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DeKuyper Blue Blazer |
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DeKuyper Blue Blazer
Where Flair and Mixology Meet! |
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Congratulations Danilo Oribe!!
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June 15-17 , 2008
Rock's Lounge, Red Rock Casino, Las Vegas, USA
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As with all FBA Pro Tour events, the best flair bartenders in the world arrived once again to have a throw down of epic proportions. However this competition, the Blue Blazer, demands focus on the drink with half of the score coming from the world of Mixology.
Without a doubt the Blue Blazer is the hardest single round flair competition ever. With 3 panels of judges looking for different aspects of the round, the judges meeting was truly exciting. The Flair Judges (Mike McLean, Chris Reynolds, Rick Barcode, Eric Holbert) went after this event just like any other FBA Pro Tour event; they just focused on the flair itself. With so much time and energy from the competitors focused on mixology, the flair scores were sure to suffer in comparison to an event like NATIONS. But where these competitors left off in the flair, they gained points from 2 panels of mixology judges. Luis Herrera and Jim Allison judged categories like Creative Mixology (exploring new and different concepts in mixology in the competition) and Professionalism, Procedures, and Cleanliness. At the same time two USBG superstar judges Gaston Martinez and Anthony "Paisan" Alba handled the highly sensitive categories like Aroma, Taste, Balance, Finish of the drink as well as Drink Presentation.
After the drinks were tasted and the scores were tallied, Danilo Oribe from Uruguay (now working in Las Vegas at Kahunaville) stood tall in his new BLUE BLAZER! Danilo showed tremendous comfort and skill on the stage at Rocks Lounge in the glamorous Red Rock Casino. His smooth yet difficult flair seem effortless all while presenting his world class cocktail.
Also from Uruguay and 2004 Blue Blazer grand Champion, Oscar Perez gave Danilo a serious run for his money. Oscar has a similar smoothness to Danilo but adds that extra layer of attention to detail with every small move he makes. Even though Oscars flair was not quite at the same level as Danilo’s, watching Oscar on stage this year was simply magical. You can see Oscar at work in Lucky Bar at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas.
With some serious flair and a solid overall round, Rodrigo Delpech took 3rd place honors at this year’s event. Rodrigo looked sharp and confident on the finals stage and showed that there is more to him than” just juggling”. He was able to demonstrate a clean round (zero deductions) while creating his cocktail. Rodrigo scored near the top in the “Blending of Styles” category from the Flair Judges. This is how well the competitor is able to showcase world class flair intermingled with world class mixology, not an easy feat!
Dario Doimo who now works at Kahunaville in Las Vegas came in 4th place with the second cleanest flair round of the night. He had the expected difficult and original flair you would expect from a Doimo, but he stepped it up to match the essence of the Blue Blazer as he mixed his flair with drink making and mixology.
5th Place went to the super smooth Behnam Gerami who works at I-Bar in the Rio Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Behnam had a good mix of rolls, unique flair, and mixology. The USBG awarded Behnam with the best cocktail of the competition.
Our 2008 Blue Blazer Mixology Champion and 6th place overall went to Steve Dorsey of Las Vegas. He brought some serious dedication and preparation to this year’s competition. With some molecular mixology and a unique whipped foam from just DeKuyper Blueberry Liquor, Steve’s drink presentation was second to none. Steve pulled out all the stops and showed the level of mixology a flair bartender can achieve.
Steve Jarmuz with some help from his grandmother took home 7th place. He used an old family recipe from his dear old grandmother which included cooking up some apples and orange peels to help his hot cider pop with flavor. Garnished with caramel apples and a cinnamon sugar rim, Steve’s overall mixology took second place honors.
8th place went to Nicola Falzone who works at Kahunaville Las Vegas. Nico was extremely comfortable on stage and was no stranger to mixology itself. The Blue Blazer is a very unique event and learning to combine both flair and mixology is a “learned” skill. I am sure we will see Nico next year with some bigger hardware to go home with.
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