The Brutal Bar: Salem slingers throw down cocktails

Bartender competition aims to celebrate American cocktail culture using unique ingredients and creativity and it’s starting in Salem

In July 2018, Carl Crowell found himself in a relatively upscale bar on an otherwise remote South Pacific Island. 

While the island was very rustic, the bar looked like it would fit right in in Santa Monica next to an Apple Store, he said. And while dogs, goats and chickens might wander the street outside, inside was a Euro/Western world. But there was one problem: they could not make a basic vodka martini. 

“I observed a complete lack of cocktail culture as we know it in North America. It was akin to ordering Chinese food in Spain. Spain has amazing food, but they have difficulty with Asian cuisine. The pieces are there, but the lack of culture keeps them from being properly assembled.”

Later, while Carl sat in a lounge at the Shanghai Airport. He found an open bar filled with bottles of vodka, gin, scotch and bourbon, along with soda water, lime wedges, various sodas and some canned juices along with fresh dragon fruit and mango.

“I cobbled a tasty dragon fruit and cranberry gin drink and wondered what kind of cocktails I could make at other airport lounges,” he said. “It became a game in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo — turning a limited open airport bar into a cocktail creation puzzle.”

The experience got him thinking about the talent and artistry of American cocktail culture and soon sparked an idea: creative mixology, using limited resources to create a refined cocktail. 

Meet The Brutal Bar, a competition of skill, creativity, and knowledge.

Three bartenders. Three judges. Three rounds of cocktail challenges.

Each bartender is provided with an identical basket featuring three to four ingredients and a note from one of the judges describing what that judge looks for in a drink. The note could be a single word or a short message. While there may be an atypical ingredient, like a spice or exotic fruit, there is nothing (too) shocking. It’s not about making the most bizarre drink, but rather producing something enjoyable for most, if not all. 

Each bartender then has nine minutes to prepare and present three identical cocktails to the judges. 

Drinks are scored on a scale of 1 to 10 in four categories: 

• Utilization of ingredients: how well were the secret ingredients used 
• Cocktail presentation: how the cocktail looks when served 
• Subjective judge enjoyment: how well did the bartender interpret the guidance note creating a cocktail that is enjoyed by the judges
• Classical drink preparation or open drink creativity: the cocktails level of character, whether traditional or novel, creative, and new (creativity and tradition are scored equally) 

There is a 20-minute intermission between rounds, during which onlookers can purchase the drinks crafted during the round. 

There are two winners: The Brutal Bar Champion—the bartender who has the highest score after three rounds, and The People’s Champion—the bartender with the most drinks sold.

The Brutal Bar is a celebration of American cocktail culture organized as a way to promote, appreciate and develop cocktail artistry. Bringing together skill, creativity, and knowledge, it focuses on inventive mixology, testing a bartender to see just what kind of refined cocktail they can craft with limited resources. 

“These people do more than just mix drinks; they interpret standards keeping tradition alive and practice alchemy in creating new potions,” Carl said.

This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 3 (Oct/Nov 2018)

Author: Carlee Wright

Carlee Wright is a community instigator with a grand love for Salem and notably fashionable shoes (Hello, John Fluevog!) who turns waste into wearable art in her "spare" time.