The 11^th of May House of Brazil arranged, in collaboration with Bouncing Olive, Denmark’s largest cocktail competition. The major event was hosted at Karrierebar in Copenhagen.

The annual Ypioca Cachaca Cocktail Competition is about making “a new” version of the Brazilian Caipirinha. The requirement for the bartender’s cocktail was using a minimum of 4. cl. Ypioca Cachaça.

Avenue Hotel was represented by three bartenders who had qualified to compete at Karrierebar – Morten Dinitzen, Kasper Thorup and I (Kenneth Christensen). The first round was divided into 9 heats and from there the 4 best cocktails went into the final.                                                      

It was the first time the bartenders from Avenue Hotel competed in a cocktail competition, “so we didn’t know what to expect”. The announcement of the finalists awaked great joy for the Avenue team. Morten and his “Citro Night” cocktail qualified for the final. Unfortunately Mortens shaker broke in the finale, with his cocktail in it, which made it very difficult to finish his cocktail.

The winner of Ypioca Cachaca Cocktail Competition became Bjarke Reventlow with his Río de regaliz. Morten got a 4^th place in the competionen out of 33. A place, that I think we at Avenue Hotel can be very proud of! Kasper and I shared an 8^th place.

Thank you House of Brazil and Bouncing Olive for a fantastic competition. We look very much forward to compete again next year.

Avenue Cocktail Recipe

Citro Night (Morten)

5 cl.                     Cachaca Ypioca Prata
2,5 cl.                 St. Germain
2                          Passionsfruits
2 tsp.                  Icing sugar
10                       Lemon balm leaves
1 cl.                    Fresh lemon juice

Verderinha (Kenneth)

4 cl.                     Cachaca Ypióca Prata
3 cl.                     Freshly squeezed orange juice
½                         Lime
2 tsp.                  Cane sugar
7-10                    Fresh basil leaves
6                          Green grapes

Lavainger (Kasper)

4 cl.                     Cachaca Ypióca Prata
¾                         Lime
2 cl.                     Lavender sirup
3 g.                      Ginger
4 cl.                     Cranberry juice
1 tsp.                   Acacia honey

This is the first in a series of posts explaining in detail how to make a variety of cocktails found on Avenue Hotel’s Drinks & Cocktails Card.

Whether at home or at a bar, whenever you go about making a cocktail, you might as well do it in a manner assuring you’ll get the best result possible. The tools you’ll need are few but essential. You shouldn’t be without a shaker, a strainer, a stirring spoon or a muddler and you can never get too much ice. Furthermore, a few general tips are to…

1. always chill the glass in question with ice before preparing your cocktail,
2. once you begin adding liquids to your ice filled shaker/mixing glass you want to speed up the process in order to dillute the cocktail as little as possible. The cocktail should be cold, not watered down, and
3. don’t shake for too long. Again, the object is to get the cocktail to its appropriate temperature, not turn it into an ice cream.

Let’s start out with Avenue Hotel’s highly acclaimed and much appraised (by the bar manager, that is) signature cocktail:

Yellow Lounge (cocktail glass)

• 2 cl. Cachaca
• 3 cl. Galliano
• 4 cl. Orange juice
• 3 teaspoons honey

All ingredients are shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass, then garnished with a halved lemon wedge. Aside from looking neat the scent of the lemon (as it is with most garnish) is part of the equation in providing an experience for one’s senses. Also, as a result a bit of lemon juice may then be squeezed into the cocktail after it is served, should one seek a slightly more sour sting to it.

Rasmus/
New recipe 2009 Kenneth