Here are Three (3) of the Top Ten (10) winners receiving CASH PRIZES of $250 each for their cocktail entries! Stay tuned for the next Five (5) winners taking home $500 each, along with the Grand Prize Winner and Runner-Up announcements.
The Le Grand Courtâge competition panel of judges including Andrew Pollard, Chief Mixologist Cosmopolitan Hotel (Vegas); Tawnya Falkner–Proprietor, Le Grand Courtâge; Wendy Hodges, Chilled 100 National Director; Michael Page, Breakthru Mixologist and Tony Devencenzi, RNDC Mixologist were tasked with choosing the Top Ten winning cocktails to receive cash prizes. Congratulations to all the winning bartenders.
Thank you to all the participating bartenders!
Sarah Turbett
Sand and Sea
Ingredients:
- 1 oz fresh passion fruit puree
- 1/2 oz tempura fugit crème de banane
- 1/4 oz luxardo maraschino cherry syrup (the syrup used to keep the cherries in the jar)
- 2 drops lavender saline*
- Top with Le Grand Courtage Blanc de Blancs Brut
Preparation: Combine all ingredients except for the sparkling wine into a shaker. Add ice and shake for about 10 seconds. Strain into a chiller coupe glass and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with dehydrated and candied passion fruit. Cheers! *lavender saline is made by dissolving equal parts of salt into warm water. As solution cools but is still warm add in dehydrated lavender. Once solution is chilled strain out the lavender and the remaining solution is your lavender saline.
Alex Taylor
Joy Broker
Ice Sphere Ingredients:
- 1 Oz. Probitas Rum
- 1/4 Oz. Bigallet Thym Liqueur
- 3/4 Oz. Strawberry-Pink Peppercorn Syrup*
- 1 Oz. Fresh Lemon Juice Strained
- 3 Dashes King Floyd’s Ginger Bitters
- 3 Oz. Le Grand Courtâge Brut Rosé
Preparation: Combine all ingredients except brut rose in shaker tin; vigorously shake for 12-15 seconds. Fine strain into snifter (in which a standard-sized ice ball has been placed). Top with Brut Rosé and give a quick stir to integrate the ingredients. Garnish with Trimmed Lemon Peel Strawberry Edible Orchid. Serve and enjoy.
*Strawberry-Pink Peppercorn Syrup Ingredients:
- 1 cup distilled or filtered water
- 1 cup refined white sugar
- 2 cups thinly sliced strawberries
- 2 tablespoons lightly crushed & toasted pink peppercorns
Preparation: Combine water and sugar in a medium pot bring to medium heat and ensure sugar is fully dissolved. Add strawberries and pink peppercorns. Bring to a low boil while constantly stirring. Return to low heat and continue occasional stirring until strawberries appear limp. Remove from heat and place in an ice bath. Cool until room temperature is achieved. Fine strain bottle label and date. Refrigerate and use as needed for up to two weeks.
Tara Gillum
A Little Peach and Quiet
Ingredients:
- 1/2 oz The Botanist Gin
- 1/2 oz Grand Mariner
- 1 oz Peach and Rosemary Shrub
- 4 oz Le Grand Courtage Brut
Preparation: Start by making your shrub. For this cocktail I have made a Peach Rosemary Shrub. Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup of sugar 1 sprig of rosemary and 1 cup of peach preserves. Cook all of the ingredients in a sauce pan on medium heat stirring often and until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Use a fine strainer to remove the hard particles and store in an air tight container. To build the cocktail start with ice in your Boston shaker and add The Botanist Grand Mariner and the shrub to it and shake. Then strain the liquid into a champagne flute and top with Le Grand Courtage Brut. Garnish with a peach rose skewered with rosemary.
