Five local bartenders will face off in front of five judges and a live, bourbon-loving audience on Monday, August 4th for the first Town Branch Cocktail Contest. The goal for each is to create the best cocktail using Town Branch Rye—released earlier this year by the Town Branch Distillery—and Ale-8-One.
These five bartenders were selected based on their submissions to a public call for for cocktail recipes using Town Branch Rye and Ale-8-One.
Daniel Weeks, of Shorty’s, will be mixing a breakfast inspired cocktail named “Town Toast” which uses muddled strawberry, vanilla and cinnamon to generate the flavors of French Toast.
Lauren Sundberg, from the Marriot Griffin Hotel, has created a cocktail named “Rye You So Good?” created with a balance of muddled grapefruit and sage for a savory, earthy flavor.
Jonathan Sizemore, of Sutton’s and Atomic Cafe, has amped up the traditional bourbon and ginger ale with his cocktail “A Late One On The Town,” by adding fresh ginger, vanilla citrus liqueur, vanilla bean cane sugar, grapefruit bitters and fresh grapefruit.
Adam Geissler, from the new craft cocktail bar in Paris called Bour-Bon, will mix his version of a Whiskey Sour; the “Town Branch Sour,” which blends lime juice, orange bitters, soda and a mild French apertif with a red wine base that is flavored with quinine, coffee and bitter orange.
Shayne Bates, from Enoteca, has a recipe for a dessert-like drink called “Pistacia Vera,” with brown sugar, pistachio liqueur, Crème de Cassis and the finishing touch: Ale-8-candied raspberries.
The winning bartender will receive $1,000 cash, along with cocktail naming rights and another opportunity to showcase their skills in the Bourbon Social Barrel Cup Cocktail Competition in October.
The ticketed event will take place on August 4th, from 6 to 9 pm at the Town Branch Distillery. Tickets for the Town Branch Cocktail Contest are on sale to the public on Eventbrite.com. Tickets include samples of each of the cocktails, food from Dupree Catering and Ale-8-One.
Another public event, featuring the winning bartender and his or her signature cocktail, will take place at Parlay Social from 5 to 9 pm on August 14th.
