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Status Finalist
Finalist
   
 
   
 
Business Name:  Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara
Cocktail Name:  Biltmore Fuerte
Ingredients:  INGREDIENTS

2 oz Cutler's Bourbon
1/2 oz Organic Lemon Juice from Four Seasons Santa Barbara Chef's Garden Lemons
3/4 oz Ebby's Farm Strawberry Purée
3/4 oz "Super Bee Rescue" Thomas Wildfire Honey
Honey Comb
Four Seasons Santa Barbara Lavender Flowers
Recipe Instructions:  METHOD

1. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker
2. Shake vigorously
3. Pour over ice into a stemless wine glass
Drink Description:  Biltmore Fuerte combines local Cutler's 33 Bourbon with complimenting flavors from "Super Bee Rescue" Thomas Wildfire honey, Ebby's Farms strawberries and Four Seasons Santa Barbara Chef's Garden lemons and lavender flowers.
Tasting Notes:  This smooth and refreshing handcrafted cocktail, Biltmore Fuerte, features Cutler's 33 Bourbon that holds notes of sweet honeycomb, caramel, vanilla, and spice. The notes of honeycomb are mirrored by the local "Super Bee Rescue" Thomas Wildfire honey that enhances the beverage with subtle rich smokey flavors. Local Ebby's Farm strawberries create a crisp and tart contrast that makes for a perfect balanced cocktail.
The Backstory:  After months of Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara being closed due to the Thomas Fire and Montecito Debris Flow, Ty Lounge Bartender, Samantha Graham, welcomed this year's Visit Santa Barbara cocktail challenge with eager arms. Being originally from South Africa, Samantha quickly fell in love with the close knit community feeling Santa Barbara had to offer. She was deeply moved by the loss our community faced in the wake of not one, but two, natural disasters. When thinking about cocktails and ingredients that truly embodied the spirit of Santa Barbara, Samantha remembered news coverage about a man who owned a bee removal and rescue company. He and other bee keepers lost thousands of hives in the Thomas Fire. Samantha reached out to him and discovered that in addition to saving the honey, he also rescued many bees looking for a new home. The honey he extracted from the hives in the Thomas Fire had a new and unique flavor with notes of sweet smoke. Samantha knew she had to use this new Thomas Wildfire honey as the key element of her drink.
How does your drink embody the spirit of SB?:  Just as Nick Wigle with Super Bee Rescue was able to find something good in the wake of tragedy, Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara and our beloved community have come together to support and help one another even though we have been faced with unimaginable odds. Santa Barbara is truly resilient and has never been stronger as a community. Like the "Super Bee Rescue" honey, we too, have found that out of hardship comes great things.

Finalist
   
 
   
 
Business Name:  Finch and Fork
Cocktail Name:  The Drive Home
Ingredients:  Cutler’s Stagecoach Whiskey, Lemon Curd, Jasmine Cordial, Hill and Canyon Farms Lemon, Lemon & Jasmine Oleo Sachrum, Margerum Amaro, Re:Find Lemoncello, Scrappy's Black Lemon Bitters, Maldon Sea Salt, Jasmine Foam, Foraged Jasmine Blossoms, Lemon Ash
Recipe Instructions:  Pinch of Maldon Sea Salt
2 dashes Scrappy’s Black Lemon Bitters
1 oz Lemon Curd
3/4 oz Hill and Canyon Farms Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Jasmin Cordial
1/2 oz Lemon & Jasmine Oleo Sachrum
1/4 oz Margerum Amaro
1.75 oz Cutler’s StageCoach Whiskey
Dry Whip / Med Shake / Double Strain over fresh ice / DOF
Top with foam
Express and discard lemon peel
Dust with lemon ash
Garnish with Fresh Jasmine Blossom and Spray with Jasmine Essential Oil and Saline

Drink Description:  A sensory recreation of the drive back into Santa Barbara from the south, take in the scents of the lemon orchards, jasmine trees and Pacific ocean. Cutler’s Stagecoach Whiskey, Lemon Curd, Jasmine, Hill and Canyon Farms Lemon, Margerum Amaro, Maldon Sea Salt, Jasmine Foam, Lemon Ash.
Tasting Notes:  Bright and elegantly balanced, The Drive Home is cleansing on the palate. Sweet and tart with an herbaceous finish, it pairs well with a warm summer afternoon and persists all the way through a quintessential Santa Barbara sunset. The lemon ash offers texture and smoke, while the foam allows silky coconut to poke its head around the corner and say hello.
The Backstory:  The Drive Home recreates the sensory experience of returning to Santa Barbara on the 101 from the South, those first moments where we start to feel back at home. Our shoulders drop down as we breath in that unmistakable Santa Barbara air. Citrus wafts into the car as we zip past the lemon orchards, all the while a crisp salinity in the air from the ocean to the left. We come around the curve into Montecito and run smack into a wall of Jasmine. No combination of smell feels more representative of our remarkable town than the culmination of these three.
How does your drink embody the spirit of SB?:  Our intention with this cocktail is to highlight the sensations we are all fortunate enough to experience living in this unique little corner of the world. Some days we take them for granted, other days we're floored by the purity and beauty of our surroundings. To us, the precise moment that we again feel the comforts of home is a pure representation of the joy this town brings our lives.

