A while ago I posted the first of my two drinks I made to take out the Australian Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year comp. I promised I would post the other one, so here it is.
The initial thought behind this one was to really bring a show to the main stage at the final. I wanted the drink to first-and-foremost taste delicious. Secondly I wanted to tell a story with it, and present it in a way that had never been done before. I wanted the judges to be truly wowed.
The drink itself is quite a simple one. Made up of one of the competition sponsors malt Whiskys (Oban 14y.o), orange and grapefruit juice and maraschino. When made this cocktail comes across quite sweet. It needed something to dry it out. That’s when I was reminded of my time in London a few years back…
Some former colleagues and myself used to go to a student bar in London’s Soho called The Roxy every Tuesday night. We would go there for a number of reasons. One, it played The Smiths and Joy Division (the only two bands my former bar manager, Fraser Chapman liked), also it was cheap. A double Vodka & Cola would set you back £1.60. The last reason, probably the most defining one, was that it was full of students. Hey, I was single then.
Drinking Vodka & Colas all night usually wasn’t my thing. If I’m in a dodgy nightclub my drink of choice is usually Bacardi and squash. In England they have no idea what “Squash” is. As well as that in our boozed-up state it was always easier to order the same rounds. Vodka & Cola was the only thing my colleagues would drink. To make the V&C’s palatible though we would buy Airwaves Cherry-Menthol Gum. It tasted good, and made the V&C’s taste like Cherry Coke, rather than shitty-flat-cheap-vodka-coke.
Chikky-cherry-cola....
Years later, when coming up with my drinks for the 2011 Bartender of the Year Comp, I asked myself if I could apply the same logic, create my own flavored gum, and alter the flavor of a cocktail whilst the, hopefully denture-free consumer, chews my gum?
Emails were sent to Wrigley, gum making procedures were obtained and thus saw the invention on Tim Philips’s Campari Hubba-Bubba!
My gum
So, when it came time to start putting my cocktail together on stage I explained all this to my judges, and gave them a pack with contents required when going out to a rowdy London student bar, including my gum, and £1.60 (the price of my drink).
The drink was served in a plastic glass mimicking the one’s used at The Roxy, and a final poem declaring my drink to be the Free Bird Cocktail was performed.
So why the Free Bird Cocktail? Well initially the drink was inspired from a vintage cocktail from the early part of the 20th Century. The Red Bird cocktail (which never took off really) is quite similar in make-up to the famous Blood & Sand Cocktail. My drink, a polished and contemporary take on the Red Bird was a way of setting that bird free. So the garnish for the drink ended up being the releasing of a bird. Turns out the bird (purchased from Pets Paradise) was too young to fly, and she struggled to take flight. Someone kindly recorded this, and can be seen HERE.
I’m pleased to announce Eleanor my bird, was unharmed, looked after, and later released back into the wild. From where she initially came from.
A manifesto given to the judges about the drink can be read below.
Anyway, I hope this has given you guys an idea of how much work went into my drinks for the comp. It’s really hard and stressful putting yourself through a comp like that. I feel privileged to be living in Sydney now. Not having to travel across borders to make the finals, along with the stress of not knowing whether you will make the top 10 means it a very hard task for any interstate competitors. My hat goes off to the guys from Melbourne who have won in the past. Hopefully in the next couple of years we can see someone from Brisbane, Perth, or Adelaide take it out.
And for me? Well I’m not sure i really want to compete anymore. It’s way too stressful. Just ask Linn, my girlfriend. As well as that I’d like to think now, after 10 years in the game, I have bigger fish to fry. The transition of bartender to bar owner is one im hoping to make in 2012. I’ll try keep you guys posted on any more developments.
For now though, I want to wish everyone good luck in 2012. Wether it be in cocktail comps, career transitions or life in general.
drinktheshitoutofit
FREE BIRD COCKTAIL
Whisky, cherry, orange, gum
Red Bird Cocktail
1 wine glass whisky
1 pony orange
2 dashes kirsch
Tasty tipples and how to mix’ em (1912)
With elements inspired from the fore-mentioned drink, the Free Bird Cocktail goes about taking apart, and reconstructing a forgotten vintage cocktail.
Oban 14yrs, sweet and subtlety smoked whisky from Scotland’s west coast is perfect for this drink. It is shaken with freshly pressed orange juice, and a healthy dash of maraschino liqueur.
Once sipped this drink is not complete until a final, drier element is added to balance the acid and sugar of the citrus and maraschino.
Inspired by the lift Cherry/Mint chewing gum gives insipid Vodka & Cola, in dodgy East London pubs, this drink comes alive once combined with Tim Philips’ home made Campari “Hubba-Bubba-bubble-gum”
A textural difference like this in cocktails has never been attempted before, and it is my advice to you once gum flavour has diminished to swap with a fresh piece. OR imbibe your drink swiftly whilst flavour of the gum is still retained .….responsibly of course.
