Each year, Diageo spend a lot of time, money and effort finding a World Class Bartender to represent Australia at take a shot at taking out the global crown. It’s a phenomenal event, packed full of talent and full to the brim with crazy good drinks. Check out the video above of last years finals for an idea of what it all entails.

It all kicks of with the summer round.

There are three categories: Gentleman’s Drinks (think boozy, perfectly balanced seriousness – the kind of thing Don Draper would be into,) Punch (big-bowled fun for the whole family and possibly the most resurgent cocktail category last year,) and Seasonal (The best of what’s fresh local and showcasing an Australian Summer, you can guarantee then, that they’ll all start wet and finish dry. Pretty much whatever your preference, you’ll find something delicious.

The finalists for the summer round are:

Jason Williams, theloft, Sydney
Collin Perillo, Zeta, Sydney
Phil Gandevia, Eau de Vie, Sydney
Thiago Santos, theloft, Sydney
Sarah Miller, I Know a Place, Melbourne
Perryn Collier, The Laneway, Brisbane
Adam Smith, Press Club, Brisbane
Anita Strother, Malt Dining, Brisbane
Fred Siggins, Kodiak Club, Melbourne

So, how does an afternoon (next Sunday, the 22nd) in a glass box on Sydney Harbour, filled with beautiful people, eight of the country’s best bartenders and Jason Williams sound?

Tickets are $65 over at Moshtix. It’s on a motherfucking boat, so space is limited – book yours now!

Sunday 22nd January, 3-6pm. You get to try the 9 drinks, plus some snacks.

I’ll see you there.

Smart marketing from the boys at Stolen Rum. As part of their Open letter to Bacardi, they’ve sent out samplers of Stolen and Bacardi to generate some attention for their brand.

Essentially they’ve done some research and found that 61% of people prefer Stolen Rum over the Bacardi Superior and written this open letter to Bacardi offering up their recipe for the good of rum drinkers worldwide.

As part of their outreach, I received two mini bottles and instructions on how to conduct my very own taste test.

Product A had green bananas on the nose and through the palate. Good sweetness and a rich almost creamy finish. Product B wasn’t quite as sweet, and I got more ethanol of the nose. The palate delivered caramel, banana and notes of cacao that I found extremely pleasing. I also like quite a “dry” mojito, so I enjoyed the slighty less sweet mouthfeel and finish.  Overall it was B for me.

Confirmed by Stolen, sample B was Bacardi. I’m not sure this diminishes their campaign.

As Pepsi proved when they went up against Coke, most consumers will gravitate towards sweetness in this type of activity. As the shift towards Coke 2 and the pull back to the product showed that brands are built on more than taste.

I continue to look forward to receiving smart marketing and award winning rum in my mailbox. While I might not have made the “right” choice blind, my sighted one will always go for the upstart brand trying something different.

So it’s Christmas, so I’m hoping for a little forgiveness that my 12 drinks project has fallen by the wayside as I’ve rushed to get home to New Zealand, marry the girl of my dreams and drink some pretty spectacular bottles of Champagne along the way.

The Sugared plum fairy came out of the idea that you could combine absinthe and Umeshu (Japanese sweet plum wine.) I’ve made a number of attempts, none of them even remotely successful. I’d welcome a successful cocktail including these ingredients, but for now, just add an egg white to 60mls of Umeshu, 15mls fresh lemon juice, 7.5mls Ardberg 10 yr old, emulisify and shake hard over ice, serve in a sugar rimmed vessel.

It would be fair to say that as a group, cocktail bloggers aren’t the hugest fans of vodka drinks. Maybe its the fact you don’t get to talk about the lignin phenols that leech vanillin as they age. Maybe its that as a group they got told to by the bar team at Pegu Club, or maybe it’s simply because it was the drink of preference they would have chosen before their very own cocktail enlightenment led them to the boisterous aniseed wrongness of a sazerac with rum switched in.

I myself fell out of love with vodka for a very different reason. I drank a fuckton of it. I was lucky enough to be involved with the development of the 42 Below Vodka brand in China and slung more vodka cocktails than a bartender at the Ivy Pool Club. I drank plenty too.

Anyways, enough about vodka snobs and why I don’t post more vodka cocktails.

The fact remains the neutral spirit is simply the most versatile tool in a bartenders toolset. It lays down with almost every type of tincture, extract, juice or liqueur. It can be lengthened in a fizz or simply chilled down and enjoyed short.

