2023

Gabriel Boudier Wizard Awards 2023

English mixologist Xander Driver wins the 2023 Gabriel Boudier Wizard Award with his creation of a turmeric liqueur which will be developed by Maison Gabriel Boudier into a product that will be sold in the UK via the importer, Emporia Brands. The final was held in the 'Speakeasy Boudier', a small private bar within the House, rue de Cluj in Dijon on April 19th.

Four finalists battled it out in three events whilst being closely observed by a team of expert mixologists, but it was Xander's turmeric liqueur that impressed the judges the most. He produced a winning liqueur and used it in his cocktails to create drinks with a delicate composition of spice. Not only is Xander now the proud owner of a Wizard title, his own liqueur and £1000, the bar where his creations have come to life, 33 Cank Street in Leicester will reap the benefits of added recognition.

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Regional Finals

The regional finals were held in Edinburgh (Scottish), London (London & South) and Leicester (Midlands & Northern) with this last final ending with a tie for first place so producing two finalists. The four finalists were:

  • Carrie Smith (from Hoot The Redeemer, Edinburgh) – Turmeric liqueur
  • Xander Driver (from 33 Cank St, Leicester) – Turmeric liqueur
  • Klara Kopcikova (from The Pineapple Club, Birmingham) – Pandan liqueur
  • Selina Otremba (from Milk in Reading) – Curry Leaf liqueur

Recipes for the winning cocktails and the liqueurs they were made with are below, along with those for all the runners-up.

Scottish Regional Final
Venue: Hoot The Redeemer Edinburgh

1st Place: Carrie Smith (Hoot The Redeemer, Edinburgh)

ency 26 imageTurmeric Liqueur
Cut up fresh turmeric root
With the amount add 1:5 water to turmeric
Blend till smooth and using a cheesecloth squeeze out the juice
Add in orange olio sacrum (1:1 sugar and orange peels leave to sit overnight) and sugar
1:2:3 Olio to sugar to turmeric Juice
Sous vide for 45 mins at 75 degrees
Added 1:1.5 40% spirit to the turmeric Syrup
Final alc/vol. approx.: 16%

Cocktail: Anti Venom
30ml Tanduay Golden Rum
15ml Turmeric liqueur
15ml Velvet Falernum liqueur
12.5ml Orgeat syrup
20ml Lime juice
Dash of Creole bitters
Glass: Nick & Nora
Garnish: Orange zest twist

Simple Serve: Bodh Gaya's Lotus
25ml Pere Magloire VS calvados
20ml Turmeric liqueur
Topped up half Prosecco, half soda
(Served in a collins with a slice of grapefruit )

2nd Place: Grant Coffield (The Gannet, Glasgow)

ency 49 imageSea Buckthorn Liqueur
500ml 50% Neutral beet spirit & 300g Sea Buckthorn berries for 4 weeks maceration.
300g Sea Buckthorn puree + 200g white sugar, dissolved while cold.
Macerated spirit is strained and combined with sweetened puree and the resulting liquid is frozen at -18 degrees Celsius before being thawed over a vessel in cheesecloth to clarify.
Final alc/vol. approx.: 20%

Cocktail: Sea Buckthorn Flip
30ml Laird's Applejack
30ml Sea Buckthorn Liqueur
12.5ml Winter spice syrup
1fresh Egg yolk
Method: Shaken and double strained.
Glass: Nick & Nora
Garnish: Sea Buckthorn fruit leather & freshly grated nutmeg

Simple Serve: The Winter Berry Spritz
25ml Manzanilla sherry
25ml Sea Buckthorn Liqueur
Top with Light tonic water
Glass: Highball
Garnish: Lemon zest twist and Sea Buckthorn berries

3rd Place: Jack Goodman (Hope Izakaya, Edinburgh)

ency 75 imageRoasted Garlic Liqueur
700ml Neutral spirit
100g Roasted garlic
200g White sugar
Wrap garlic bulbs in tin foil then place in the oven at 200*c for 40 minutes until golden in colour. Weigh out 100g of garlic then mix with sugar until it becomes a puree. Add in the neutral spirit then place it in a pan and heat it up to 50*c and keep it at that temperature for 2 days, leave it in the pan off the heat for an additional day before straining through a cheesecloth. Once strained decant into a bottle ready for use.

Cocktail: The Cure
40ml Cachaça
20ml Garlic Liqueur
25ml Lime juice
12.5ml Honey
Method: Add all ingredients into a shaker then shake and strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.
Garnish: Caramelised garlic clove and slice of candied ginger.

Simple Serve: The GG Highball
40ml Garlic Liqueur
10ml Rum
Top Ginger ale
Garnish: Caramelized garlic clove and slice of ginger.

Midlands & Northern Regional Final
Venue: The Queen of Bradgate

Joint 1st – Xander Driver – 33 Cank St, Leicester

ency 99 imageTurmeric Liqueur
8g dry turmeric
250ml 50% Neutral grain spirit
Mix both ingredients together and leave to macerate for 1 hour stirring at intervals. then strain the liquid through a coffee filter.
once complete then add 165ml of agave syrup and 85ml water
mix together and complete - 500ml bottle of turmeric liqueur

Sunshine Highball
35ml Turmeric liqueur
125ml Ginger ale
Garnish: Ginger slice/turmeric slice

East Is East
40ml Turmeric liqueur
20ml Gabriel Boudier Saffron Gin
20ml Passionfruit puree
50ml Natural yoghurt
25ml Aqua faba

Joint 1st - Klara Kopcikova - Pineapple Club

ency 95 imagePandan Liqueur
5% infusion in 50% sugar beet alcohol for 7 days. After that, strain and dilute the infusion with water to 25% ABV. After that, sweeten the liquid with 140g of sugar per litre.

