New Holland Brewing’s inaugural Art of the Cocktail competition was a huge success!! With some of Grand Rapids hottest bars and restaurants and New Holland Artisan Spirits, what more could you ask for? We asked 14 bars and restaurants in the Grand Rapids community to create origional cocktails using at least one of our spirits and one fresh, Michigan ingredient. These were the only two rules, the rest was left up to the participating venues and they did not disappoint! The first round of voting produced a top five list of finalists to be judged at the winners party held at Louis Benton’s “Leopard Lounge.” The judges pannel tried the top five and declared BoneFish Grill the winner with their “C.J. Hoptini” The party was an epic event with drinks flowing and the DJ grooving, a fabulous time was had by all. To check out our upcoming events, visit our website at www.newhollandbrew.com. You do not want to miss an event by New Holland, we know how to throw a party!
The Top Five (in no particular order):
1. CityFlats Hotel: City Sen Lounge
2. Reserve
3. BoneFish Grill
4. Louis Benton
5. San Chez: A Tapas Bistro
The Winning Cocktail: CJ Hoptini
Mixed by: Chelle Blundell & Jennifer Caldiran
Venue: BoneFish Grill
How They Make It:
• New Holland Hatter Royale Hopquila
• Cherries
• Jalapeños
• Cointreau
• Sugar
• Kosher salt
• Jalapeno powder
• Sour mix
4 cups cherries, 32 jalapeño slices (4 jalaps, sliced to 1/8 – 1/4 inch slices). The seeds must be removed from the peppers, otherwise the drink has a much more firey kick. These are local grown jalapeños bought at the farmers market.
8 oz Cointreau, 24 oz Hatter Royale Hopquila. Let cherries and jalapeño infuse in Hopquila for one hour. After infusing, pour contents into the blender and blend for 30 seconds. Fine strain into a container. The content is quite thick and may need to be pressed a bit with a gloved hand to insure all liquid is released into the container. Once fully strained, pour infusion into a glass bottle with a pour spout.
Rimmer:
3 oz sugar
1 oz kosher salt
1/2 tsp jalapeno pepper powder
Mix contents up, and store in a dry store-n-pour.
Martini recipe by infusion
2 oz cj infusion
1.25oz fresh sour mix
Garnish with a floating candied jalapeño.
Fill shaker tin with ice. Pour 2 oz of infusion and 1.25 oz of sour mix into shaker tin. Shake 20 times and strain into a half rimmed martini glass.
Candied Jalaps:
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
4 jalaps (sliced into 1/4 – 1/8 in. slices) Bring sugar and water to a boil. Add jalaps and reduce heat. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Strain out jalaps and place onto a piece of parchment paper until cool. Place in a dry, lided container. Contents are good for one week.
