For this year’s Farm-to-Glass Cocktail Contest, we took the competition on the road—a cocktail trail, if you will. From smooth to savory and spicy to sweet, 18 bars across the state presented delicious cocktail creations and competed for the best in Utah. This year’s contestants utilized the full breadth of Utah’s native herbs, homegrown produce and locally distilled spirits to embody the farm-to-glass ethos in unique and even surprising ways. While each thoughtful cocktail shined in its own right, there were a few unifying themes. Many bartenders emerged with bright, juicy, end-of-summer flavors that had us reminiscing of warmer days. A few cocktails even went so far as to offer sippers a “salad in a glass,” combining tart tomatoes, herbaceous basil, ambrosial strawberries, and sweet carrots. We also noticed many bartenders drawing inspiration from international flavors and traditions, using ingredients like sake, gochujang, Tepache and jackfruit.
As with every year’s cocktail contest, we asked Salt Lake’s voracious sippers to weigh and select one winner as their overall favorite. Our online voting system garnered hundreds of new votes each week, with a final total of 2,956 votes cast over the contest’s two-month duration. From the jump, three entries topped the leaderboard and continued to duke it out for the top spot. HSL’s Amarga Esplendida held on to the top spot for four weeks in a row, closely followed by Post Office Place and Urban Hill who stayed neck-in-neck for second place. In the final week of our contest, over 500 votes were cast which ultimately resulted in an upset of the Reader’s Choice.
Without keeping you in further suspense, we’d like to announce the Reader’s Choice, Judge’s Choice and Innovator Award for our 2024 Farm-to-Glass Cocktail Contest, as well as name a few especially “Notalbe Potables.” Thank you to every bartender who participated this year, your thoughtful and delicious creations never fail to delight and inspire!
JUDGE CHOICE: Bar Nohm
As always, this is a tough choice, the contestants across the board created one of our best-ever competitions. In the end, though, our judges kept coming back to Bar Nohm. Their cocktail Liquid Luxury was an innovative drink assembled in a unique collaboration among four Nohm bartenders (Crystal Daniels Arnold HSU, Caine Wenner, Dylan Huff and Clifton Reagle). Judge Francis Fecteau called them the “Hive Mind,” saying, “They’ve got a little bartender university over there.” Judge Darby Doyle summed it all up, saying, “When I see foam on a dinner menu in this year of our Lord 2024 I groan and there may be eye rolls involved. But in a cocktail? Gimme more, especially when it’s an integral and intentional part of the drink, as is this foam made with Korean rice wine and Oloroso Sherry. Also loved the use of local Sugarhouse Distillery rye and Waterpocket Snow Angel in this boozy and complex sipper.” Congratulations to the Hive Mind at Bar Nohm.
READER’S CHOICE: Urban Hill
The voters have chosen their champion and it is Sam Black at Urban Hill. Sam’s entry, Rye Skies, was a tart and fruity riff on a Paper Plane. The elegant libation combined Sugarhouse Rye whisky and Waterpokcet Notom Amaro for a strong amaro-forward base, and balanced it out with house-made plum cordial for some pure fruity flavored joy. Urban Hill stayed consistently in the top three throughout the contest and swooped in on the last week with a total of 822 votes to claim first place.
INNOVATOR AWARD: HSL
Jordon Strang has become a man-about-town when it comes to Amaro. His collaborative pop-up series “Bitter Lovers” partners up with bars throughout the city to create unique one-night-only events that celebrate the diversity of Amaro. His propensity for bitter, and delicious, cocktails fully came through in his Farm-to-Glass entry dubbed Amarga Esplendida. The complex yet approachable sipper featured high-proof tequila, rooibos tea, gochujang syrup, local carrot juice, and a globe-hopping combination of Italian amaro. The result was a show-stopping sipper we wanted to return for again and again.
NOTABLE POTABLES
BEST NARRATIVE: Tupelo
Not only is Mackenzie’s cocktail a delightful sipper but it also tells a story that is near and dear to the bartender—in this case her many trips to Oaxaca where she learned of a local tradition where agave farmers eat a scrambled egg chicken soup before heading out to the fields for the day. The combination of Wahaka Mezcal, local Waterpocket Temple of the Moon Gin and Ransom Dry Vermouth make for a robust yet palatable base. Add in a measure of reduced chicken brine and you have a savory, rich cocktail that sparks conversation. As Libations LLC judge says, Sopa De Polla para el Alma is “An interesting original cocktail idea, a twist on a Martini using a Wahakan breakfast soup. It’s crazy. You either love it or hate it.”
MOST GLOBETROTTING: Post Office Place
Hannah Erikson represented Post Office Place with her entry, the Malabar Bloom. The crushable cocktail drew from flavors and traditions around the world, staying true to the bar’s multicultural ethos and taking us on a globetrotting journey with each sip. Starting with Beehive Distilling Decade Dry Gin and silk Nigori sake, Hannah upped the acidity with calamansi lime juice and house-made Tepache.
MORE THAN A GREAT PUN: Log Haven
Log Haven’s Duncan Campbell presented Knaughty Pine—an elegant Ramos Fizz spin featuring Beehive Jack Rabbit Gin, Pear Brandy, Waterpocket Notom Amaro and house-made pine nut orgeat. A well-thought-out and intentional cocktail that not only captures the spirit and atmosphere of Log Haven in a glass, The Knaughty Pine also evokes a sense of playfulness with its name and construction.
MOST HYPERLOCAL: Alpine Distilling
An approachable, rustic take on a gin-based French 75 that is Utah to its core. Of course Alpine used their own juice (the Elalavated Gin) but the homegrown apple pie spice and the interesting addition of Etta Place’s Grand Circle Semi-Dry Apple Cider created our most hyperlocal cocktail.
AND: Many Thanks to Francis Fecteau of Libation SLC
This year’s Farm-to-Glass featured partner is Francis Fecteau and his spirit and wine brokerage Libations LLC. Francis Fecteau represents unique and small brands across the spectrum and he truly represents them. Spirit brokerage in Utah is a relationship and shoe-leather business and Francis Fecteau puts a lot of miles on his Hokas representing his clients. This year (once again) Libations LLC has generously donated the prize money for our winning bartenders. Find him on Instagram @libationslc