The second drink of Christmas is the Keystone Summer Festival Cocktail. The signature drink of the summer long extravaganza taking place at Keystone venues across the city, and will be the cocktail of choice at the Sydney Festival bars that will also be run by Keystone as part of the Sydney summer festival. For those of you who don’t work in the hospo industry, you’ll know the Keystone venues as Gazebo, The Winery, Manly Wine, the Loft and many more, all listed on their website.

The drink itself is the brainchild one Jason Williams, one time Australian Bartender of the Year who leads the beverage program across these mighty venues and is a champion of the vodka based cocktail in a way little seen among men of talent behind the stick these days. You might remember him from such posts as the Spring Sherry Cobbler which will hopefully be making a comeback as the summer sherry cobbler soon.

Anyway, here’s what he had to say about his creation.

“It’s an easy, tall cocktail with some really fun flavours. The pomegranate packs a flavour punch with sweetness and tartness in equal measure. The vanilla syrup tempers that and the ginger beer not only gives it a spritz, but matches up with the vanilla. It is going to be a winner while sitting out in the sun or checking out a band at Sydney Festival.

Plus I got to order 10 000 branded umbrellas. Fun times ahead.”

Festival Cocktail

GLASS: Highball
GARNISH: Mint, a cherry and a Keystone parasol

45ml Absolut vodka
10ml Vanilla syrup
30ml POM Wonderful
15ml Lemon
Top with ginger beer (house made at selected venues)

Shake everything but the ginger beer and strain into a highball. Fill with ice and charge with ginger beer. Garnish the shit out of it.

The Batlow cider it uses is a drier drop than many of the sugar heavy bottles that have hit the shelves and shores of the lucky country of late and plays nicely with the herbaceous characters of the Noilly and the Yellow Chartreuse.  There are also not enough opportunities to add a start anise to a great looking cocktail.

The DeCider

40ml Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka
15ml Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth
10ml Yellow Chartreuse
20ml Lemon Juice
1tsp Sugar
Dash Egg White
1 Star Anise Pod (Garnish)
Batlow Premium Cider

Combine all liquids (except for Batlow Premium Cider) in a mixing glass and fill with ice. Cover and shake hard. Strain out, and return to mixing glass without ice. Dry shake (without ice) for 45-60 seconds. Pour into wine glass and top with Batlow Premium Cider. Garnish with a star anise pod.

This weekend, Cockatoo Island will become my idea of a Fantasy Island. There will be drinks, talks, Julio Bermejo will be on hand making his fantastics Tommy’s Margarita.

You’ll get to try some delicious cocktails like Tattoo and his lady friend are enjoying in the picture above.

The Saturday has already sold out, and this is by no means an event for everyone. You should probably only go if you like $6-$8 cocktails and one or more of the brands listed below.

Cost:     

$15 admission (plus booking fee; cocktails, samples and food not included). Cocktail Island will use “Cocktail Currency”- purchase these tokens to buy well-priced cocktails

When: 

Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November, 11am-6pm (general public)

Monday 21 November, 11am-5pm (hospitality trade day)

Where:

Cockatoo Island Convict Precinct will be transformed into a “piazza” with tasting rooms and a cafe

Transport:

Cockatoo Island is just a 12-minute ferry trip from Circular Quay. Services run 7-days a week. To plan your trip contact Transport Info on 131 500 or visit 131500.com.au
Water taxis available by request. Marina for private boats to dock for two hours at Cockatoo Island, should you be up for partying like a rockstar

Visit http://www.cocktailisland.com.au/ for further information.

*No guarantees on the presence or otherwise of your very own midget butler.

These were both published, with the photo above on the Discover SD Blog. I’d suggest going over there and having a look.

If you’re looking for someone to sponsor, my mate Joe is having a crack this year. It’s for a great cause and he needs all the help he can get. You can make a donation, and check out his picture diary here.

Luckily, Bacardi have team up with Madame Brussells to deliver a tasty event that is all for a good cause. Climb the stairs tomorrow night for some pink drinks a good time and the type of cackling, throw your head back laughter that can only be found on the best astro-turfed balcony in Melbourne.

6-9pm. Tuesday the 15th of November at 59 Bourke St. $40 donation a requiremnet of entry. Auction to follow.