Mike McCarron of Gamle Ode writes:
Today is the day we announce the results of our First (hopefully Annual) Heavy Table Gamle Ode, DuNord and Bittercube Winter Cocktail Contest.
First, many thanks to my hardworking and gracious co-sponsors: Heavy Table, DuNord, and Bittercube. I sincerely hope we can do this again — bigger and better — next year. When you take on anything new like this, you need co-sponsors who are bold and yet flexible, and ours have been the best.
I feel the same appreciation for all of you who submitted recipes. I admire your skill and the boldness that was reflected in your amazing submissions. When the contest was launched, we had no idea we would receive this many high quality recipes. Heavy Table sent us the submissions document shortly after midnight on Friday, and when I read it on Saturday, I realized that the high quality and large volume would make judging over the weekend for today’s announcement very difficult.
As we dug in, above all we felt an intense duty to provide a thorough and fair evaluation out of respect for the efforts made by the people submitting cocktail recipes as well as for the co-sponsors who kindly provided awards.
As a result, we are now appealing to your sense of flexibility, since we have chosen to change the judging rules. Over the weekend we pared the entries down to seven finalists, and:
— The awards are to be reallocated to ensure that all seven win at least $50, but that all seven are up for the four main awards.
— The main awards will now be determined at a final judging and awards program hosted Monday evening, March 2, from 7-9pm at Eat Street Social. Finalists are encouraged to attend, and the North Star Bartenders’ Guild and / or celebrity judges will decide the four main award winners.
We feel this will give the fairest results, and allow each of the cocktails to receive a measure of respect from the bartenders guild and local cocktail fans, who can come out to sample the beverages and share an evening together, instead of merely reading about the results.
Details are still being determined, but a casual program with food and beverages will be prepared, and we hope everyone interested will swing down to enjoy the evening and put the pressure on the judges as they try to pick the winners.
That said, here are the seven winners and finalists for the four main awards:
Condition Oakland
This Side of Paradise
Sweet Grass
Snusgatan
Lawn Dog
The Forest Floor
Northwoods Sunset
Many thanks to all participants, and I hope to see you at the final judging and awards program on Monday evening, March 2, 7-9pm at Eat Street Social where you can weigh in on these winners.