Tag Archives: Billy Can Can

Cocktails, Competitions and Honors, Deep Ellum, Events, Exotic tales of adventure, For A Good Cause, General revelry, Pop-Up Bars, Reunited and it feels so good, Theme parties

Mustache seesaws and vodka ice cream: Bar squads vie for Ultimate Cocktail crown at 8th annual benefit event

Mustache seesaws. Vodka ice cream. A magical wall through which seemingly disembodied hands offer cocktails for the taking. It might sound like something out of an Alice in Wonderland fantasyland, but that’s what you’ll find on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 13, at Deep Ellum’s Harlowe MXM and its adjoining sister bar, Trick Pony.

The event is the 8thannual Ultimate Cocktail Experience, which in its previous seven years has raised nearly $1 million total for Dallas-based Trigger’s Toys, a non-profit organization aiding hospitalized kids and their families.

Ultimate Cocktail Experience 2018
2018’s Ultimate Cocktail Experience took place at The Bomb Factory. Image from video footage produced for the event.

“It’s one of those days when everybody comes together,” said Naomi Ayala, president of the U.S Bartenders Guild’s Dallas chapter, at a recent group workshop. “It’s for the kids.”

Originally known as the Fantasy Bar Draft and then Cocktails for a Cause, the Ultimate Cocktail Event has snowballed since its initial runs at The Standard Pour in Uptown and Henry’s Majestic in Knox-Henderson, held more recently at massive venues like the Bomb Factory and Klyde Warren Park. This year’s move to Harlowe/Trick Pony takes the party back to its roots while maintaining its spirit and spectacle.

“We’re toning it back down,” says Brian McCullough, among the event’s original organizers. “Everyone will feel the whole thing a little more.”

Ultimate Cocktail Experience
The Ultimate Cocktail Experience, now in its 8th year, has raised nearly $1 million for Trigger’s Toys.

The Ultimate Cocktail Event runs from 6 to 11 p.m. and capitalizes on the Harlowe/Trick Pony complex’s two-story design – a perfect setting for the gala’s traditional five-way battle of pop-up bars staffed by more than a hundred bar industry pros from DFW and beyond.

Every year, five teams of bartenders conceive an imaginary bar and spend time developing the drinks, concept and clever marketing campaigns in pursuit of the coveted people’s choice prize. This year’s event is an all-star reunion, bringing together each of the last five year’s winners for a bid at the ultimate crown.

“We’re even bringing back Ampersand and Ampersand,” says Stephen Halpin, Dallas-based manager of trade education for Patron Tequila, referring to the cheeky name of 2014’s champ.

But as Ayala said, it’s all about the kids. It was Bryan Townsend, vice president of global sales for spirits producer The 86 Co., who launched Trigger’s Toys 11 years ago after witnessing the positive effect that his dog, Trigger, had on an antisocial child at a local care facility.

This year’s move to Harlowe MXM/Trick Pony takes the annual benefit back to its bar roots. Image from video footage produced for the event.

Now, in addition to providing financial support for kids and their families facing long-term hospital care, Trigger’s Toys every year buys holiday-season gifts for them and their families and funds therapeutic care for kids with autism, cerebral palsy and other conditions through an organization called Bryan’s House.

“It has just evolved and evolved,” Townsend says.

Joining “& and &,” helmed by the Statler Hotel’s Kyle Hilla, will be 2018 champ Elevate, captained by Megan McClinton and Jason Pollard of The Usual in Fort Worth; 2017 champ Cuba, led by Nicholas Grammer of The Mitchell; 2016 winner American Carnival, headed by Andrew Stofko of Te Deseo; and 2015 champ Zoom Zoom, led by Zach Smigiel of Billy Can Can.

Tickets are $65 and are available here.

Harlowe MXM, 2823 Main Street, Dallas

NOTE: A previous version of this post stated that Ravinder Singh of Sloane’s Corner would be leading team Cuba; Nicholas Grammer has since stepped in to take his place.

