Today I attended my 3rd Giffard West Cup competition, and it’s 29th in history. This is the Western Canadian finals, meant to root out a winner that would compete against Eastern Canada and earn the honour of representing the country on the world stage in France, as they compete to win the Giffard title.
The competition sees a handful of local bartenders converging on to The Watson to showcase their creativity and skills behind the bar.
This year’s theme was “Sip the Moments”, from sun up to sun down, made using Giffard’s extensive line of quality liqueurs and syrups, since 1885.
Each chosen competitor was tasked with creating and mixing 2 cocktails before our panel of judges. The order of competitors was done by raffle draw. Each got 15 minutes to perform, which included 2 minutes to set up, and 10 to walk judges through the concept and inspiration as they mix 6 cocktails total for the three judges.
As always cheering was done during the shaking or stirring portion.
The following are the competitors, the bars they represented, their themes, and their cocktails. Sadly I did not try any, so can only report on the presentations.
First behind the bar was Alfonso Bravo from Hollyburn Country Club, in his first cocktail mixing competition. He spoke to his heritage and bringing Mexican flavours to Vancouver. His first cocktail was floral and easy to remind us that the light of summer is coming. He did this with a king cube made with frozen flowers. His second was an espresso number with a raspberry dusting.
Next was Bradley Horseman from Calgary, here representing Salt & Brick / Charlie’s Watch Repair. He spoke to his sense of freedom in industry and the ability to travel to enjoy the full moon parties in Thailand. The first cocktail was “Midnight Sun on the Rocks” done in low ABV. This was concocted understanding that an all night party is a marathon not a sprint. It included Greek yogurt for texture and to represent full moon in night sky.
His second cocktail was “Dancing with the Devil. This is the one you end the night on. Its colour was meant to represent the sunrise over the horizon of the ocean. It was made with honey from a local beekeeper in Calgary and included seasoned ice.
Then we had Jordan Coehlo the owner of The Watson with the home court advantage. His storytelling went into reasons to drink, and included for a good time and to discover a new product. This day of his began with a Morning Aperol, which was intended to look like a milkshake. And it ended with a night time Champagne cocktail that was a take on the Kir Royale.
Another hometown contestant was Andrew MacDonald of Homer St Cafe with his take on the Verdita and Sangria. The first utilized Giffard’s non-alcoholic pineapple for a lower ABV cocktail that still stood out with the freshness of mint and addition of saline. The goal was to start your day off at the patio with this before carrying out the rest of your day.
The night cap was a Sangria Old Fashioned, which saw fermented oranges that weren’t quite to the restaurant’s standards, soaked two days with cinnamon and cloves. Then the fruit was then pulled and bottled for another two days.
From Bar Corso we had Levi Devos competing. He sought to recognize their bar by focusing on Italian flavours like the ones they often feature in service. A cocktail for the sun with a house made pickle green pepper shrub. And another representing the moon in the form of an Espresso Martini with Giffard salted caramel and coffee syrups, dusted with pink peppercorn.
Taylor Gardiner is the bar manager for the newly opened Violeté Kitchen on Commercial Drive. She was also this afternoon’s first runner up. She told a very memorable and humorous story involving her childhood and visiting her Gram and Grampy in Nova Scotia. Each cocktail was a homage to one of them. From the “Make me a Monty” with the early mornings spent helping her grandfather on their farm. She incorporated the scents she remembered from their herb drying room and the orchards of fruit they grew. This gave her cocktail the flavours of pear, apricot, dill, and snap pea.
The second cocktail was a drinkable version of “Granny’s Raspberry Pie” with a cream cheese, fat washed, lemon gin for creamy and tart notes. A nutty sherry for depth and darkness. And sour lemon and egg whites, with salinity drops, to represent the pie’s crust.
First place went to Diego Olivos from JOEY Crowfoot in Calgary. This too was his first competition, however he appeared the most stage-ready with steady hands and an engaging and well rehearsed presentation. His cocktail story started not pressing snooze on the alarm so that he wouldn’t miss his mother’s homemade banana bread for breakfast. This transitioned into a brown butter fat washed bourbon with cardamom and chai bitters, that was finished with a torched crème burlee banana.
His second cocktail was inspired by a dice game his grandpa use to play that kept him up at night. It was acidic with an herbal note that included pear, ginger, and lavender Giffard. He added the syrups at the end of the shake, as to not dilute any of it.
From Hawksworth we had Philipp Karatsyupa telling us the daily adventure of “Pierre”, which also happened to be the first name of our star judge Pierre Giffard from France. The morning began with a croissant and a cocktail he carbonated on the spot. It had notes of lemon and stone fruit to reflect the terroir of the land. This was meant to represent slow mornings dragged out. And in the evening when the vibe changed he had the only cocktail to feature Giffard’s Menthe-Pastille. It was finished with an espresso flavoured foam and a bite of cocoa on the side.
And our ninth and last competitor was Ciaran McPoland of Ballyhoo / Freehouse Group who scrambled to finish on time, but owned it with witty banter. For the day he had a banana Giffard espresso martini and by night it was a tropical spicy pineapple number to wind down with.
In short, this was a great competition and always a fun one to watch. Especially for someone, like myself, who likes to mix cocktails, and is not a professional. I always walk away learning something and being inspired.
