Cheers

Cheers

The Beverage Business Magazine for Full-Service Restaurants and Bars

  • Beverage Trends
    • Beer
    • Wine
    • Spirits
    • Wine Reviews
    • Marketing
    • Operations
  • Operators
    • What I’m Drinking Now
  • Recipes
    • Submit a Drink Recipe
  • Events & Awards
    • Cheers Beverage Summit
    • Growth Brands
    • BevX Awards
    • Supplier Awards
  • Podcasts
  • E-News
    • E-News Subscribe
  • Digital Issues
  • Cheers@Home

Bellying Up to the BAR Show

06/03/2015

by: Melissa Dowling

I spotted and sampled several interesting products and cocktail at the BAR—as in Beverage Alcohol for Restaurants—event during the National Restaurant Association convention last month in Chicago. The program, which was previously known as the International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event, is bigger and now better linked up with the NRA exhibits.

StKathrynWinesThere were so many niche and craft spirits, from mulled wine from Bavaria Waldfrucht, lavender wine from St, Kathryn in Palisade, CO, and agave wine from El Guitarron. There was also mead—I tried Nectar of the Hops from Redstone Meadery—sake, Micheladas and amari, plus more mainstream spirits, beer and wine.

OpihrGinBottleSome of the spirits were beautifully packaged, such as Allaire’s rum, tequila and vodka, Opihr’s Oriental Spiced London Dry Gin and The Big O, a new craft ginger liqueur from Maplewood, MO.

Advertisement

RRHood William Wolf pecan bourbon was getting a lot of attention. Maybe it was the cute girl dressed as Little Red Riding Hood pouring samples.BourbonCupcakePairing

Or maybe it was William Wolf’s crazy good pairing with miniature Elvis cupcakes—banana cake with a chocolate ganache center, peanut butter and buttercream frosting sprinkled with bacon-pecan praline.

3DotsDrinkAs for cocktails, there were Watermelon Coolers (shown at top), with Chopin wheat vodka, fresh watermelon and cucumber juice, and a Tiki tipple called Pluto’s Paradise (Angostura 7 yr. rum, Angostura bitters, passion fruit lemon, falernum and orgeat) from Chicago hot spot Three Dots and a Dash.AngosturaPinkGingerCollins

Speaking of the House of Angostura, the bitters and rum brand’s booth was offering a great drink called The Pink Ginger Collins, made with gin, dry vermouth, Angostura bitters, fresh lime juice, ginger-raspberry syrup and soda water.

BAR attendees also got to try and vote on the Casamigos tequila cocktails from the six finalists in the 2015 Star of the Bar competition. The Modern Mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim was also demonstrating how to make the perfect Margarita using Casamigos. Here’s his recipe.

The Perfect Margarita
1 ½ oz. Blanco tequila
¾ oz. Lime juice
1 ½ oz. Lemon simple syrup
¾ oz. Cointreau

Add ingredients to shaker and shake. Strain into cocktail glass or over glass of fresh ice.

Last modified: 06/03/2015

Previous Story:
A Glassy Affair
Next Story:
An Intense Tour at Barrow’s Ginger Liqueur

About the Author: Melissa Dowling

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

In The News

  • Yuengling Distribution Expands into Texas
  • Country-music Star Thomas Rhett Launches Dos Primos Tequila
  • Niche Import Changes Name to Marussia Beverages USA
  • Balcones Releases New American Single Malt, Lineage
  • TTB Approves New Sizes for Canned Wine
  • Luxco Launches Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon
More News >>

Follow Us

Facebook
Twitter

Featured Drink

  • Oh, Sherry!
    Oh, Sherry! cocktail

Drink Recipes

  • Feel The Warmth Of Hot Cocktails
  • Oh, Sherry!
  • Glorious Beginnings
  • Reindeer Mule
  • 8 Sparkling Cocktails To Ring In 2021

Current Issue

Cheers Current Issue

Cheers Magazine

  • About Cheers
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Market Research

Events & Awards

  • Beverage Excellence Awards
  • Cheers Beverage Summit
  • Growth Brands Awards

Magazines

  • Cheers
  • Beverage Dynamics
  • StateWays
  • Beverage Wholesaler
  • Beverage Handbooks (research)

E-Newsletters

  • Better Bartending
  • Cheers
  • Beverage Dynamics
  • StateWays
  • Beverage Wholesaler
  • Beverage Universe
  • Cannabis Regulator
  • About EPG Media
  • Send File
  • Privacy Policy
Powered by WordPress and Versal.