America vs. Rest of World

A chance at Cocktail infamy

Register yourself and your recipes(s) here.

Terms & Conditions here.

The top 50 received by the closing date of the 31st December 2008 will win an historic place in cocktail culture – as your recipes will form the backbone of the first ever definitive guide to absinthe cocktails, produced in conjunction with Simon Difford of diffordsguide. The 50 best entrants will also receive a commemorative 1st edition copy of the book. This is a thank-you for your part played in this monumental chapter of contemporary absinthe history.

The Teams

Just five contestants from the United States and five from the Rest of the World shall be selected from those 50. These winners will be personally profiled in the book along with their cocktail creation.

After flying to London in late spring they'll be collected in the La Fée Absinthe Bus, the two teams will join us at The Cabinet Room, Simon Difford's home bar, to face-off against each other in the final round to decide who gains international bragging rights as the winning team.

MVP

A Most Valuable Player will be chosen from each team, each will receive a double-page spread profiling them their cocktail in the book, and most importantly the chance to compete for the title of Grand Master.

The Cabinet Room, where the final will take place

Cocktail Grand Master

Following the final the entire party will travel on the Absinthe Bus back to George Rowley's country residence for a private dinner. The two MVPs will then compete for the title of La Fée Absinthe Cocktail Grand Master, winning the unique trophy and cementing their place in the renaissance of absinthe which La Fée has pioneered. Furthermore, a full feature will be devoted to the Champion in the momentous publication.

Judging responsibilities will be undertaken by an panel of industry professionals.

Damon Dyer from Death & Co. at La Fée's US Launch

Your Cocktail

Your entry must comprise at least three elements, one element being any measure of a La Fée Absinthe.

La Fée Absinthe does not have to play the ‘lead role’ in any recipe, however it is the only absinthe eligible for inclusion.

The deadline for entries is the 31st of December 2008, all entries must be submitted online here.

We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom to capture and embrace your personal expression of classic and contemporary cocktails. Have fun experimenting and good luck; we look forward to working our way through your creations!

View George's Rowley's Announcement Video

As shown at the launch part at The Old Absinthe House, New Orleans

See the full version here.

Entry

Entries must be in the form of a long or short drink, not a shot and be a minimum of 120ml (4oz) liquid volume.

After closed first round judging the organisers will inform those invited to compete in the final at The Cabinet Room in London by email.

Drinks & Preparation

Drinks must not contain more than seven ingredients, including fruit juices, syrups, drops, dashes. It is acceptable to additionally spray a citrus fruit zest over the drink if specified as a garnish. With few exceptions it is the simple drinks that have gone on to become ‘classics’, and due to this the judges will be instructed to favour simple drinks with fewer ingredients.

Hot ingredients and preparations are forbidden without advance written authority of the competition organisers.

Recipes must contain a minimum of 30ml (1oz) of La Fée absinthe and total combined alcoholic ingredients must be equivalent to no more than 90ml (3oz) at 40% alc./vol. (Total alcohol equivalent to less than 36ml/1.2oz at 100% alc./vol..)

Drinks must be assembled in front of the judges and premixes of any kind or ‘home preparations’ are not acceptable without the prior written approval of the competition organisers.

Ingredients may be measured using a jigger or similar measure or freely poured.

Drinks may be hand stirred, hand shaken or blended in an electric mixer.

Cocktails may be presented in any shape of glass, cup or other receptacle and these must be supplied by the competitor. No brand name or logo other than the regular discrete mark of the glassware manufacturer should be visible. Note that points are awarded for presentation.

Competitors must supply their own glassware, ingredients and bartending utensils. An electric blender will be provided by the organisers.

The organisers will supply cubed (approx 25ml/1inch square) and an electronic ice-crusher.

Drinks may be served ‘straight-up’, or over ice or crushed ice.

Each competitor must make at least two identical drinks for the judges to sample.

Competitors must be able to prepare drinks within a maximum of five minutes but will additionally be given a further five minutes to familiarise themselves with the bar area and prepare equipment and ingredients.

Competitors serving drinks which appear inedible or working with unhygienic methods will be disqualified.

Garnishes

Garnishes must be edible but may be mounted on sticks, skewers, straws, forks or other such common bar accessories.

Fruit for garnishes may be peeled in advance, but not sliced, wedged or pre-cut in any other way. Garnishes must be assembled within the five minute allotted drinks preparation time.

Recipes

Recipes entered must be the original creation of the competitor and if a competitor is thought to have obviously plagiarised a known, existing cocktail they will be disqualified. Fruit juice must also be a measured quantity. i.e. “Squeeze half lime” is unacceptable.

Recipes entered must be expressed in ounces (US) or millimetres with the use of ‘dashes’ and/or ‘drops’ limited to bitters, hot pepper sauce and the like.

Copyright

By entering this competition, competitors agree to assign copyright of their recipe and drink name to the competition organises.

Competitors and drinks presented during the competition may be photographed (still or video) by the organisers and copyright of these images for any use to include advertising will be retained by the organisers.

Drink Names

Drink names including rude, lurid, sexual words, or words associated with narcotics or motor vehicles are prohibited.

Conduct

Competitors are encouraged to talk to the judges while making their drink and points will be awarded for general presentation and working methods.

Competitors using rude or swear words will be disqualified.

Adjudication

The judges reserve the right to have the final decision on any matter relating to the judging of the competition.

Scorecard

Competitors will be judged according to the following criteria and scored out of a potential 100 maximum points per cocktail, per judge.

Name (20 points)

A drink’s name is crucially important to its saleability and points will be awarded with this in mind.

Taste (40 points)

The single most important aspect to a cocktail is that it should taste good, hence this judging criteria carries the most points.

Originality (20 points)

Competitors must present original drinks and points will be awarded for the degree of originality.

Presentation to judges (10 points)

Interaction between bartender and customer is fundamental to good service and so the judges will award points appropriately. The judges will also award points for efficient, stylish and hygienic preparation.

Presentation of finished drink (10 points)

The glass and general visual appearance of a cocktail and garnish affect its appeal and points will be awarded accordingly.