opinionated alchemist

This time I would like to dedicate my post to individualism.

There was a time, when I thought, that there is only one way [yes - the stoney way] for a bit for "the bar". And well, I am not completely off this opinion, I am just more open to look left and right.

Still, I am more than anxious about the reputation of a bar like Barasti. Bar of the year or best bar? Not with my approval! Most popular bar? Likely, maybe -- depending on, what you would call a bar.

So first of all, you would need to acknowledge, that there are several categories of "drinkeries".

There is definitely the pub.There is the lounge bar / rooftop barA nightclub definitely have its own categoryA supper club - is a mixture - yet I would say, it deserves [especially now] an own categoryThe classic bar / American bar / Hotel bar...The restaurant bar....And then there are also some dive bars...And jazz bars as well.
All these categories, have different demands and other dynamics; other volumes, other…

When I have seen this drink [and the plea to vote for it] on the Dubai Bartender Club facebook group, I directly answered quite opinionated.

The recipe [at least in my universe] make little sense. Lots of sweet stuff, commercial stuff, with some artificial color and - who would have guessed - vodka. Not so good, I thought.

But this made me look for the other drinks on the Monin promotion website drinksofthecentury.com. And what I have discovered is quite a shock for me. All drinks there are over sweet, over_fru-fru... and absurd! [Truth has to be told - all drinks except of an Amaretto-syrup flavored cappuccino - well done!]

It seemed, that we are still deep in the 90's - and the cocktail-revolution never happened ["incidents" like that, let me believe in time-traveling - somebody knows Dale deGroff or did he had a deadly accident, before he became famous?].
Nobody seems to understand the product. Monin is scoring by even mentioning the brix degree on their bottles. Hen…

It was a hectic day... on Monday 24th. And Ulric Nijs - sworn that he will never do a competition again. 
This is a pity, because except of a few hick ups it was a really good experience [at least from my side - I guess the participants are hating me know].

We held the competition in Rush bar - in my hotel - the Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi. Truth has to be told - the recipes were everything but promising. But there were a few, which could convince [at least in one category]. Of roughly 20 drinks, there was one, which was really attractive [again, most competitors neglected the garnish- which is classically in a competition quite important]. There was another one, which really stood out and kinda impressed with a clear spirit driven character [funny thing was, that the drink had a hideous garnish - blue sugar rim and a sad maraschino cherry] - despite of its quite confused recipe of Scotch, Midori, amaretto, lemon juice [plus one more liqueur] it tasted like a Godfather [not even got wrong]…

After the high popularity of my Mojito post - as well as the also well liked post about the Diablo, I would like to highlight here, another bar staple: The humble Whiskey Sour.

Also: if you can make a proper Whiskey Sour, you can do a lot of other Sours - basically you can take any distillate and make a Sour out of it...

I call it the "perfect" Whiskey Sour to be obviously a bit provocative - but also, as you get often a less than perfect drink, when you are ordering one.

So what are the ingredients of a Whiskey Sour?

American Whiskey [yes - I say it: definitely no Scotch, also for sure no Canadian, no Irish and obviously no Japanese]Truth has to be told - there is definitely something like an adequate Scotch Sour. But it should simply not be called Whiskey Sour, as the character is totally different. Period!Lemon JuiceSugarOptional egg white Additional to the ingredients, these features are also important to consider: Balance between sweet and sourIngredient proportionsA prope…

I am pretty well known, to have the opinion, that chefs are upfront, when it comes to culinary skills and knowledge and commitment. Bartender are somewhat lazier and unfocussed; also there are much more great chefs as great bartenders.

However what seemed to be a valid slogan [work more like a chef] - seems now to backfire.
In the last competition I have seen recipes [more or less all recipes], which were definitely inspired by the cuisine style of mixology. Fresh [and somewhat "different"] ingredients went all over the drinks.
While the balance of all drinks were far off, it was [except of very few exception] just a promising picture - or was it?

Now I am in a catch-22 situation... on one hand, fresh ingredients are key to the success of good bartending - on the other side there is so much more to consider.

Fresh ingredients is only one part of it.

And there is the laziness of bartenders coming again into play.
At this point I have to mention, that this correlates strictly …