Mixology movement puts the craft back into cocktails

Four Corridor bartenders - ahem, mixologists - agree: Prohibition killed the art of bartending, and they are part of a growing movement of cocktail artists slowly bringing it back.

They're not talking simply pouring a proper pint or mixing a decent gin and tonic. These mixologists, who strutted their stuff at the 2014 Iowa Restaurant Association Mixology Championships, have a bevy of tricks up their sleeves. They're shaking up vodka with homemade cherry soda crafted from real cherries and lighting applewood chips on fire and infusing the smoke into whiskey decanters. They're paying attention to details like the shape and clarity of the ice cubes in their tumblers and personally sourcing their mint, basil and honeycomb from local farms.

Though the top title at the Aug. 27 competition went to Rex Schulze of Splash Seafood Bar & Grill in Des Moines, the four Corridor bartenders who made it to the championships mixed up some showstoppers. They each created three original drinks for a panel of judges and later created sample sizes for 100 paying guests. Jet Evangelista of Popoli Ristorante and Sullivan's Bar in Cedar Rapids, Josh O'Connell of Cobble Hill in Cedar Rapids, Chris Martin of Graze in Iowa City and Tyler Ward of Vesta in Coralville competed.

'When I first thought of bartending, I thought it was just opening a bottle of wine, pouring a beer and making mainstream cocktails,” Evangelista says. 'To be a mixologist, instead of throwing a bunch of things together, you're doing it with a purpose.”

Mixology takes bartending to another level, he says.

'A lot of it really is learning how to build your flavor profile,” he says. 'It's about learning the different textures and flavor combinations and mouth feels.”

Stacy Kluesner, director of marketing and development for the Iowa Restaurant Association, says it hosted its first mixologist competition five years ago after noticing a growing interest in well-crafted cocktails.

'It is a movement. Things have changed considerably over the last several years in how people enjoy liquor and cocktails,” she says. 'Mixology has become an art form.”

She says the mixology movement is following much the same path as the local food and craft beer movements that have already become mainstream.

'Nobody uses Reddi-wip out of a can at these competitions,” she says. 'There's a culinary approach to it as well. Like for an artist or a chef, it's really a way for them to express their creativity and share that with others.”

Martin agrees. When he's devising a new drink recipe, he wants people who try it to stop in their tracks.

'It's kind of cool mixology is coming back,” he says. 'The food movement already happened. Not it's time for drinks.”

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED: Meet the Corridor's Best Cocktail Artists

Be the mixologist. Try drinks by the Corridor's top bartenders:

THE MOCKINGBIRD

Muddle cilantro and add:

1/2 ounce chili syrup (see below)

2 ounces Bacardi Pineapple Fusion

1 1/2 ounces fresh pineapple juice

1/2 ounces fresh lime juice

Garnish with jalapeno and pineapple

House chili syrup

2 jalapeno peppers

2 serrano peppers

1 wet habanero pepper

1 dried habanero pepper

couple splashes of Sriracha sauce

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Combine all, bring to a boil, sit in a cool place and infuse overnight. Strain into a container and serve.

Source: by Chris Martin, Graze

CHERRY SODA POPINSKI

8 ounces cherry syrup (see note)

4 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice

4 egg whites

8 ounces vodka

1 ounce Horseford's Acid Phosphate

7 ounces filtered water

5 dashes 3 percent clove oil solution

Mix all ingredients in a soda siphon, charge with CO2, shake and dispense into a highball glass filled half with ice, garnish with fresh cherries.

Note: To make cherry syrup, blend 1,000 grams fresh pitted cherries with 500 grams sugar and strain.

Source: Joshua O'Connell, Cobble Hill

Mango Unchained

In a pint glass muddle 1/4 lemon wedge and 10 verbena leaves in a splash of ginger simple syrup (see below). Fill glass with ice, then add 1 1/2 ounces Bacardi Mango Fusion. Shake in Boston shaker. Fill with Cock and Bull Ginger Beer. Stir gently. Garnish with mango peels skewered by a verbena sprig. Substitute mint for verbena if necessary

To make ginger syrup add 1 ginger root chopped with 3 cups sugar and 3 cups water to a pot. Bring to boil, then let cool.

Source: Tyler Ward, Vesta

PINEAPPLE PARADISE

1 1/2 ounces Bacardi Pineapple Fusion

1 1/2 ounces mixed berry infusion

3/4 ounces pineapple juice

Top with 3 ounces Malibu-infused whipped cream

Mixed berry infusion

1.05 pounds mixed berries (trawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry)

12 ounces simple syrup, equal parts sugar and water

3 ounces Pearl Vodka

Prepare at least 24 hours in advance.

Malibu-infused

whipped cream

8 ounces heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

3 ounces Malibu Coconut Rum

Start with whipping cream and add sugar with mixer on medium speed. As texture develops, slowly add the Malibu until the whipped cream is stiff.

Source: Jet Evangelista, Popoli