For over 25 years, thousands of bartenders from around the world have participated in MARIE BRIZARD INTERNATIONAL BARTENDER SEMINAR AND COCKTAIL COMPETITION in Bordeaux, France – home of MARIE BRIZARD. This five-day seminar and competition is a rewarding experience for bartenders.
During this event, regional champions, including the two finalists from the United States will have the opportunity to tour the beautiful region of Bordeaux, have a rare visit and exclusive tour of historic Marie Brizard distillery and receive an internationally recognized Diploma at the completion of this seminar. Attendees’ travel expenses are covered including airline and train tickets, hotels and meals.
2008 USA Competition Schedule: August 31 Submission deadline September – October Consumer online voting and on-premise promotion October 27 San Francisco Regional Final November 7 New York City Regional Final First week of December 26th Marie Brizard International Bartender Seminar and Competition, Bordeaux, France (dates to be announced) USA Competition
Challenges: 1) Two cocktail submissions (Martini recipe and tall drink recipe) 2) Final event challenge (San Francisco & New York City) 3) Consumer online voting
Awards:
USA Champions (2) Two USA Champions will be selected from the regional finals in San Francisco and New York City. USA Champions will travel to Bordeaux in December to attend the 26th Marie Brizard International Bartending Seminar and Competition. Champions will also receive a trophy and a certificate, as well as the title of 2009 USA Marie Brizard Ambassador.
Second Place (2) Two second place winners from each city will be awarded with a trophy, a certificate, as well as the title of 2009 USA Marie Brizard Ambassador.
Hospitality Award (2) There will be two Hospitality Award winners, who receive the most votes online at http://www.cocktailtimes.com/mariebrizard . Hospitality Award winners will receive a trophy, as well as the title of 2009 USA Marie Brizard Ambassador.
Completion Certificate for all challengers All participating contestants will receive an original Completion Certificate from Marie Brizard and Imperial Brands, Inc. at the regional final.
*In a case of a tie, Consumer Online Vote count will be used to determine the USA Champion in each city (New York City and San Francisco). Challengers’ cocktails can be served at his/her venue from July to October to encourage their consumers to vote online. Online voters are only allowed to vote once by providing his/her email address from a unique IP address in order to avoid multiple voting. Rules & Regulations
Challenger Qualifications:
• All Challengers must be at least 21 years of age or older to participate. A copy of government issued picture identification is required.
• A challenger must be currently working as a bartender/mixologist, bar manager, beverage director or alike at a bar/restaurant in the United States.
• A challenger must be able to attend the regional final event at his/her travel expense. If selected as a USA Champion, he or she must be able to travel to Bordeaux, France in December 2008. Travel expense for Bordeaux trip will be covered including air and train tickets, meals and hotels.
Cocktail Submissions: Challengers will submit two (2) recipes: martini recipe and tall drink recipe, by August 31, 2008. The recipes will be posted on Marie Brizard Cocktail Challenge official website for online voting from August to October, 2008. Challengers who receive the most votes will receive the special Hospitality Award. Challengers will be asked to serve the cocktails at the regional final event.
1) Short Drink (Martini) Recipe • must have at least one (1) MARIE BRIZARD brand • must be a Sobieski Vodka based short drink/martini • no more than five (5) ingredients including dashes and drops excluding garnishes • must be served straight up in chilled martini glass
2) Tall Drink Recipe • must have at least one (1) MARIE BRIZARD brand • must have at least two (2) alcoholic ingredients including MARIE BRIZARD • no more than five (5) ingredients including dashes and drops excluding garnishes • must be served in either a champagne flute or highball/Collins glass Additional rules: • Dairy products shall consist only of milk, cream and eggs
• Homemade or self-made ingredient will be counted as one (1) ingredient
• No heated ingredient or blender is to be used in both categories
• Any substitutions and questionable ingredients in a challenger’s original recipe must have the approval of the host and sponsors
• Challengers are allowed to use their own bar utensils to prepare the cocktail
• Ingredients may be poured with a measuring cup, a jigger and/or freely poured
• Recipe must be specified in ounces, divided in respectively such as 1, 3, 5 and 1/2, 1/4 and as smallest quantities of dashes and/or drops
• Garnishes shall consist only of edible fruits or vegetables
• Artificial arrangements or food-dyes shall not be allowed
• Only standard long straw, short straws, picks and stirrers are allowed to be used
• Submitted recipes must be the challenger’s original recipes that have not been entered for any other previous competitions and/or have not been published in the past
How to Submit:
Please submit your original recipe files (downloadable online) by emailing to: [email protected] with a subject line as: “(YOUR NAME)’s submissions/New York or San Francisco”.
Download your recipe sheet at: http://www.cocktailtimes.com/mariebrizard/recipe_submission.doc
Your deadline is August 31, 2008 The Regional Final Events: San Francisco & New York City
The regional final events will take place in San Francisco and New York City. At the final, the challengers will:
• Exhibit and serve their submitted cocktails. Final event judges will mark their scores based on the IBA-based scoring.
• Create a cocktail with a secret ingredient in 10 minutes. The secret ingredient will be announced at the day of the event. A technical judge will mark the efficiency score while blind tasting judges will mark their scores.
The Ingredients for the final challenge: The challengers must work with the ingredients supplied at the event. No other additional ingredients must be used at the final. Basic barware and glassware will be supplied, thought challengers are allowed to use his/her own barware. The stage bar will be furnished with:
• Marie Brizard products • Sobieski vodka and other base spirits • Dry and sweet vermouth • Basic juices and sodas • Basic fruits and vegetables • Basic garnishes including lime, lemon, cherries, olives, oranges • Herbes • Sweetners • Condiments including salt, sugar, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon • Standard long straws, short straws, picks Judging
Blind tasting panel will review total of three (3) drinks at the regional final events: two (2) already submitted cocktails and one (1) final cocktail with secret ingredient. Each cocktail will be judged based on the International Bartenders Association, IBA-based rules and regulations as follows:
APPEARANCE (glass appearance and filling, decoration, color) EXCELLENT – 9 POINTS VERY GOOD – 7 POINTS GOOD – 4 POINTS ACCEPTABLE – 2 POINTS PASSABLE – 1 POINT
AROMA (fragrance, freshness) EXCELLENT – 6 POINTS VERY GOOD – 5 POINTS GOOD – 3 POINTS ACCEPTABLE – 2 POINTS PASSABLE – 1 POINT
TASTE (taste and after-taste) EXCELLENT – 15 POINTS VERY GOOD – 12 POINTS GOOD – 8 POINTS ACCEPTABLE – 6 POINTS PASSABLE – 2 POINTS
Total: /30
Technical Jury for Efficiency The score from the Technical Jury for Efficiency for the final challenge is a stand- alone score. It should not have any bearing on the “taste-judging” of the cocktails.
Competitors will be judged on efficiency when preparing the cocktail at the final challenge. The technical judge will judge one competitor at a time. Technical judges shall not be associated with the competitors.
The official scoring sheet with a maximum of thirty two (32) points will be used for scoring. The points depicted in each criterion can be scored from a scale of 0 to maximum of 2 or 3. For example: In the “presentation of bottles”, a competitor may receive 1 point or 2 points on efficiency. If a competitor failed to present the bottles with label facing the audience, he or she may receive zero (0) point.
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More information about the Challenge is available online at http://www.cocktailtimes.com/mariebrizard .