Finalist
   
 
   
 
Business Name:  Santo Mezcal
Cocktail Name:  Riviera Hermosa
Ingredients:  2 oz Cutler’s 33 Straight Bourbon Whiskey
1 oz Sage and Thyme-infused Blood Orange Syrup, homemade with locally grown sage, thyme, and Santa Barbara County blood oranges
1 oz fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
2 dashes of Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters
Activated Charcoal with Sugar and Cayenne Pepper
Float of Sanford Flor de Campo Pinot Noir
Garnish of dried Blood Oranges and Thyme
Recipe Instructions:  For the cocktail: Mix Cutler’s 33 Straight Bourbon Whiskey with the Sage and Thyme-infused Blood Orange syrup and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Add two dashes of Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters. Shake, strain, and pour the drink over ice into a sugar’d pilsner glass. Add a float of Sanford Flor de Campo Pinot Noir and garnish with fresh thyme and a dried blood orange.
For the glass: Rim half of a pilsner glass and dip in the activated charcoal, sugar, and cayenne mixture.
Drink Description:  Riviera Hermosa translates to “Beautiful Riviera,” and is a tribute to our beautiful American Riviera. Cutler’s 33 Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Housemade Sage and Thyme-infused blood orange syrup, fresh squeezed lemon, aromatic bitters and a float of Sanford Flor de Campo Pinot Noir.
Tasting Notes:  Our take on a bourbon sour, that celebrates the sharp sour notes of fresh blood oranges, with hints of fennel & lemon peel (from Pinot noir float). Perfect to enjoy with citrus forward summer dishes, ceviche, dark green greens like arugula, and beet salad.
The Backstory:  After the recent disasters to hit the American Riviera, our community came together in the most beautiful way to support one another in the midst of chaos. Today, Santa Barbara stands stronger together than before, and we are reminded of its beauty on a daily basis.
How does your drink embody the spirit of SB?:  The striking combination of colors and textures of this drink evoke our natural surroundings in Santa Barbara - from the sunset skies, to the mountains, to the bounty of the land we live on. The Riviera Hermosa is an homage to our beautiful American Riviera, celebrating it on every level. From the strength and resilience of our community to the natural beauty that surrounds us all, we are lucky to call the Riviera Hermosa home.

Finalist
   
 
   
 
Business Name:  Loquita
Cocktail Name:  Puesta del Sol
Ingredients:  Bottom Layer:
Cutler Gin
Lemon
Lustau Blanco Vermouth
Peychaud’s bitters

Top layer:
Local Cabernet
Cutler 33 bourbon
Pernod Absinthe
Blackberry
Angostura Bitters

Garnish:
Blood orange wheel
Sea Grass
Recipe Instructions:  Bottom Layer:
3/4 oz Cutler Gin
3/4 oz Lustau Blanco Vermouth
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
1 Dash Peychauds Bitters

Stir Ingredients in a mixing glass and strain.

Insert large ice cube.

Top Layer:
1 Blackberry
1/2 oz Cutler 33 bourbon
1/2 oz Storm Cabernet Sauvignon
2 Dashes Pernod Absinthe
1 Dash Angostura Bitters

Shake all ingredients and pour through tea strainer softly on top of the large ice cube.
Drink Description:  Puesta del Sol (Sunset)
A two-part layered cocktail with local Cutler’s spirits, local red wine, local berries, Spanish vermouth, and absinthe.
Tasting Notes:  Sip the whiskey-based cocktail first which flavor gives a fruit forward accent of wine and blackberry, a hint of absinthe, and a bold bourbon finish. After stirring the cocktail, the two layers come together bringing a sensational balance of spirit, botanicals, oak, and citrus.
The Backstory:  A true creation, the combination of gin, bourbon, and wine are a unique blend of a mixed drink. This recipe came together and is reminiscent of two favorite cocktails: The Corpse Reviver #2 and the Sazerac.
How does your drink embody the spirit of SB?:  The cocktail is a two-part layered drink which signifies Santa Barbara’s past and present. The bottom layer embodies our history with lemon (first planted in 1875) and Spanish Vermouth (a drink of choice for the settlers of our town in the 1700’s). The top layer speaks to a younger Santa Barbara with ingredients of wine and bourbon - two more recent successes. The blackberry, native to the west coast, and the hint of absinthe reminds us of the fennel-scented hills of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Finally, the seagrass garnish reflects the Santa Barbara's gorgeous coast. Sipping our Puesta del Sol cocktail is as special as enjoying the view of Santa Barbara's one-of-a-kind sunsets.

Finalist
   
 
Business Name:  Santa Barbara Brewing Company
Cocktail Name:  The American Riviera
Ingredients:  2oz Bulliet Rye
3/4oz Fernet Branca
3/4oz Cutler's Apple Pie Liquor
Juice 1/2 lime
4oz Cock & Bull Ginger beer
lime wedge

Recipe Instructions:  Add Rye ,ginger liquor lime juice, and fernet to shaker. Add ice shake vigorously. Pour over tulip or high ball glass half filled with ice. Too with ginger beer and lime garnish. Enjoy anytime anywhere.
Drink Description:  A refreshing whiskey cocktail with a herbal citrus bite that refreshes and up builds.
Tasting Notes:  Great rye balance with the herbal and citrus notes to refresh. The ginger provides the bite to keep you coming back for more.
The Backstory:  The fruition of creating a drink to embrace both bar culture and the blue collar feel to SB
How does your drink embody the spirit of SB?:  It is a perfect mix of the Rye blue collar feel so many here embodies. Also embraces the fernet sub culture that the larger bar slinging crowd enjoys. The citrus brings in the tropical bite we all love as we stroll down the beach.

 
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