for FineCooking.com, I wrote about the Seelbach, which I just had at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville. If I had only taken a picture there, I could have avoided using this ugly one in my garden. 

Here's the post with the recipe.