Congratulations to Dave Wallace of the Montage Deer Valley for mixing up with winning Cocktail! It was an exciting competition and a close contest with a huge crowd, and The Sidecar was the perfect location for our contest!
Dave Wallace took home a $100 cash prize and a trophy, plus a measure of local renown: The Mountain Derby will appear on drink menus at Park City restaurants and bars through the rest of fall and winter.
The judges, who included Mary Malouf (food editor, Salt Lake Magazine), Ted Scheffler (food editor, City Weekly), Andy Bernhard, publisher of The Park Record, Kerry Jackson with X96 evaluated and Vaess Chang (a freelance food writer) judged each drink based on its presentation, taste and appearance. The entries varied widely, from the Everything goes with Bacon presented by Shabu and offering a Bacon garnish to the Black Manhattan presented by Cena Ristorante, which was also the runner up in the competition as well as the Cinnamon Pear Tarte Ta-tini by defending champion Bonnie Ulmer from Deer Valley Resort.
The Mountain Derby, which blends, won with a winning score of 444 (a perfect score being 500). It received high marks for taste, originality and presentation.
Once again, the competition was extremely close, It just goes to show that Park City is home to some of the best cocktails, best bartenders, and best bars in the world.
Ticket sales for the event raised funds for the People’s Health Clinic, a full-service health center for uninsured individuals and families in Utah’s Summit and Wasatch counties. Together, PCARA’s cocktail contests have raised more than $7,000 for the clinic.
For those who wish to try the Mountain Derby cocktail at home, here’s the recipe:
Spirits:
1 ½ oz. Woodford Reserve
Other Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. Fresh Grapefruit Juice
1 oz. Lavender / Chamomile Honey
¼ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
Method: Shake, strain and serve up. Garnish with a Lemon Wheel
Glassware: Martini Glass with ½ of the rim sugared
Lavender/Chamomile Honey:
2 cups organic clover honey
2 cups water
2 ½ cups ‘loose’ chamomile tea
1 cup ‘loose’ lavender Earl Grey (or English Breakfast) tea
Heat honey and water until honey is fully dissolved and incorporated
Add chamomile tea…steep for 8 minutes…then add Lavender tea (with chamomile)…let steep for 10 minutes (all steeping to taste)
Strain (double china cap)…refrigerate
The People’s Health Clinic is a community-funded, non-profit health clinic that provides high-quality primary care to uninsured individuals and families in Summit and Wasatch counties. The clinic’s services include pediatric, chronic disease, prenatal and general adult medical services. For more information, visit www.peopleshealthclinic.org.