Daiquiri contest continues for a third year
One of Manchester’s most recent traditions is built on a foundation of rum and lime juice. The Third Annual Manchester Daiq-Off, a daiquiri-making competition hosted by 815 Cocktails & Provisions, will pit some of Manchester’s best bartenders against each other to make the best, fastest and most original daiquiris this Sunday, April 12.
“This is a competition to make one of the most simple classic cocktails,” said Sarah Maillet, co-owner of 815, “which is the daiquiri. So you’ve got lime, simple syrup and rum.” Because it is such a simple cocktail, it is a good indicator of a bartender’s skill, she said. There’s nowhere to hide.
“This competition is [between] local bartenders who come together and it’s based on speed, accuracy and taste,” Maillet said. “The first round is about making the fastest, cleanest daiquiri possible. And then from there the competition narrows until the finalists, the last two, face off head to head. But as much as this is about our industry, the public is obviously welcome. It encourages the public to participate because It’s really cool to see a showcase of talent like this. It reminds people that the bar and restaurant industry is at its best when it’s a little bit competitive, maybe chaotic at times, but a whole lot of fun.”
The Daiq-Off is a bit of a metaphor for that industry, Maillet said, observing that there has been a change in attitude among the area’s bars and restaurants over the past few years.
“When my business partner Ryan and I opened 815 11 years ago, we didn’t get much of a welcome,” she said. The things that we heard were like, ‘I’ll give them a year.’ Over the past few years though, you’ve seen more of a banded community coming together.” An increasing number of bars have embraced craft cocktails, she said, and the owners and bartenders of most of them have known each other for years. “So it’s just like the camaraderie was instilled in friends already before it was implemented into the [bar] community, and I feel like it’s just had a ripple effect through the greater Manchester community over the years.” Perhaps symbolic of that spirit, restaurateur Nick Carnes from Shopper’s Pub and Eatery will be the announcer and emcee of this year’s Daiq-Off.
The competition will consist of three rounds, Maillet said.
“The first two rounds are all about speed, accuracy and taste. And then the wild card at the end, where [the competitors] have the ability to bring an ingredient, like a simple syrup or some sort of thing, to add in to the wild cards at the last round. They have a little bit more time, but the judging is based more on the creativity side of daiquiris.” Last year’s overall winner was Marissa Chick, at the time the bar manager of the Birch on Elm, with a bubble-gum daiquiri that included a handcrafted tincture that took more than a week to prepare.
Maillet said there will be 15 competitors this year, all but one of whom are Manchester bartenders.
“We will have one home bartender who came the first year,” she said. “So in my opinion, he’s grandfathered in. So he’s coming back this year. He wasn’t here last year. I’m pretty excited about that. Then as far as the breakdown goes, we didn’t limit the number of bartenders per establishment this year. We want this to be a snapshot of the industry itself. So for the places with several entrants, they’re going to go head against each other. For example, there will be four bartenders from the [Wild] Rover. They’ll all go head-to-head with each other, and then one Rover bartender will move on into the rest of the competition.”
The Third Annual Daiq-Off
When: Sunday, April 12, from 3 to 7 p.m.
Where: 815 Cocktails & Provisions, 815 Elm St., Manchester, 782-8086, 815nh.com
Spectators and competitors are encouraged to dress in festive tropical attire. Tickets are $28.52 through eventbrite.com.
Featured photo: A classic daiquiri by Joshua Silva, a bartender from 815 Cocktails and Provisions, who will compete in Saturday’s Daiq-Off.
