Day 4 of Portland Cocktail Week
Angus Winchester with Portland bartender Nathan Gerdes
Last day of Portland Cocktail Week 2011! I woke up bright and early to catch a bit of the Angus Winchester’s bartender challenge. Read all about the challenge here on LA Cocktails.
The day before I was waylaid by the Triple Buck and so I was determined to get to the Great American Distillers Festival early. I must have misread the time because they didn’t open the show until 1 p.m. and I was there two hours early. Ooops! So I found a likely breakfast spot and got my chicken fried steak on.
chicken fried steak
The Village Inn Pancake House was fairly busy and I got my chicken fried steak in a jiffy. Well, it didn’t compare to my favorite chicken fried steak (Seattle’s 5 point) but I had to make do since I wouldn’t see another full meal this day.
The Village Inn Pancake House
1621 NE 10th Ave., Portland, OR 97232 – (503) 284-4141
Speed Rack in PDX
It was still a bit early yet and I headed to Speed Rack. The all-female bartenders competition raises money for breast cancer research. Check out the end of this post for highlights.
Great American Distillers Festival
I couldn’t stay for all of Speed Rack since I had about an hour to run around the Great American Distillers Festival before hopping on the double decker bus to bar crawl through Portland. I made good use of that time and click here to read about my GADF tastings.
raise a glass with Cocktail GoGo
Cocktail GoGo had emailed me to see if I wanted to go on their 5-bar crawl through PDX. Of course I did! I hopped on the double decker bus headed to Metrovino, Dig A Pony, Central, Yur’s and Rum Club. Read about the shenanigans here on LA Cocktails.
Imbibe Party at Spirit of '77
Then I was off to the Imbibe Party at Spirit of ’77. With 10 cocktails on the program that evening, Imbibe was taking names and showing who’s the boss on the last night of Portland Cocktail Week. It was their 5th Anniversary party and they were doing it in style with passed food and well-made cocktails and punches. Read all about the party here.
potato appetizers
pork slider
That half-eaten chicken fried steak came back to haunt me. I had a couple of bites here and there on the bar crawl and a few bites at the Imbibe party. Was I going to make it to another 3 parties?
Maker's Mark party at Ground Kontrol
Magically, I made it over to Ground Kontrol (I really did love that double decker bus) for the Maker’s Mark party. Ground Kontrol is a fun arcade that has old-school arcade games on the ground level and pinball upstairs.
Bobby "G" Gleason for Maker's Mark
Surprisingly, I was still on my feet and gracefully (I’m sure only in my mind) to cart away one of Beam Global Spirits’ Bobby “G” Gleason’s cocktails. I opted for the Portlander (Maker’s 46, DeKuyper Pomegranate, vermouth, Scrappy’s chocolate bitters).
Kevin Bell of Oregon Ice Works
Oregon Ice Works was on hand with specially infused Maker’s Mark ices. Owner Kevin Bell explained they don’t normally have boozy ices (I think they should!). These ices are dairy free but yet tasted so creamy. I deeply regret not tasting both flavors but that bed at Jupiter Hotel was calling my name. I just love this picture. Can you spot Charles from Eurotrash peeking out?
Oregon Ice Works
Oregon Ice Works 3221 SE Division, D Street Noshery, Portland, OR 97202 – (503) 660-3221 I didn’t make it to the 2 after parties after all. Next year I’ll have to train my liver better though I think I did fairly well. I never got sick and my tolerance is at an all time high. Yay? I would like to thank everyone I met at Portland Cocktail Week and in particular the Oregon Bartenders Guild and Lush Life Productions for hosting the 4-day extravaganza. Day 1 Recap