Kiwis fight with fire in cocktail shake-off

Kiwi bartenders fight with fire in cocktail shake-off

World-class team selected to mix up a storm at the 2007 Cocktail World Cup

25 July 2007 – Exploding teapots and singed fingers were the casualties of war as 30 of the country’s top bartenders turned up the heat to battle it out at the New Zealand regional finals of the Cocktail World Cup.

A series of thrilling shake-offs were held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, to select the six Kiwi bartenders who will represent their country in the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup 2007, to be held in Queenstown in September.

The Cocktail World Cup is now in its fourth year and is uniquely New Zealand – 42 contestants from all over the world are judged on a range of skills including the ability to shake a Cosmopolitan while bungy-jumping and create a cocktail while jet-boating down a river.

New Zealand placed second in last year’s CWC but has never won. However the extremely high calibre of the Kiwi finalists this year impressed the judging panel, which included Fat Freddys Drop star (and published chef) Dobie Blaze, Wellington restaurateur Martin Bosley and TV presenter Clarke Gayford, as well as 42 Below’s much-travelled Vodka Professor Jacob Briars.

Jacob says, “New Zealand is now recognised globally as a hotbed of cocktail creativity – and the entries for the CWC this year are strong proof of this.'

Regional differences abounded in the competition. In Auckland, acrobatic pouring techniques and spirited pyrotechnics kept the crowd agog; in Christchurch the mainlanders experimented with unusual flavours; while in the capital the trend was a return to sophisticated classics, with old-fashioned liqueurs featuring heavily in the ingredients lists.

Simon McGoram from Mea Culpa won the Auckland event with an original cocktail creation called Honey Bee Blazer – which almost left him blaxing. The method involved pouring ignited spirits through a strainer, but left Simon nursing singed fingertips afterwards.

In second place was Tim Etherington-Judge from Crow Bar, whose cocktail Immaculate Conception and four-glass simultaneous pouring trick had the crowd on its feet.

In Wellington, it was double honours for The Matterhorn, with bartenders Riki Carter and Kyle Simpson taking out first and second place respectively. Both of their cocktails featured somewhat old-fashioned spirits - Riki’s cocktail Maxximus included Lillet Blanc, Amaro Montenegro and Rin Quin Quin, and Kyle’s 93 Elm Lane included Fernet Branca and absinthe. They also made use of atomisers, each spraying their drinks with homemade aromatic mists.

Dunedin bartender Chris Harrop took out the honours at the South Island regional finals. His ‘Once Upon A Time In A Pizza Place’ combined a homemade apricot and rosemary vanilla liqueur with 42 Below Pure vodka and cream cheese. In second place, Callum Batchelor from Lyme Bar, Christchurch, took a more homegrown approach for his cocktail, using the best of Kiwi classics such as 42 Below Kiwifruit vodka, Lemon Z limoncello and Fresh Up to create his gorgeous ‘NZ-Tini’.

The six will now head to Queenstown in September to compete against the world’s best mixologists at the Cocktail World Cup, which continues to be like no other cocktail competition on the planet.

42 bartenders from the UK, US, Australia, France, Asia, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Dubai and New Zealand come together for a week of extreme mixology that culminates in a grand final on Saturday 15 September in Queenstown’s Earnslaw Park, where the teams go head to head in a spectacular shake-off, in front of a crowd of thousands.

The week’s legacy is the creation of entirely original cocktails that have the potential to become new global classics. Last year Viagra salsa, oysters, tobacco, yams, toasted pinecones and lemongrass ‘caviar’ were all on the menu.

42 Below Chief Vodka Bloke Geoff Ross says, “Nothing comes close to the 42 BELOW Cocktail World Cup – without a doubt, it is the most extreme cocktail competition on earth. And the 2007 CWC is set to be more exciting than ever.”

Some of the world’s most illustrious cocktail experts will judge the Queenstown finals, including legendary New York mixologist and “King Of Cocktails” Dale De Groff, UK TV star Andy Pearson, top London cocktail consultant Angus Winchester and head barman at the Ritz Paris Colin Peter Field.

Last year, the New Zealand ProFlow Mixers team put in a phenomenal performance, placing second to the UK2 team, who created a hot cocktail based on a medieval drink for their winning entry dressed as Benedictine monks (below). In 2004 and 2005, the Aussies took home the Cup.

Will New Zealand will triumph in ‘07? Watch this space.

ends

© Scoop Media