By Cam Brown
On January 23rd a very talented group of bartenders were paired each with a local Okanagan distiller to showcase their creative cocktails in Penticton.
It’s always amazing to see the talent and creativity we have in the Okanagan. The Okanagan bartending community has always had some amazing talent with a heavy focus on local and homemade ingredients. This event was no different. It was great to see so many new faces getting in front of the judges to showcase their skills. The turn out was great and the high energy in the room really showed what the Okanagan community has to offer and how excited the community is about cocktails.
Competitors
Jon Cote, Craft Corner Kitchen
Brock Embury, Raudz Regional Table
Cody Pollard, Fermented Dining
Harry Dosanj, West Coast Grill
Randy Foster, Nest and Nector
Phil d’Aoust, Lake Side Resort
Matthew Hassen, The Owl Pub
Fraser Crawford, Bacaro Kitchen and Drink
The eight competitors competed in two rounds with the top four from the first round going through to a second round.
The first round competitors made the drinks they had submitted to the judges for pre screening and then the second round being a prepared drink but a surprise to the judges. After two rounds Fraser Crawford was deemed the winner!
These were Fraser’s drinks.
Playing the Devils Akvavit
2 ounces Okanagan Distilleries Akvavit
0.75 ounces fresh lime juice
0.75 ounces homemade orgeat
topped with ginger beer
shaken and served on pineapple, ginger and lime crushed ice
Strawberry Fields
1.5 ounces Noteworthy Gin
0.5 ounces Lillet Blanc
1 ounce homemade strawberry milk syrup
0.75 fresh lemon juice
2 dashes of Twisted Bitters black pepper bitters
Shaken and served up
