On November 19th, Pernod Ricard and Absolut hosted their 2nd annual Make It Twice cocktail competition at the Nomad in Manhattan, an event committed to creating a sustainable bar with the Director of Sustainability behind it, John Tran.

Pernod Ricard and Rethink Food joined forces to create this event to promote sustainable bar practices nationwide and discover new, innovative solutions to repurposing excess food. Bartenders around the nation were invited to create an original cocktail made with repurposed excess kitchen or bar waste that would otherwise be thrown away in order to be entered into the competition.

The competing teams included Matthew Hunter from Eleven Madison Park, Harrison Ginsberg from Crown Shy, Marie Basile from Hunky Dory, Joey Vesy from Lighthouse, Benjamin Clayton and Antanas Samkus from Raduno and Jane Danger representing Pernod Ricard USA.

The first round put Hunter, Ginsberg and Basile head to head at the bar in front of a vibrant crowd. Hunter’s cocktail entitled “Pear,” incorporated Chivas 12, Lustau Palo Cortado Sherry, brown butter falernum, lemon, pear honey, spicy ginger syrup and orange bitters and was topped with a flat ginger snap cookie. The ingredients blended well together with a little bit of a kick from the ginger and sweetness from the cookie.

In the middle, Ginsberg served up “Twice Milk Punch,” Redbreast 12, the Glenlivet 12, pink lady apple brine, second wash hazelnut milk and spent latte milk. Much like milk punches that sneak up on you, this also packed quite a punch and was garnished with a caramel triangle. Ginsberg also had a binder with the ingredients that were repurposed for the drink so attendees could get up close to what they were using. Lastly in the left corner, Basile mixed up the “Ooh La Long,” an easy to drink cocktail made of Absolut, second-steep Oolong tea, Meyer lemon peels and yoghurt whey.

For the 2nd round acidity was where it was at. Vesey featured an “Ab Fab Pinkhound,” a take on a Greyhound, with Absolut, grapefruit peel cordial and a fun citrus pulp foam to top it off with. The duo from Raduno made a “Heart Beet,” comprised of last week’s beet marinade, Brooklyn Kura’s Sake Lees, Monkey 47 Gin, lemon and bottom of the bag beet chips. The drink was very savory and looked very similar to Danger’s “Compost Cosmo”, but with a very different taste. The cosmo was very clementine-forward due to the peel-infused in Absolut and the dehydrated beet which caused the similarity to Raduno’s entry. Lime cordial and apple peel cranberry syrup finished it off.

Ginsberg’s team ultimately ended up taking the title for best cocktail, which was definitely warranted as it was extremely innovative, well balanced and really took into consideration the task at hand while educating attendees with their show and tell binder. The cocktail will be added to the menu at the Nomad and they also won a trip to Sweden! Proceeds from the event benefited Rethink Food, a company that collects unused and excess food from restaurants, farms and other purveyors and repurposes into meals for underserved New Yorkers.

For More information on the organization, please visit: https://www.rethinkfood.nyc/.

– Stephanie Carino

Photos courtesy of Ben Ko Photography and Stephanie Carino