The DRAMBUIE Den Heads to Austin!

Texas is the final stop on the tour for the 2009 DRAMBUIE® Den Bartender Showcase, and we’re very excited to see the bartending talent in the Lone Star state. Mark your calendars, because the next DRAMBUIE® Den competition and party takes place November 16 and 17 in the great city of Austin. Talented bartenders from across Austin will vie for a chance to compete in a national DRAMBUIE competition for the grand prize of a trip to the 2010 Tales of the Cocktail festival in July. The DRAMBUIE Den competitions and parties are always a fun chance to watch bartenders strut their stuff, while you sample their delicious cocktails and even participate by voting for your favorites. Each cocktail will also be evaluated by a panel of industry judges looking at presentation, flavor and creativity.

So if you're in the Austin area on November 16 and 17, be sure to RSVP and join the pursuit to find some of America’s most exciting undiscovered bartenders. Click here to RSVP for this event (space is limited, so be sure to RSVP before tickets are gone). Entry is free, but you must be 21 years or older to attend. And to learn more about DRAMBUIE cocktails and events, visit PursuitOf1745.com

We hope to see you there!

Drink of the Week: La Fin du Monde

Its name may translate to “the end of the world,” but there’s nothing apocalyptic about La Fin du Monde. Produced by Quebec-based Unibroue, this strong ale is hugely aromatic with notes of dried apricots, cloves and a hint of Belgian yeast. Champagne-like bubbles liven up the creamy mouthfeel, and rich, sweetened flavors of stone fruits and spice play into the lingering finish. Fermented three times and bottle-conditioned to boot, La Fin du Monde will continue to evolve over time in a cellar. Nuanced, approachable and super food-friendly, it makes a great match for roasted chicken, hard cheeses and even desserts, like the banana cake we enjoyed it with recently at the Imbibe office. $8, wallywine.com

November’s Where to Drink Now: One Flew South

Travel can be a pain, especially when you find yourself stuck with a long layover and looking for a place to grab a good cocktail, beer or glass of wine. Tall order, right? Usually, which makes One Flew South in terminal E of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport such a gem. With Kold-Draft ice, fresh-squeezed juices, housemade syrups, obscure spirits, top-tier craft beers, coffee from Counter Culture and tea from serendipiTea, this is definitely not your average airport bar. Cocktails include recipes like the Ruby Slipper (pictured) combining organic vodka, ruby grapefruit juice, rosemary syrup and soda water, while food offerings include sushi, hand-rolled on the spot as well as tasty takes on Southern cuisine and plenty of bites packaged up and ready to take on board our next flight. So with the holiday travel season quickly approaching, this time you can actually look forward to a layover, as long as you’re flying south.
oneflewsouthatl.com

Calling Portland Cocktailians!

The 2009 DRAMBUIE® Den Bartender Showcase is heading to the Pacific Northwest, with the latest competition and party set to take place November 9 and 10 in Portland, Oregon. Once again, talented bartenders from across the city will go head to head to craft a winning DRAMBUIE cocktail, and the winner will go on to compete in a national competition for the grand prize of a trip to the 2010 Tales of the Cocktail festival.

The DRAMBUIE Den competitions and parties are always a great time and a fun opportunity to sample competing bartenders' delicious cocktails and even vote for your favorites. Each cocktail will also be evaluated by a panel of industry judges considering presentation, flavor and creativity. Imbibe will be on hand to help judge, and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top.

So if you're in the Portland area on November 9 and 10, be sure to RSVP and join the pursuit to find some of America’s most exciting undiscovered bartenders. Click here to RSVP for this event (space is limited, so be sure to RSVP before tickets are gone) and to see a list of other upcoming dates, cities and locations. Entry is free, but you must be 21 years or older to attend. And to learn more about DRAMBUIE cocktails and events, visit PursuitOf1745.com

We hope to see you there!

Drink of the Week: Sleepy Hollow

For this Halloween edition of Drink of the Week, we thought we’d shake up a round of Sleepy Hollow cocktails to invoke the holiday spirits. This gin-based sipper is a killer of a cocktail.

Sleepy Hollow
2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/4 oz. apricot brandy
1/4 tsp. sugar or simple syrup
Mint sprig
Ice cubes
Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: cocktail

Muddle mint in shaker. Add remaining ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a glass.

Adapted from cocktaildb.com

Win This! An Autographed Copy of Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course

If you can’t tell your right bank Bordeaux from your left, you need a lesson from Kevin Zraly, founder of the New York-based Windows on the World wine school, from which more than 19,000 people have graduated since its inception 33 years ago. Zraly’s book, Windows on the World Complete Wine Course (Sterling Publishing), has sold more than 3 million copies, and just a few weeks ago, the much-anticipated and thoroughly updated 25th anniversary edition was released. Written in Zraly’s affable style, this book is organized in eight different “classes” covering everything from grape varietal basics to master lessons in taste and perception and is a must-read for anyone interested in learning more about wine.

And now, one lucky reader can win a signed, hardback copy of this anniversary edition—simply email us with the name of your all-time favorite wine by noon PST this Friday, October 30, and we’ll choose one winner at random to be announced this coming Monday, 11/2.

Thirsty for more free stuff? Sign up for Imbibe’s monthly e-newsletter, which offers an in-between issues look at the world of liquid culture with recipes, stories and great giveaways like festival tickets, glassware, gadgets and more. Best of all, when you join, you get our PDF guide to the 100 best places to drink beer in America right away—free!

Win a Trip to Amsterdam & the Chance to Design Your Own Signature Liqueur!

Cocktail competitions are all the rage these days, and sometimes it’s hard to know which ones to enter and which ones to skip, so we’re very excited to announce one that you definitely won’t want to miss out on. Imbibe is thrilled to partner with Bols for the 2009 Bols Around the World Shaking Twenties Competition. The theme of this competition is the 20s, the era of Prohibition, when speakeasies thrived, providing a showcase for a new period of cocktail creativity. The Bols Around the World Shaking Twenties Competition is calling on bartenders across North America to create an original cocktail that captures the style of the Roaring 20s, using ingredients from today.

All entries will be judged by esteemed cocktail historian and author David Wondrich, and one lucky person will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Amsterdam to represent North America at a final live competition, where he or she will go head to head with five other talented bartenders representing Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and South America. A global panel of judges will then choose the grand prize winner who will win the opportunity to design and create his or her own signature Bols liqueur in Amsterdam with a Bols product developer—pretty fantastic!

The deadline for recipe entries is November 30, 2009. You must be a working bartender to qualify for entry, and cocktails must contain at least 3/4 ounce of any Bols liqueur. For a full overview of rules and prizes, and to submit your winning recipe, visit bolsaroundtheworld.com.

We can’t wait to see the recipes that start rolling in for this competition—with such a fun theme, there’s so much room for creative expression! So be sure to get your recipe in by November 30 for your chance to win, and best of luck!