Hello Hanoi
50ml Pandan liqueur
100ml Coconut water

You've never been to Hanoi have you?
50ml Pandan liqueur
20ml Condensed coconut milk fat washed & coffee bean infused rum
20ml Coconut water
10ml Sugar syrup (2:1)
5 drops Saline Solution

2nd Place – Emily McGarr – The Queen Of Bradgate, Leicester

ency 32 imageBasil & Ginger Liqueur
250ml Neutral beet spirit
250ml Water
10g Fresh basil leaves
10g Dried basil
100g Sugar mixed with 100ml water, infused with pickled ginger and lemon oil, Macerate for 24 hours, filter through coffee paper, 5 drops of chlorophyll

Basil Splash
50ml Basil liqueur
125ml Cucumber & lemon soda water
Highball
Garnish with a cucumber ribbon

Peaches & Green
35ml Basil liqueur
20ml Cachaça
25ml Balsamic peach puree
3 lime wedges, 5 large basil leaves muddled
Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into glass filled with crushed ice
Garnish with caramelised peach and balsamic pearl

3rd Place – Michael Dylan Edwards – Hawksmoor, Liverpool

ency 52 imageBeetsec (Beetroot triple sec) Liqueur
Beetroot - 285g / 200g Grapefruit Peel - 100g Lemon Peel - 75g* Ginger - 160g Spirit - 750ml Sugar - 150g / 300g Water - 50ml
Peel and dice ginger and beetroot and add to a bowl with the peels. In a jug mix the sugar with the neutral spirit until clear, add the water. Mix the liquid with the solids and leave for 5 days. Strain & bottle.

Beet Highball
45ml Beetsec
75ml Ginger Ale
Lemon Zest Garnish
Build / Highball

The Medley
45ml Beetsec
15ml Gabriel Boudier Ginger
20ml Lemon Juice
5ml Rich Simple Syrup
Garnish: Goats Cheese Foam & Black Pepper
Shake / Tumbler

London/South Regional Final
Venue: The Cocktail Trading Co.

1st Place – Selina Otremba – Milk, Reading

ency 99 image Curry Leaf Liqueur
282ml Neutral Grain Spirit + 287ml Water + 30g Fresh Curry Leaves + 7g Toasted Black Peppercorns + 120g Sugar + Zest of 1 Lime; macerate/sous vide Spirit with Curry Leaves, Peppercorns and Lime Zest in a vacuum-sealed container at 60-70°C for 6 hours with the aim to over infuse the spirit, let cool, filter twice, then dilute using sugar and water; final ABV = 20.1%; final Sugar Content = 171 g/l

Bhara-tea
30ml Jindea Single Estate Tea Gin
22.5ml Curry Leaf Liqueur
22.5ml Lemon infused chai tea syrup (made by combining equal parts sugar and strong chai tea with the zest of one lemon)
15ml 10% Citric acid Solution
Glass: Nick & Nora
Garnish: Run a fresh curry left around the rim of the glass, floating it in the middle followed by lemon zest which is then discarded
Method: Stir and Strain

Koenigii Highball
50ml Curry Leaf Liqueur
Top with Tonic water
Glass: Highball
Garnish: Fresh curry leaf branch
Method: Build over cubed ice.

Second place – Paul Minea – The Waldorf Hilton, London

Sultan (Sultana & Raisin) Liqueur
500 gr raisins and sultanas mixed(250 gr each) , 500 ml gabriel boudier base spirit 50%abv, 625 ml water, 125 ml sugar syrup 1:1 ratio. infuse the base spirit with raisins for 2 weeks, shaking each day, strain through muslin cloth and combine water and sugar syrup, and fine strain again.

Fairy Tale
40 ml Dry gin
20 ml Sultan Liqueur
15 ml Lemon juice
15 ml Orange cognac syrup
Egg white, juniper smoke

Autumn Delight
30 ml Bourbon
20 ml Homemade raisin liqueur
2 dash Black walnut bitters
Stir with ice and strain over a big ice block garnish with walnut and orange oil

Third place – Alex Sandu – Trailer Happiness, London

Pink Zing Liqueur
150ml of 50% neutral spirit infused with 30 grams of pink pepper for 6 to 10 days (by taste), 10 grams of dried hibiscus for 5 days and 10 grams of pink grapefruit zest for 5 days. Blend the infusions after the following recipe: 5ml grapefruit zest infusion, 25ml pink pepper infusion and 15ml dried hibiscus infusion. I add 10ml of 2:1 refined cane sugar syrup. Multiply as needed. The result is a liqueur that has approximately 39.5% alc/vol. and a sugar content of about 125 grams per litre.

Zingarita
35 ml Blanco tequila
25 ml Pink Zing Liqueur
15ml Lime juice
5ml Real Strawberry syrup
5ml Real Agave syrup
Shake all ingredients and double strain over cubed ice into a tumbler. For the garnish use the juice of a pink grapefruit wedge to put Himalayan salt on the rim and garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

Zing Highball
50 ml Pink Zing Liqueur
100 ml Grapefruit Soda (Three Cents or Two Keys)
Add the liqueur to a highball glass, add cubed ice and top with the soda. Give it a gentle stir and garnish with a pink grapefruit wedge and some pink peppercorns.

Gabriel Boudier Wizard Awards 2023 image 1
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