I am not going to apologize for allowing life & profession get in the way of my posting...ok ok I'm sorry. I am sure all 3 of you who read this had better things to do anyway.
Yesterday was the Iron Shaker cocktail competition pitting some of the mid south's best professional cocktail enthusiasts against each other in a secret ingredient matchup a la Iron Chef or Chopped. Nick Talarico from Hog & Hominy/AMIK, Jayce McConnell from SnackBar in Oxford, Anna Katherine Metzger from 12Bar & yours truly along with Shawn Mitchell of Sweetgrass threw down in a most spirited way. You can view some great pictures
here.
Our Welcome cocktail was our spin on a Blood & Sand
Bearded Bittermen's Blood & Sand
Corsair Triple Smoke Whiskey
Rothman & Winter Cherry Liqueur
Byrrh QuinQuina
Fresh squeezed Blood orange juice
Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
Fee Brother's Orange bitters
garnished with Triple Smoke laced candied blood orange peel & a Luxardo cherry
Nick's welcome cocktail definitely had Apple Cider vinegar in it & it was delicious. I can't recall what else was in it. I wish I would have had a chance to taste the other competitors drinks but I did not.
Our secret ingredients were fresh duck eggs, meyer lemons, rosewater, Blis Bourbon barrel aged fish sauce, Pig Sweat (sherry vinegar, salt & sugar) & Corsair Quinoa whiskey. Wow. That was some crazy stuff! Between Shawn & I we both were thinking that we needed to use as much of the secret ingredients as possible. After a quick brain storm & even quicker drink creation we had it nailed.
War Pig
Corsair Quinoa Whiskey
Meyer lemon juice
St Elizabeth's Allspice Dram
Blis Bourbon Barrel aged fish sauce
Homemade Benton Bacon Bitters
Fee Brother's Aztec Chocolate Bitters
Duck egg white
Meyer lemon zest
Rosewater
Segura Viudas Cava
As you can see it is a play off a traditional fizz. We garnished the drink with meyer lemon zest & a few drops of rosewater. It had umami, it was savory, sweet, earthy, tart & just so cool! I was super proud of the drinks we put out. Congrats to all the competitors especially Hog & Hominy who took home top honors & SnackBar for coming up from Oxford to participate.
On to the next Iron Shaker!
