By Sacha Delfosse
Liquor importer Dispensa of Slow Tasters will hold Australia’s first Grappa cocktail competition with the aim of changing misconceptions surrounding the Italian spirit.
The competition will be held at the Vessel Bar in Sydney on Monday July 4, starting with a closed door preliminary round featuring over 20 bartenders.
Six finalists will then be chosen to showcase their grappa cocktails in front of guests from 6.30pm.
Dispensa of Slow Tasters’ managing director, Aldo Seppilli, said the company hopes to bring a new audience to the grappa category through the event, which will include easy-to-make grappa-based cocktails.
He believes grappa doesn’t have a great image in Australia because most people have only tasted the home-made grappa made by Italian immigrants, and have not had the chance to try a good quality grappa, let alone taste it in a cocktail.
“In Italy it is considered a good after-dinner drink, and all the restaurants have different ranges of grappa. In 2010 about 26 million bottles per year were produced,” Seppilli says.
“We would like to change the image of it being simply an after-dinner drink for the cold season.
”We believe that Grappa is a very nice summer drink as well as a good ingredient for cocktails, particularly when matched with tropical tastes or matched with chocolate and or ice-cream.”
The winner will receive a return flight to Italy, which includes a visit to the Distillerie Francoli. Second place will receive three bottles of Gran Cru Grappa Francoli while third place will get a book on Italian grappa.
Apart from the inaugural Grappa Cocktail competition, Dispensa of Slow Tasters will also be holding several grappa master classes during July.
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