BANFF – Bartenders and mixologists are travelling back to the 1920s and prohibition era with the Bearface Cocktail Contest.
Hosted by Nourish Bistro and its assistant general manager Caleb Olney, the Bearface Cocktail contest will challenge bartenders on their take of the classic cocktail with the main liqueur ingredient, the bearface whisky.
But Olney wanted to add another layer to the challenge. Competing bartenders not only have to worry about creating their unique twist to a classic cocktail, but they can customize the flavour profile of the whiskey itself.
“I want to make it difficult. I don't want it to be easy, like I want it to be fun, but I want people to use or whisky that's already got a lot of woody, earthy, smoky flavours and work with it, change it and then put it back into an oak barrel,” said Olney.
Bartenders have six weeks to modify and experiment with their whisky though competitors will have to bring a lot of thought to what ingredients they add.
“With a barrel aging cocktail contest as well, there's endless things you can do before actually put it into the barrel because once the cocktails in the barrel, you can't touch it … Competitors will get to taste it after four weeks to fine tune their recipe for when they pull from the barrel. But there isn't, there's very little that you can do at this point to change it,” said Olney.
The theme of the competition came naturally said Olney. With the classic cocktail and the addition of barrel aging whiskey to the competition, the 1920s theme was more than fitting.
Since the 1920s signified the prohibition era, Olney will be transforming Nourish Bistro into a speakeasy style venue for the evening with a secret backdoor entrance and a strict era themed dress code. To add to the illusion of the evening, people are encouraged to come in and play a 1920s character.
“It's going to be a new experience for everybody, which is cool and I think the speakeasy style is fun. Like everyone gets to dress up for the 1920s. It’s very strict dress code ... We're taking it back – cocktails dresses, suspenders, bow ties, tuxedos, top hats and you know, the full works right?,” said Olney.
Among all the glamour of the 1920s during this cocktail contest, Olney wants to ensure that the main focus is on the work that each bartender has put into their individual cocktail.
Experienced bartenders from Banff restaurants including Block Kitchen and Bar, Magpie and Stump, Park Distillery, 1886 Chophouse as well as Nourish Bistro will be competing throughout the night as a panel of judges will be judge each cocktail. The competing cocktails will also be available to try out before judging.
The Bearface Cocktail Contest is the first mixology competition to be hosted by Nourish Bistro and will take place on Sept. 12.
