Cocktail Competition: Jameson Whiskey at Simple NQ

Simple has just had it’s millionth visitor this week (yes, I know, millionth).

And recently that long timer of the Northern Quarter has been having a little fun with Jameson Irish Whiskey.

 

 

The idea was (excuse the pun) simple – all the bar staff were invited to come up with a cocktail using Jameson Whiskey, name it, let people in the bar give it a try and the public would vote – the winner being added to the cocktail list.

Unsurprisingly, everyone took part and they weren’t short of willing judges either. Not just myself but various regular customers were more than eager to help, with brand ambassador Stephen Carberry, on hand to make sure the event was run fairly.

 

First up was Josh – who likes an old fashioned and to be honest so do I. Playing on the hint of orange in the whiskey, he created a chocolate orange old fashioned.

Ingredients: Macadamia nut syrup, Kahlua, Jameson’s, orange zest, chocolate bitters.

 

 

This was gorgeous. As soon as I smelt it, the flavours came through, both individually and collectively in a very well balanced cocktail. Having had one or two that managed to be sweet recently, this was not only a pleasant surprise, but a little bit lovely.

 

 

Onto our second cocktail and we had a duo, Bar Supervisor Sean and his partner, new man Scott. This was the Banana Hammock a banoffee flavoured creamy cocktail, using the whiskey’s caramel flavours.

Ingredients: Jameson Whiskey, banana syrup, double espresso, Kahlua and ice cream.

Made by newbie mixologist Scott (his third cocktail ever), to Sean’s recipe, this leant on the idea of an iced coffee. It was creamy and the banoffee flavour was certainly there. Perhaps though a double espresso was a bit coffee heavy as the coffee dominated leaving it a bit unbalanced.

Third up was Roxy who decided that a twist was needed on the whiskey. Her Why Not Jamesons? promised to do just that.

 

Ingredients: James Whiskey, passion fruit, apple, lemon, lime.

Served garnished with a quartered passion fruit in a stemmed glass, this really was fruity and summery. A little sweet for my tastes, but I know one or two with whom this would have gone down a storm.

 

The penultimate contender was Brad. Taking the humble mint julep, some homemade mint gomme syrup he wanted to create something like, summery – a true sipping cocktail. The Blue Lips was born.

Ingredients: Raspberry, blueberry, strawberry puree, Jameson Whiskey, lemon, sugar, mint gomme.

And he succeeded – it was light, fruity, but the fruit didn’t over do the mint, nor did the mint kill the flavour of the fruit. For my tastes, a smidge more mint and this would be perfect. I’m already on a beach somewhere….

 

 

Finally, we had Emma. Her Jay-my-Son was built around a childhood memory – her father at home with a very young and rather unwell Emma, wanted to do something to make her feel better, to help her sleep. Remembering the old advice given his parents about whiskey, hoped that this might have an effect on her and make her feel better.

But, not wanting to give alcohol to a child neat, encouraged her into the kitchen – telling her they were going to make a special drink to make her feel better. And it was made of all the things she loved.

 

 

Gathering honey, crunchy nut cornflakes and icecream, this concocted milkshake was made, and drunk by the little Emma. Unsurprisingly, little Emma stopped crying and fell asleep.

Ingredients: vanilla and chocolate ice creams, crunchy but cornflakes, honey, Jameson Whiskey. 

This contains a lot of my favourite things too – just try and stop me eating a box of crunchy nut – unfortunately it does what it did for little Emma and killed off the whiskey a little too much. Though I’d have probably still drunk another one.

So what did the judges think?

Who would win the day?

Whose cocktail would go on the menu?

 

 

Our adjudicator counted, totting up the marks given to each cocktail elements such as taste and originality. And though the top three were close, the winner was clear………………..

…………………………………. Brad!

Yes, the fragrant, summer in a glass cocktail Blue Lips can now be found on the menu at Simple. And, though the weather at the moment might not make it your automatic choice, it comes highly recommended.

I know it won’t be long before I head over for one….

With huge thanks to the glamorous Narita Savoor for the photographs.