Ten bartenders from New York and ten from San Francisco are in the finals. You can join the judging process by visiting the participants' bars to taste their original Marie Brizard cocktails until the mid-October and cast your vote online - contestants who receive the most votes will win a special "Hospitality Award." Check out the Marie Brizard website more info.

The Great Hotel Bars, Part I, at the Hotel Tabard Inn, 1739 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20036, 6:00 – 7:30 pm.

Cost: $45.00 (Museum members receive discount)

Marketwatch:
42 Below Cocktail World Cup Winner Announced.
After five intense days of cocktail making the winner of the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup has been announced. The three-man London team took away the top honour with their "Ale of Two Cities," a cocktail inspired by the classic English Pint. (more...)

Wall Street Journal:
Prefab mixers: buyer beware.
Williams-Sonoma, geared though it may be to ambitious amateur cooks, seems to think that its customers aren't up to the rather limited culinary demands of making cocktails. Why else the prominence the store is giving to a new line of bottled cocktail mixes?(more...)

Chicago Tribune:
Fresh take on cocktails.
It's the holy trinity of the modern food movement. Now those buzzwords are busting out of the frying pan and into the cocktail shaker as home mixologists learn what chefs have known for years: Fresh is best.(more...)

Washington Post Express:
Drink garnishes: Add sass to your glass.
Jars of brightly colored berries, beans and peppers line the back shelves of Arlington's EatBar. No, the gastropub hasn't been invaded by a canning-mad housewife. This is actually the pickled, preserved and bottled arsenal of bar manager Gina Chersevani. (more...)

Dowd on Drinks:
Oldies can still be goodies.
Breaking up a house full of stuff can uncover a cache of treasures or a pile of junk. Of course, defining the terms "treasures" and "junk" is a very personal thing. (more...)

Designed especially for professional bartenders, the presentation, sponsored by Finlandia Vodka, will be composed of an in-depth breakdown of the process of distillation, fermentation and filtration, including a blind tasting and a look at the scientific approach to bartending, taste and balance, hosted by the Soulshakers, three of the United Kingdom's most respected and renowned drink consultants.

Thursday, September 25th

 On September 9th, the Museum kicked off its Washington, D.C. Seminar Program at Mie n Yu restaurant in Georgetown (31st and M Street, NW), with the presentation “From the Pacific Rim to the Silk Road – How to Make Exotic Cocktails.” Museum members Phil Greene and Derek Brown joined Tom Brown of Cork and Chris Kelly of Mie N Yu to discuss the use of exotic ingredients in cocktail history, especially the British colonial regime in India and drinks like the Government Regulation Punch, the introduction to bars of ice in the 19th century, the rise of Tiki culture through progenitors Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic, and the introduction of that obscure Russian spirit called vodka in the Moscow Mule. They also discussed the use of herbs and spices in cocktails, topped off by a five spice infused rum drink called the Rum Route. Delicious pork and shrimp appetizers as an excellent accompaniment to the drinks served.

Sponsors included Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur, which Phil Greene used in making a variation on the Moscow Mule he called the Indochine Mule, and which Tom Brown featured in making a scratch Ginger Mojito;

Depaz Rhum Agricole , which Phil used in his authentic Mai Tai, and which starred in the five spice Rum Route cocktail; and,

Finlandia Vodka, which worked beautifully in the Indochine Mule cocktail.

Fee Brothers also chipped in, namely, their excellent Orgeat Syrup (used in the Mai Tai), as well as their new Rhubarb Bitters. Ledroit Brands donated Batavia Arrack, Allspice Dram and Velvet Falernum.

The Museum is grateful to Mie n Yu for its excellent job at hosting, and we hope to do many more events with them down the road.

Here's the recipe for Phil’s Indochine Mule:

Indochine Mule

• 2 oz Finlandia Vodka
• 2 oz. Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1 oz. seltzer water

  Build drink in a copper mug, or a rocks glass, over ice. Stir well, garnish w/a sprig of mint, a dash of Angostura bitters are optional. Enjoy!

BBC:
The sort of cocktail to avoid.
An English teenager has vowed never to drink again after a holiday cocktail caused her head to swell to the size of a football. (more...)

Manchester Evening News:
Two from Manchester compete in world cocktail event.
The best bartenders in the world will battle it out to win the coveted Cocktail World Cup next week: an international shake off staged by premium Kiwi vodka 42 Below to find the best combination of mixology and personality on the globe. (more...)

Wichita Eagle:
A cocktail with a-peel.
Brent Sullivan won Wichita's first Iron Bartender contest with a concoction of gin and banana liqueur.(more...)

San Francisco Chronicle:
The cocktail arena - why so competitive?
Victory in a cocktail contest can elevate a mere mortal bartender to "award-winning mixologist." (more...)

NWsource.com:
Cocktail of the week: The Sambar Pear Sour
Sambar's drink sheet is gorgeous. It's printed on heavy stock, embossed with the bar's logo. It's filled with golden-age cocktails like the Jasmine, the Petit Zinc and the Vesper, priced mostly in double digits. I would marry that sheet if I thought I could afford to keep it in the manner to which it's become accustomed. (more...)

KansasCity.com:
Eat your drink: KC bartender creates edible cocktails.
Forget everything you know about Jell-O shots: Their jiggle. Their gaudy color. Their slurp-it-down and slap-the-bar zaniness. (more...)