The bounce back initiative

The bounce back initiative image 1

The bounce back initiative

By Raul Vargas
St. Maarten
#ketelonecontestSintMaarten

September 5th 2017, Hurricane Irma, the strongest storm ever recorded hit the beautiful island of St. Maarten with the most destructive force possible. On that day, the island that relies solely on tourism changed completely. 95% of all bars and restaurants were vanished and the few that were left were forced to close. The long road to recovery began.

In mid 2018, when our bar opened back up we realized we had an opportunity help the local on-trade community bounce back as most were not as fortunate as we were. We designed a signature cocktail menu and partnered up with our supplier. For every cocktail sold we both put $1 into the bounce-back fund.

The fund is being used to help small local bars and restaurants with that little extra push to get them back on track again by buying a fridge, invest in tools or a small start-up inventory.

We've created a teaching and mentorship program where our bartenders visit these accounts and teach the staff how to make great cocktails with locally grown ingredients. St. Maarten is a melting pot of culture and flavors so with locally grown ginger, lemongrass, tomatoes, basil or tamarind (just to name a few) we support the bars and the farmers who are walking the same road to recovery.

We've supported 29 bars so far an are committed to continue for the benefit of the entire local supply chain, the bars, the staff and the liveliness of the island.

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Roasty Maria

Glass: Highball Glass - Nude Finesse
Garnish: 3 olives
Method: Put the tomatoes on the grill until they are completely roasted, and all the organoleptic properties change. Then pass it to the blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend it. After that, strain all the product with a sieve, with the waste that is left in the sieve, put it on the dehydrator machine for 5 hours at 65 °c. When it gets dry, grind it with a pinch of salt and a small pinch of white sugar. That will be the salt for the rim and with the puree, just bottle it.

Ingredients:
50ml Ketel One Family Made Vodka
60ml Tomato juice
15ml Limes
3 Olives
1 pinch black pepper
2 dashes Tabasco

Tomato Puree:
-500 grs of tomato
-3 pinch of salt
-2 pinch of black pepper
-1 pinch oregano
-2 pinch onion powder
-2 pinch garlic powder

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