Barmoire, Dallas, Fancydranks, Seasonal

Fight triple-digit temps with these 5 Dallas cocktails

Hey, guys! It’s more than a hundred degrees outside. And with triple-digit temps looming the rest of the week, we’re officially in the thick of the summer, the part where even the diehards who insist they love North Texas summers crave cold showers, whip out their heat shields and seek shelter from that infernal orb in the sky.
Chances are they, like the rest of us, yearn for brisk and brawny adult beverages, and lucky for everyone involved, the bartenders of Dallas-Fort Worth have got this need covered. From cool afternoon refreshers to evening energizers, here are six DFW cocktails to get you through the rest of the sweltering season.

Zatar
Zatar’s Cardamom Limeade: Like Sonic happy hour for grown-ups.

CARDAMOM LIMEADE, Zatar, Deep Ellum
Zatar’s Cardamom Limeade is a simple and perfect antidote to a stiflingly hot afternoon, and if it were any more friendly you might get suspicious.
A blend of gin, lime, soda and cardamom bitters, it’s a no-fuss cooler with exotic flavor and I would gladly drink these well into a summer night were it not for the fact that there’s so many other great drinks out there.

Zach Smiegel, Billy Can Can, Victory Park
Billy Can Can’s Card Shark gives the Queen’s Park Swizzle the glass-booted deep freeze.

CARD SHARK, Billy Can Can, Victory Park

When it’s this hot, one word comes to mind: Slushie. My friends, Billy Can Can will hook you up. The mythical journey of this mysterious man of the West is chronicled in the cocktail lineup at this newly opened establishment in Victory Park, and the Card Shark sits near the end of that trail. A frozen variation of the classic Queen’s Park Swizzle — a Trinidadian mix of rum, lime, sugar, mint and bitters — it’s served up in a glass boot, so despite the drink’s name, the only thing you’ll need to worry about with this Card Shark is tipping it over.

Jesse Powell, Parliament
Jesse Powell’s boozy play on the classic Indian refresher will have you screaming, “Lassie, come home!”

MANGO LASSIE, Parliament, Uptown

Parliament’s Jesse Powell was introduced to the traditional Indian mango milkshake during a recent visit to Pub Royale, an Anglo-Indian style tavern in Chicago.
Savoring its mix of yogurt, mango, milk and sugar, he naturally wondered — as he often does, when it comes to these things —  how he could translate its pleasures into a cocktail. He structured its viscous, sour-sweet depths on a dark rum foundation, garnishing the Creamsicle-orange drink with cool mint and a clever dash of Mexican tajin, the chili powder that often graces that country’s mango street snacks. Complete with crushed ice, it’s one of the tastiest summer cocktails you’ll ever have.

Christian Rodriguez, ABV Lounge
Her Name is Hazel, but you can call her summer relief.

HER NAME IS HAZEL, ABV Lounge, Lower Greenville
The Pimm’s Cup is the seasonal warm-weather classic, and ABV Lounge’s Christian Rodriguez has added ginger and spice and everything nice, by which I mean gin.
For the summer, Pimm’s No. 1 liqueur, cucumber and lemon have welcomed saucy Allspice Dram,  the bite of ginger syrup and Aviation gin over to their house and hey, it’s everybody into the pool.

Henry Mendoza, The People's Last Stand
Henry Mendoza’s peppery nod to “Coco” gives summer flavors a smoky boost.

GRITO!, The People’s Last Stand, Mockingbird Station

Finish your night with this spicy number, one that might have you aay-yai-yai-ing like a joyful mariachi — the sound of which the drink’s name recalls.
The first of several concoctions Henry Mendoza of The People’s Last Stand has devised in tribute to Pixar’s Coco, it’s a cool but fiery mix of smoky mezcal, peppercorn syrup, agave, sage and summery bitters. The pachanga-in-your-mouth mix of pepper and citrus/chamomile-heavy “Boston Bittahs” is what makes this one shine. Bring on the sequel!