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Bill Norris wins Drink Local contest
Bill Norris (of the soon to be open Haddington’s) scooped up first place at the third annual Tipsy Texan and Edible Austin sponsored Drink Local Night at Cedar Street on Tuesday.
The competition (like several of the drinks) was stiff — Norris competed against Nate Wales of La Condesa, Brian Dressel of the (also soon to be open) Congress Bar, Ace Manning of Peche, and newcomer Nancy Mitchell, the Backyard Bartender from Houston. Each contestant mixed up a delightful seasonal cocktail featuring local spirits, but Norris’ one-of-a-kind Texas Tiki drink won the judges over in the end.
His cocktail, The Waco Haze Cutter was inspired by the traditional Tiki drink the Fog Cutter, and named after the location of the Balcones Distillery in Waco. It featured several ounces of the Balcones Rumble and True Blue whiskey, a home made orgeat (an almond-flavored syrup used in traditional Tiki drinks such as the mai-tai), gin, grapefruit, and topped with a cream sherry float. The drink was delicious, his technique exact, and presentation engaging.
Brian Dressel of Bar Congress took second place with his egg-nog inspired concoction, the Blue Velvet. The drink featured a surprising combination of ingredients, including Balcones True Blue whiskey, Real Ale Coffee Porter, Round Rock Honey, Benedictine, Chocolate Bitters, egg and a cinnamon garnish.
Nale Wales of La Condesa came in third place with the Hot Pecan Brown Butter Rum, which was composed of Treaty Oak rum, Amontillado sherry, cinnamon browned butter, pecan bitters, and a poblano garnish. According to David Alan of TipsyTexan.com, Wales’ entry was the first hot drink to be entered into the competition.
Drink Local Night was part of Edible Austin’s Eat Local Week, a celebration of all things local and fund raising event organized to benefit Urban Roots, a program dedicated to using “sustainable agriculture as a means to transform the lives of young people and to increase the access of healthy food in Austin.” The competition highlights Austin’s best and brightest mixologists and also showcases the rapidly growing Texas spirits industry. In addition to the competition, several local distillers were on site offering samples of their spirits for attendees. David Alan stated that the contest received a record number of submissions this year, indicating that the cocktail scene in Austin is booming.
Judging the contest, in addition to yours truly, were Lara Nixon of Tipsy Tech/Balcones Spirits (and winner of last year’s contest), Joe Eifler of TipsyTexan.com, Adam Harris of Maker’s Mark and Ben Craven of Perla’s. Below is the recipe for Bill Norris’ winning cocktail. To see recipes for all of the entries, check out TipsyTexan.com.
The Waco Fog Cutter by Bill Norris of Haddington’s
2 oz. Balcones Rumble
1 oz. Balcones True Blue
.5 oz. London Dry Gin
1.5 oz. Texas Grapefruit juice
.75 oz. homemade Orgeat
.5 oz. Cream Sherry
Combine all ingredients except sherry with ice in mixing glass. Shake and strain over crushed ice. Top w/cream sherry float.
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