Last Updated on June 1, 2017 by gregor
An extraordinary composition of regional products, a spectacular performance and an exciting story: Those were the decisive criteria that had to be fulfilled on May 29th in Vienna. On the rooftop terrace of The Ritz-Carlton Vienna, eleven finalists out of over 180 participants competed for the 1st place. Chloé Merz convinced the jury with her drink „The Traveling Tombstone“ and is the winner of the Made in GSA Competition 2017. Over 40 sponsors provided a total of about 90 products from Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
The finalists had approximately ten minutes each to make and present their drinks in front of the jury that consisted of renowned experts of the industry namely Helmut Adam, publisher of Mixology – Magazine of bar culture, Christian Heiss (Kronenhalle, Zurich), Gerhard Kozbach-Tsai (Tür 7, Vienna) and Charles Schumann (Schumann’s, Munich). According to the philosophy of Made in GSA Competition, the focus is set on regional ingredients. “When we established the competition in 2013, regional products didn’t play a major role in the bar scene. This year we noticed that more and more participants chose to use only local components in their recipes which once again shows that we’re not only speaking of a trend but an already solid part of the industry”, says Helmut Adam.
The Traveling Tombstone: Stirred not shaken
This drink takes Chloé Merz to New York, the hometown of bars. In her recipe, she combines the single malt whisky Ziegler Aureum 1865 Grave Digger Edition The Bruce with Belsazar Vermouth Rosé and Faude bergamot Obstgeist, a type of schnapps, among other things. “The Made in GSA Competition is the ideal podium for bartenders to present their own ideas to experts of the industry. The more so, I am glad that with my performance I could portray the fun I have standing behind a bar mixing cocktails and being a host”, comments Chloé Merz, bartender at the Conto 4056 bar in Basel, Switzerland.
This drink takes Chloé Merz to New York, the hometown of bars. In her recipe, she combines the single malt whisky Ziegler Aureum 1865 Grave Digger Edition The Bruce with Belsazar Vermouth Rosé and Faude bergamot Obstgeist, a type of schnapps, among other things. “The Made in GSA Competition is the ideal podium for bartenders to present their own ideas to experts of the industry. The more so, I am glad that with my performance I could portray the fun I have standing behind a bar mixing cocktails and being a host”, comments Chloé Merz, bartender at the Conto 4056 bar in Basel, Switzerland.
The second place goes to also Switzerland
Basel-based Christoph Stamm was inspired by the cherry blossom season in his hometown, Fricktal. His drink “Hanami” for which he brought Revolte rum, Humbel Brenzer Kirsch, another type of schnapps and Tempus Fugit violet liqueur into perfect harmony made it an easy decision for the jury. On third place is Joris Raible from Bamberg, Germany and his drink “Holz und Beinbruch”. A cocktail that among other things contains Slyrs single malt whisky, Pernod Absinthe and native liquorice.
Special categories: Lemonades & fillers and Brände & Geiste
Chilean Nicole Espinoza won the category lemonades & fillers with her drink “Marcel Prost” that contains fritz-spritz Bio-Rhabarbersaftschorle, sparkling rhubarb juice. The price for the special category Brände & Geiste was given to Christoph Stamm for his sensitive integration of Kirschbrand in his cocktail.
„Once again the finalists presented high-level cocktails. Besides the skill of making, also the performance was a major aspect. Part of daily business is to empathize with the guests and understand their preferences. The challenge of our competition is a lot more than only the recipe of the drink itself”, Adam describes a significant criteria for the choice of the winner.
The winning recipe – „The Traveling Tombstone“
Ingredients
4cl Ziegler Aureum 1865 Grave Digger Edition The Bruce Whisky
3cl Belsazar Rosé
1bl Faude Feine Brände Kalabrische Bergamotte
1bl Canadou sugar syrup 2:1
1 – 2bl Earl Grey tea leaves
Garnish: lemon zest
Glass
Coupette glass
Preparation
Put all ingredients and ice in a mixing glass and stir until chilled. Double-strain into the pre-chilled Coupette glass. Garnish with lemon zest.
About Made in GSA
“Made in GSA“ was founded by the MIXOLOGY publishing house in 2013 as a label for regional products from Germany, Switzerland and Austria which are the distributive countries of the Mixology magazine. The idea originated when American cocktail enthusiast Martin Doudoroff could not be offered any regional products at a renowned bar during his visit in Germany. Since then Made in GSA stands for native products from the German-speaking area.
Further information about the competition on www.made-in-gsa.de
Title Photo: Constantin Falk
