I seem to recall a few months ago some discussion here about whether or not he
existed. Well, yesterday Smirnoff threw a party here in Miami and he was
mixing tubs of cocktails all day while we were prepping. I "sampled" (ok,
drank lots of) several of his drinks, which turned out to be pretty good. One
of the drinks consisted of smirnoff, cointreau, lemon juice, and carrot juice,
rimmed with sugar and garnished with basil (It tasted better than it probably
sounds). He also made a very good apple flavored drink which I believe was
made with a puree (I didn't notice any apple juice all day but I could be
wrong) and white cranberry juice in addition to a couple of other ingredients.
He used lots of purees in prepping these cocktails, which I thought was kind
of interesting. I stuck around for the party but never got around to trying
his versions of the Moscow Mule (for which he won the Smirnoff competition). I
wish I would have remembered to try them, although I've never had a regular
Moscow Mule and wouldn't know what to compare it to.
Anyway, he is a really cool and laid back guy. Nice to everyone and very
personable (that is among the most important traits of a good bartender
right?) He told me he had designed drink menus for a few restaurants/bars and
trained bar staff before winning his position with Smirnoff. I don't know how
much money he makes but it's a pretty awesome gig, at least for a young guy. I
wouldn't mind having a job where I travel, prep drinks, and hang out at
exclusive parties.