Bartenders compete in ‘Mix Off’

Four seasoned and local bartenders gathered for a Mix Off at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Thursday night.  The bartenders came armed with one-of-a-kind cocktails in competition for the Best Bartender in Bloomington Award.

Their drinks were judged not only by a panel of judges but also the night’s audience.

The Signature Cocktail Award went to “Ghost Light,” created by Colin Boilni, proprietor of House Bar and The Rail. Boilini also won the Best Bartender in Bloomington Award.
The third award of the evening, the Best Film Award, went to “Sympathy for the Petal,” produced by Brave New Productions.

Emmie O’Connor, one of the contenders and creator of the signature drink, “The Last Cadenza,” is the assistant bar manager and lead bartender at Malibu Grill. She said she always had enthusiasm for bartending. She earned a finalist position at the Speed Rack Chicago competition and is a member of the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild.

“It just kind of fell into my lap,” O’Connor said. “It’s just one of those things I thought was interesting and I thought could further my knowledge into what I’m doing. It just sucked me in.”

Her cocktail was an eclectic mix of local liquors and fresh ingredients, including Indiana sorghum and Butler Winery blackberry wine. For a floral touch, she added St. Germain elderflower liquor with some fresh lemon juice and simple syrup, and sparkling wine to top it off. O’Connor said going local with her ingredients is an important element when creating recipes.

“I at least wanted to incorporate Indiana and small distilleries and try to emphasize how well they can make a good product aside from a big name product,” O’Connor said.

Another competitor was Ben Zemel, a bartender of about 10 years and the Wine & Spirits director at the Scholars Inn Gourmet Café & Wine Bar. Zemel’s original drink, “Sympathy for the Petal,” was a take on the classic cocktail, “The Aviation,” which consists of gin, maraschino liquor, crème de violette and lemon juice. Instead of sticking with gin, Zemel mixed Absolut Hibiscus with pomegranate juice, along with homemade simple syrup and fresh lime.

“A lot of people don’t know that Absolut products are actually infused, they’re not flavored, and they’re all organic,” Zemel said.

Along with retaining an extensive amount of mixology and bartending knowledge, Zemel said another part of his job description is experimenting with different liquors and wrestling with common recipes to create original drinks.

“When you come up with cocktails, you get your representatives from different companies to bring you products, and then you play around with them and see where you’d like to go,” Zemel said. “Sometimes, you’ll take a classic cocktail, work some new products into it, then remove things and change them around.”

After taking the steps to blend and perfect his recipe, Zemel said he believes his cocktail is a sure win because of its drinkability and exotic flavor.

“I think it’s nice and easy to drink,” Zemel said. “You can definitely throw back a few of these with no problem. It’s not too powerful but it still has delicate nuances like the flowers.”

The Best Bartender in Bloomington Award went to the competitor with the highest combined score in three areas: the signature cocktail competition, the “Knock Your Socks Off” cocktail competition and the “Drink On Demand” competition. The grand prize was one rent-free use of the Theater.

Follow reporter Olivia Williams on Twitter @obwillia.