- Aleka Allen on 五月 30, 2015.
On Monday, May 25, 2015, the winner of the annual Made with Love/ MadeWithLove National Finale was crowned in a room packed with over 300 guests.
Since the competition started earlier this year, 120 bartenders from across Canada were pared down to the Top 14 competitors. Inside the stylish Everleigh Club on King Street West, 300 guests tasted an array of cocktails and selected one that best displayed the winning bartender’s creativity, originality and innovation, and technique.
Congratulations to Romain Cavelier of Montreal, PQ for being crowned MadeWithLove’s “Best Bartender” for 2015.
For this year’s competition, MadeWithLove partnered with Toronto-based graffiti crew, Ready to Rock, to provide the bartenders with eight street paintings, along with a spirit to work with, to serve as their cocktail’s inspiration. All eight of the paintings revolved around the bartenders’ home cities.
To make this challenge even more difficult, the bartenders only had twenty hours to source their ingredients and prepare their one-of-a-kind drinks.
The cocktails created that night were very impressive and displayed all of the bartenders’ talents and strengths.
Ravinder Singh, a Winnipeg-based bartender, conveyed so much passion and civic pride for the Winnipeg Jets as he talked about his drink. His signature cocktail was called The Blue Very Loyal, a twist on a Black Russian with a myriad of ingredients, such blueberry syrup, SKYY Vodka, rhubarb bitters, and vanilla foam.
The presentation of the drink was very sophisticated, and the aromas of cinnamon and pomegranate were quite pleasant. Unfortunately, it tasted like cough syrup and didn’t make it into the Top Eight.
Vancouver’s Matteo Caniglia concocted a three-part cocktail entitled 3 Days in Spring, which was definitely creative and innovative but a tad pretentious. The cocktail consisted of whipped avocado, a shot of Campari, mint, and Pellegrino, and finished with a bite of pink grapefruit sprinkled with salt.
Quebec City’s Patrice Plante offered a hot cocktail entitled, Borealism. It contained homemade apple cider vinegar, Appleton’s Estate Rum, black spruce tea, and served with a dehydrated potato chip.
It was a very earthy and soothing drink that earned him third place in the competition.
The winning cocktail by Romain Cavelier was Le Saint-Laurent Sour, a twist on the Bourbon Sour with beet syrup, apple juice infused with Montreal Steak spice, and Wild Turkey bourbon. This drink received rave reviews for its presentation, originality, and refreshingly sweet taste.
Other highlights included the two drinks stations that offered two different cocktails to the guests. One of the cocktails was the Made with Wings, an adult version of bubble tea with Red Bull pearls.
The Interactive Station was very interactive and encouraged guests to make their own glass of the #enjoymadewithlove2015. It was a rendition of the classic Cuban cocktail, the Hotel Nacional.
The ingredients for the drink included apricot brandy, Appleton’s Estate Rum, lime juice, and brewed Lapsang Souchong tea.
Music by DJ Carl Allen and art by Ready to Rock topped off a fantastic evening dedicated to the art of bartending and the ever-evolving cocktail culture.
Founded in 2009, MadeWithLove™ is Canada’s largest mixology competition. Its mission is to demystify the cocktail culture and to showcase the creativity and diversity of the nation’s bartending talents through its annual competitions.