This is the first year Americans have been invited to
participate in the contest, and five (from five different regions)
are among the crowd. Only the winner of the American heat will go
on to compete in the international finals. The bartenders, a
marvelous mix from across the globe, from Kazakhstan to
Israel to
Italy, come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and genders. What they have
in common is the desire to become Finlandia's Bartender of the Year
and to please the judges, an international crew of highly touted
cocktail connoisseurs such as Dale DeGroff, a.k.a. the King of
Cocktails - a Dean Martin-type character who opened the Rainbow
Room in New York and was Zsa Zsa Gabor's chauffeur in the golden
era of Broadway. These days, he travels the globe teaching cocktail
politics, perfecting recipes, authoring columns and books, and
mentoring young bartenders who aspire to be like him. Then, there's
a demonic duo of drink dictators hailing from
London, together
known as the Soul Shakers (individually known as Michael B and
Giles Looker), who conceptualize bars internationally - from
interior design to drink menu. Other judges include prominent bar
owners, past competition winners, and employees of Brown-Forman,
the
Louisville, Kentucky-based company that owns Finlandia
Vodka.
I have come to Finland, along with five other U.S. writers,
to cover the competition. So imagine my surprise when the 12
judges' names are announced, and at the end of the very impressive
list, I hear (think Finnish accent) "Ms.
Becca Hensley, from the
United States of America." I've just been whispering to my fellow
writers about what I perceive as the horrors of being a drink
judge, especially in the dessert-drink category. (After all, who
can fathom sipping multitudinous sweet drinks?) Unfortunately, it
must be a karmic thing, because the ambassador announces my fate as
if he'd heard every word and aims to punish me. "She will judge in
the dessert-drink category." My fate, it seems, is sealed.
Flummoxed, I wonder in horror:
How can I possibly sip nearly 20
drinks without getting wasted? Fruity, creamy, pretty drinks at
that. I ponder my higher calling: journalist or judge? Hmm, judge
does have a nice ring to it - even dessert-drink judge. So I accept
the challenge. And I vow to be the best Finlandia Vodka Cup judge
the event has ever known. I will be good - and I won't get
hammered.