"The luck is gone, the brain is shot, but the liquor ... the liquor we still got."
-from
Cocktail (1988)
The results are in for the
42 Below Vodka World Cocktail Cup, an event that invited 42 bartenders representing 17 countries around the world, to mix their way to cocktail supremacy. Some of you may recall, from deep in the recesses of your booze-addled memories, the
Shanghai finals held at
Bar Rouge that saw Cross of
Vault Bar and Alex of
Volar win spots on Team China to compete in the world finals in New Zealand.
Anyways, they came in fourth - - a respectable fourth - - with a "Chuan Chao" (Mandarin for "spice of life"), a fancy little thing that brought together vanilla and clove infused 42 Below Pure Vodka with a mix of lemon, vanilla, ginger, lemongrass and pineapple, topped with a sichuan pepper and vanilla foam served in an ancient zun (a vase-like wine vessel from the Shang Dynasty).
Team Vegas won top honors with a two-part drink called "Amplextremo," which included strawberry-infused vodka, chocolate grappa, sweet potato puree and some "pumpkin pie spice," with a whole strawberry on the side (frozen on stage with liquid nitrogen, of course). Coming in second place behind Vegas were the New Zealand Moas, while Team England, winners in 2006, rounded out the top three.
For a play-by-play, shot-by-shot recap of the championships, head over to
Louder.cn and check out
Ciga's blogs. Congratulations to Team China for their fourth place finish and to Ciga for returning alive.
Cross and Alex are back in Shanghai and back at their respective venues, so head on over sometime and get drunk like a champ on cocktails mixed by a champ.