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“Chicago Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge”

So this is terribly belated, but I figure it’s better late than never, right? A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend and compete against several other local bloggers in New Amsterdam Gin‘s Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge at Old Town Social (hat tip to Stephanie Miller for passing the invite my way).

Although I’m admittedly not much of a gin drinker (I blame it on a few bad experiences in college with large quantities of the plastic bottle variety), I was excited for the opportunity to expand my limited cocktail repertoire.

After a brief introduction to the product (which is definitely the best, smoothest gin I’ve had the opportunity to try), New Amsterdam’s Master Mixologist Alex Ott explained the rules of the challenge. We would be given 10 minutes to create and prepare a cocktail, name it, and come up with a story behind it that explained how our concoction was inspired by the stories of both the brand and the city of Chicago.

In the days leading up to the challenge I solicited advice from just about everyone I know, including my stepmother (a long time bartender), my roommate (a former bartender himself), and all of my Twitter followers (because there’s got to be a few great mixologists out of 900+ people, right?). I picked up a few great ideas, but unfortunately they all included multiple types of liquor, and we learned after arriving that the folks at New Amsterdam had decided to not make any other liquors available to keep the attention on the featured product.

Clockwise from left: Alex Ott, David "The Food Dude" Lissner, Martha Kidd, and yours truly

Back at square one, my ladyfriend and I stormed the ingredient table and grabbed a little bit of everything. As we began mixing our ingredients, we learned quickly that 10 minutes goes by incredibly fast when you have no idea what you’re doing. All wasn’t lost, however, as Alex circulated amongst the contestants, providing us with tips when we were obviously doing something the wrong way. When the buzzer sounded, we had successfully poured and presented our drink but hadn’t yet had an opportunity to taste it. We did get a chance to take a quick sip of it before the judges got around to our station, and I’ve sadly got to say that I wasn’t very confident we had much chance to win. But hey, I’ll steal a poker phrase here; as long as you’ve got a chip and a chair, you’ve got a chance.

While our cocktail composition was a bit rushed, the development of our drink’s name and story was essentially invented as we went along. Because our beverage featured a pinch of cayenne, Martha thought we should give the drink a name that referenced its Latin flair. We ended up going with the Pilsen Picnic as an homage to the area’s large Mexican population, as well as our desire to make a drink that would be great to serve  at a cookout on a hot summer day. Here’s the final recipe: 1.5 oz gin, 1.5 oz pineapple juice, .5 oz liquefied honey, the juice of one whole live, a bit of muddled cucumber, a pinch of sugar, and a hint of cayenne. Shake, strain and enjoy.

Alex Ott (middle) and two New Amsterdam brand reps sample one of the contestant's cocktails

Surprisingly, the judges had nothing but good things to say about the Pilsen Picnic, calling it “well balanced” and “refreshing,” but I had a sneaking suspicion that they may just have been attempting to let us down gently. After making their rounds, the judges retired to their judging chamber to make their final decision. When they returned, they announced the winner and …. unfortunately we didn’t win. That honor went to Jennifer Contraveos of Crafted Cocktail and her North Shore Sour. If you ask me, I think she had an unfair advantage of legitimate experience and skill. I think we should have been given at least a 5 minute head start to even things out ( , sour grapes, I know). Even though we didn’t win the big prize (a catered dinner featuring New Amsterdam cocktails), nobody went home empty handed, as we all received some pretty nice swag bags and were able to keep the bartending tools we used. Not a bad consolation prize.

Now, who wants a cocktail?! I’ve got three bottles of this stuff and could use some help drinking it.

(Disclaimer: New Amsterdam gave us lots of free gin and some tasty appetizers at the event, as well as the bartender’s tools mentioned above. None of this affected my opinion of the product. It’s definitely a solid choice if you’re in the market for gin)

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