Three local bartenders offered a metaphoric taste of what to expect next Tuesday at the Okanagan Spirits Winetender Mixoff.
The mixologists—Chris Hall of Twisted Tomato, Harry Dosanj of Poppadoms and Terence Westera of Social 242—each created an original cocktail, which combined local wines with spirits or liqueurs from Okanagan Spirits, in front of a small crowd Tuesday morning.
But the tasting of those cocktails won’t take place until next Tuesday.
Dosanj, who named his cocktail, Harry Berry, said his drink—which uses whiskey from Okanagan Spirits, port from Gray Monk Estate Winery and blackberries—reminds him of his earlier days growing up in England.
As part of the Okanagan Wine Festival, the Winetender Mixoff will see 10 bartenders from local restaurants competing to make the best cocktail by combining Okanagan Spirits’ products with wines from Winefest Society wineries.
The bartenders will also aim to win over the crowd as there will be a People’s Choice Award, along with the Judges Choice Award.
Rodney Goodchild, sales and marketing manager at Okanagan Spirits, said the bartenders’ personalities may be as important as the drinks themselves.
“The bartenders know that there’s going to be very little between the drinks,” said Goodchild.
“It’s all down to the charisma: Their style, their chit chat and how they interact with the crowd. That all plays a part, which adds further to the enjoyment of the evening.”
The 10 participating restaurants will pair their cocktails with food samples from their menus; the event will also offer live entertainment.
Okanagan Spirits has partnered with JCI Okanagan to put on this year’s event.
“JCI Okanagan is a leadership organization for young professionals, 19 to 40,” said Rosanne Ting-Mak Brown, event chair.
“We learn leadership skills by putting on events and reaching out into the community.”
The event takes place Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Laurel Packinghouse from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at Okanagan Spirits or online at smartbetty.com/winetender.
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
Twitter: @PatersonWade
