The Gormander: SRQ's Top Mixologists Raise the Bar

SARASOTA — It was a picturesque Sunday afternoon in paradise, and while I prefer to observe the whole day of rest aspect of the Sabbath, I was happy to be on the job covering Sarasota-Manatee Originals' 6th annual Set the Bar competition in the beautiful confines of Ed Smith Stadium.

For the event, the SMO had once again gathered the area's top cocktail slingers, and they were ready to throw down for the crown in five categories: rum, vodka, whiskey, gin, and tequila. Competition rules limited the drinks to five ingredients (including garnishes) using the same brand of base liquor: Papa's Pilar Rum, Stateside Urbancraft Vodka, Doc Swinson's Session Bourbon, Big Storm London Dry Gin, and Dano's Tequila.

The official winners were as follows:

Vodka: Jacob Lesitsky from Tsunami Sushi & Hibachi
Gin: Julie Asher from Stottlemyer's Smokehouse
Whiskey: Emily McCormick and Travis Smith from Pop's Sunset Grill
Rum: Hunter Peterson from The Waterfront
Tequila: Heidi Finley and Gabriela Abaroa from Jack Dusty
Judges Overall Best in Show: Jack Dusty
People's Choice: Angel Nazario (tequila) from Kolucan
Best Tablescape: Fins At Sharky's

Drinking is every bit as subjective as politics, so it didn't bother me that only one of my pics had aligned with the expert judges, who, as expert as they surely were, seemed unlikely to have raised more glasses than yours truly over the decades.

In the tequila category, I gave the nod to Andrea Kahn of El Melvin for her "Mi Carazon Fresca." Kahn infused the Dano's with cucumber, added fresh grapefruit and lime juices, and homemade rosemary syrup before topping it with grapefruit soda. It was a refreshing cocktail that could not have been more perfect for a sunny Florida day. Sage's Patrick Dawson came very close with his Agua Vera, but, in the end, I had to give Kahn the nod.

In the gin category, there seemed to be no question that Julie Asher's "Myakka Gold" was the hands-down winner. Asher also infused her base, using local temple orange and Meyer lemon juice, adding lavender-infused honey, elderflower liqueur, and lemon powder. The result was stupendous, and the Myakka Gold got my vote for best in show.

In the vodka category, Kojo's Emma Getchell infused her vodka with botanicals and added strawberry cream of coconut, lemon, Italian bitter aperitif, matcha powder, and freeze-dried strawberries. The resulting "Good Day Sunshine" was another hot weather beater that was dangerously easy to knock back.

In the rum category, Chaz 51's Katie Graham-Phillips wowed me with her "Havana's Kiss," which featured coconut water, pineapple juice, pineapple ginger demi, caramelized pineapple slices, and a fresh ginger garnish. When it comes to rum cocktails, they can easily be spoiled by too many sweets, which I feared would be the case after reading the ingredients. However. Graham-Phillips married the ingredients with expert precision for a best-in-show contender.

The whiskey category was stacked with stiff competition, but the way that Cafe Gabbiano's Hazel Juco was able to give us an Italian spin on the paper plane by adding smoked homemade limoncello to the bourbon, Aperol, Amaron Nonino, and fresh lemon juice made one of the few "refreshing" whiskey drinks even more so.