Right before the Calgary flood (the day before, in fact), I was invited to attend the Grey Goose Pour Masters competition featuring some of Calgary’s finest bartenders/mixologists and the new Grey Goose Cherry Noir. Each competitor had to formulate a cocktail using Cherry Noir, a local ingredient and a French ingredient. It sounds easy enough but I think it was quite challenging. There were 12 competitors and each had to tell the name of their cocktail and their featured ingredients. They also had to assemble the cocktail in under 5 minutes. It was so fun watching the competitors. It left me feeling vastly inadequate with my lacklustre (at best) bar tending skills. I also must not have the palate that the judges do because the drinks I thought would win, didn’t. All in all, it was a fantastic day and I was really happy to have been included. It made me want to visit all of the competitors at their respective restaurants.
The winner was Jimmy Nguyen of the soon to be Cube Cocktail Lounge. His cocktail included coffee infused Cherry Noir. His presentation was amazing…..the cocktail was served in a coffee cup and paired with foie gras and toast rounds…..a man after my own heart! His cocktail is in the lower right of the picture above.
Grey Goose also developed a few cocktails for attendees to sip while enjoying the competition. They were delicious! My favorite was the Cherry Fizz. Grey Goose was kind enough to share the recipe with me so now I am sharing it with you. Enjoy!
Cherry Fizz Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz Grey Goose Cherry Noir
- 1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3/4 oz simple syrup
- Top with club soda
Instructions
- Fill the glass slightly above the rim of a highball glass with ice.
- Pour the first three ingredients into the glass in the order listed and stir.
- Top with club soda.
- Garnish with a fresh, sweet cherry.
Simple Syrup
- Dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in 1/2 cup boiling water and let cool.