Since I moved to New York from Paris (where I’m accustomed to drinking wine), I’ve learned how playful cocktails can be, both the person who makes them and the one who tastes them. After all, how often do you get to mix up a few wines and create a new drink?
This summer, we at Edible took this game to the next level and partnered with Hendrick’s Gin to run the Edible Cocktail Contest. From Manhattan to Montauk, bartenders were asked to create two drinks: a heritage cocktail (an updated interpretation of a classic cocktail like the Gimlet or Martini), and an Edible cocktail (a creative expression using Hendrick’s and local/seasonal ingredients). The game was on for two months and dozens of local bartenders entered.
Names got as creative as “I Think I’m Turning Japanese” (Steve Roux from Almond Restaurant), to “Expensive Soap” (Clairbonne Fortenberry from Left Bank), to “Bloody Hendricks Beat Root” (Jennifer Bakalar from Norwood Club). However, after garnering 2501 votes, Sother Teague from Amor y Amargo defeated the competition and won $5,000 cash and a trunk full of bar tending tools and glassware.
His winning heritage cocktail was the “Waterproof Watch” — a variation of the classic Negroni with vermouth with Amaro Montenegro for a subtle vegetable note. “Beet Up” was his winning Edible cocktail that included a syrup made from juiced yellow beets and Hendricks Gin.
Thank you to all the bartenders that entered the contest and made it such an exciting experience! And of course thank you to all the voters who carried out the difficult task of tasting all those different cocktails…
Here are his winning recipes if you want to give Teague’s winning concoctions a shot:
Waterproof Watch
1.5 oz Hendricks Gin
0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro
0.75 oz Aperol
2 Dash Dale Degroffs Pimento Bitters
Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass and top with plenty of ice. Stir to chill and dilute. Strain into a single rocks glass over fresh ice. Express the oil from an orange peel over the top and drop in.
Beet Up
1.5 oz Hendricks Gin
1 oz yellow beet cinnamon syrup (recipe follows)
0.5 oz Orange juice
0.5 Lime juice
Peychauds bitters
Cucumber slices (very thin)
- Fill a Collins glass with pebble ice.
- Pour first 4 ingredients into a shaker tin and ass 20-30 pieces of pebble ice. Shake to dilute, chill and aerate until all the ice in the tin melts. Pour into the Collins glass.
- Top with additional pebble ice to form a “Sno-Cone” look Dash bitters on top to complete the “sno-Cone” look and add a layer of aroma. Add a straw and place some thin slices of cucumber on top.
Yellow Beet Cinnamon Syrup
1 cup yellow beet juice
1 cup water
4 cups sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
Pinch of Kosher salt
- Strain the juice from yellow beets through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. Set aside.
- Dissolve the sugar in the water over a low flame with the cinnamon sticks in it. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks and combine with the beet juice. Add a pinch of salt to balance the flavor.
