Imagine the pressures of being a top five finalist in a cocktail competition. Years of lifes experiences have finally paid off, probably much of those experiences were at the wrong end of a cocktail – drinking, not mixing. With experience comes power and with power comes the pressures of battling for the number one spot.
Averna setup one such competition amongst some of the best mixologists around; it’s almost time to see how they stack up against each other. We’re starting to receive a few updates from Sicily…
Duggan McDonnell, owner of Cantina in San Francisco said:
“We touched down in Catania, the plane packed more than full, bumping its way down the runway. It was so hot, we thought the tires might pop. The September Sicily air swelled, then scorched our skin.
Outside, a bus we drove us north to Messina, where we went to catch a ferry to the Isle of Lipari for a brief respite before the touring and cocktail competition begins. Looking out at the hills and at Mt. Etna herself, it appeared that the colors and fauna of Sicily had more in common with Morocco and Mexico than Europe.
Sicily is lionùs hide brown in color and rocky in texture, born from a volcano and sundried over thousands of years. It is this soil, and the Mediterranean that surrounds, that births the flavors of its food and drink: savory, bitter bright citrus and herbs, all salt and sea. It is fitting that Amari was born here. Even the soft drinks are bitter. Now, it is less than twenty four hours before all descend upon the Isle and the tour begins, and then competition to decide who the Averna Champion will be.
I cannot wait.”
You ever have one of those time you wish you were somewhere else? I wish I was in Sicily…
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