The Equinox, revisited and rewarded

A quick look back at one of my first posts to this blog related to my entry into the 'Casual Mixologist Competition' sponsored by Portland Craft Cocktails for a chance to win tickets to the Northwest Food and Wine Festival in Portland.  As described...

Attention all home bartenders, mixologists, and craft cocktail creators! The professional bartenders will be sitting this competition out, and allowing you the chance to craft your own cocktail recipe that will be evaluated by professional judges at the upcoming Northwest Food and Wine Festival. Each month, recipes will be made according to your instructions, and each month the winning mixologist gets 2 tickets to the Northwest Food and Wine Festival, November 5th, 2011, courtesy of Portland Craft Cocktails. You may enter as many times as you wish, but may not enter the same recipe more than once.  

A requirement of the competition was to include at least one of the spirits produced by selected Pacific northwest distilleries.  While the first cocktail I created, The Veiled Union, lost out for the October draw, I'm happy to say that my second entry, The Equinox, won for the month of November.  While originally conceived as my first contribution to Mixology Monday, the theme of 'Local Color' in this case, I went ahead and swapped out the Rittenhouse rye for the sweeter Dry Fly Single Malt Washington Wheat Whiskey with very nice results. This led to my second submission for the competition the following month and a winner among 25 other submissions...very cool

The Equinox
1 oz Dry Fly Single Malt Whiskey
1 oz hum botanical spirit
1 oz Carpano Antica
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with orange twist.

The Equinox

While it seems there are many great cocktails created each and every day, there is no less a small sense of accomplishment for me with this casual competition.  And while the Equinox is a rather straight-forward creation, it remains equally as gratifying in my early days as a cocktail enthusiast.  Here's to building on this and continuing to broaden my insight and experience in the realm of mixology.