Confessions of a Vodka Cocktail Judge
How I sipped 20 drinks in Finland and lived to write about it.
Soberly.
Illustration by Josh Cochran
So, I'm talking to a guy in a bar - actually, a whole bunch of
guys, most of whom are bartenders. We're in
Helsinki's newest and
grooviest boutique hotel, the Klaus K, squished together in an
all-white design symphony that screams snow. We aren't drinking
(yet); after all, it's only nine o'clock in the morning. Instead,
we're enduring a tedious but necessary meeting about the
organization of the event we have come to cover as journalists -
or, in the case of the bartenders in the crowd, to compete in for
fame and fortune. "Welcome," says our host, "to the eighth annual
Finlandia Vodka Cup, a mixology competition."
It's the first morning after the first night, and we've all been
gathered together to learn what our duties during the competition
are to be.
"Please, please, all competitors in the corner," says Markku
Raittinen, Finlandia's global ambassador of vodka, at which time 24
bartenders from around the world drag themselves to the appropriate
spot.
"Journalists, here - no, there - actually, here," he says, making
our heads ache (more than they already do, mind you, thanks to the
late-night cavorting we did in Helsinki's energetic bar scene the
evening before). At last, in our assigned places, we listen to the
rules of tomorrow's contest, which will determine the best
bartender and the best Finlandia vodka drinks in the world. There
will be an American heat in the morning, and the world finals in
the afternoon. Each bartender will make three types of cocktails:
an aperitif, a long drink, and a dessert drink. They must make each
drink, garnishes and all, in under seven minutes - and they will do
it all in an ice bar 95 miles from southern, coastal Helsinki. In
fact, they'll be way up north, in landlocked, icy cold Finnish
Lapland.