42 Below and the Cocktail World Cup - Someone is Going To Have an Incredibly Great Time
From the cloud-white, kiln-fired label to the long, cool depth of the glass bottle, from the purest water in the world to the cleanest environment as its home, everything about 42 Below is purity, it is no wonder its story is too. 42 Below is based on one simple principle - purity. Pure ingredients, pure distillation and a pure environment - things that New Zealand can proudly boast. Tim Evans has been doing his best to cause "kafaffles" with the company's off-beat brand of Kiwi humor and gearing up to host the annual 42 Below Cocktail World Cup later this year. 42 Below challenges local bartenders from around the world to create their best concoctions using 42 Below. One lucky winner from Panama will be flown on a first-class all expenses paid trip to Queenstown, New Zealand to compete against other representatives from around the world. (more...you're going to want to see this)
The award winning premium vodka from New Zealand, 42 Below, is considered by many to be the best in the world. The remarkably crisp vodka is becoming popular in some of Panama City's more exclusive nightspots where the vodka, available in a variety of flavors, is used to make an array of fresh and exciting cocktails.
Team USA Scoring a Couple of Points Last Year
The makers of 42 Below host the Cocktail World Cup in Queenstown, New Zealand every year. This year’s competition will be in September and is going to be bigger, wider, longer, and stronger than in previous years. In keeping with their tradition of being untradional events will be broadcast live via the Internet as they occur.
Shaken, not stirred - Jetboat Mixology in the Shotover Canyon
The 42 Below Cocktail World Cup is the only event of its kind in the world, where 42 bartenders representing 19 countries - France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Russia, the USA, the UK, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Canada, Panama, Aruba, Puerto Rico, Australia and New Zealand fly to Queenstown for a week of mixology mayhem. 2006 is the first year to see a representative from Panama present at the competition.
Extra Points for Mixing While Jumping From a Helicopter
The search is now on to choose the 42 bartenders to attend. Competitions will be held in all participating countries to find the local representatives. In Panama, bartenders will have the opportunity to compete against each other at Play and Next during the month of July.
Once in New Zealand, the bartenders, who are known for their sharp haircuts and nocturnal lifestyles, have to make cocktails whilst bungee jumping, zooming down the Shotover river at 70 km/hour, cavorting down a snowy mountain in a rubber tube, dangling out of helicopter 200 feet above the ground and then performing on an ice bar on the final day, where they have to produce a unique cocktail to a music track of their choice in front of a live audience on September 16th.
Another Happy Winner...
“If Monaco has the Grand Prix, Australia’s got the Melbourne Cup, England has Wimbledon then we want New Zealand to be able to own the Cocktail World Cup. Queenstown, our adventure capital is the perfect place to showcase our salubrious, innovative approach to food and beverage. It has taken three years to build and we now have a global following to this completely unique event, which brings some of the best decision makers in the bar and restaurant worlds to our country to discover our fine array of products and spirit,” explains Geoff Ross, 42 BELOW’s Chief Vodka Bloke.
All around the globe bartenders are mixing, shaking and fine-tuning their unique recipes to be in with a chance to win a trip of a lifetime to New Zealand and knock the Australians, the reigning champions, off their perch. The Cocktail World Cup gathers hundreds of entries every year and holds local competitions all around the world to arrive at a shortlist. From there, 42 are selected and announced on August 1st, 5 weeks before boarding a plane and flying to the edge of the world for the cocktail extravaganza.
The Edge of the World
The bartenders become local heroes in the small adventure destination of Queenstown and perform throughout the seven-day event at local bars, which generates a fan base for different teams (and countries). They also have to present cocktail trends from their part of the world as it’s not just about finding one winner, but sharing information between the globetrotting bartenders.
Cocktail making is no longer an exclusive subject. “People are making cocktails in their own homes these days; it’s not strictly in the domain of elite bars. We get requests from people all over the world for cocktail recipes, so we believe the Cocktail World Cup is the new, sexier, more interesting cooking show, delivered to the world from our backyard which is why we are going to broadcast it over the Internet this year” says Tim Evans, 42 Below’s Latin American Manager.
42 BELOW have partnered with Air Tahiti Nui who will be flying the 42 successful bartenders from their main hubs of LA, New York, Paris and Tokyo to New Zealand.
Any bartenders interested in entering should visit the website: 42 Below Cocktail World Cup
If you'd like to see what it's all about, please check out the 2004 Cocktail World Cup Video and the 2005 Cocktail World Cup Video.
The 42 Below Story: 1996, and Ross had a moment of clarity. There was no reason why New Zealand could not produce a world-class vodka from its own resources. So he bought a still, did his research, and took the first steps in developing what is now an international award-winning vodka brand. With no experience but a whole lot of passion, 42 Below began in the Ross family garage, through trial and error and not a little taste testing.
3 years later, and the formula was perfected. A distiller with over 20 years experience was employed to iron out the creases in an otherwise flawless recipe, a water source with the highest purity rating available was found and a birthday gift of a GPS receiver provided the name, 42 Below - New Zealand position on the Global Positioning System.
42 BELOW makes no bones about being a premium brand. It is priced higher than your average, mass-produced vodka and the company have forsaken the Government Tax Benefits by keeping the vodka at 42% alcohol. This has its rewards, Awards. In 2002 42 BELOW was awarded silver by the worlds toughest judging panel, The Beverage Tasting Institute of Chicago. In 2000 it was judged number two in the world by UK magazine class. In November 2003 The Independent's Sunday Review rated it as one of the top two vodkas in the world in their double blind tasting. It has been enjoyed at some of the biggest Oscar parties, Lord Of The Rings premieres around the globe and at fashion shows in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Understandably 42 BELOW is not your average vodka. It blends the smoothness of Polish vodkas with the cleanness of Scandinavian vodkas to achieve a full-bodied, lightly oiled drink that glides silkily over the tongue. It's all in the method, the distillation process at 42 Below extracts the purest liquid from every batch, doing away with any methanol head or sediment tail, leaving only the purest heart of the distillation process that fills every bottle.
It's only right then that 42 Below is not for the average drinker. It has found its loyal fans in the fussiest of bartenders, the most discerning of vodka connoisseurs, and the hippest of cocktail sippers. You won't find 42 Below at every bar, or in every store, but you'll find it at the best. And that is exactly where it should be.
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The Story of 42 Below
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Contact Information: If you would like to know more about 42 Below Premium Vodka, please contact -
- Tim Evans, Panache International
- Ave. Samuel Lewis
- Plaza Obarrio, Office 202 - 203
- Panama City, Republic of Panama
- Phone: +011 (507) 264-0528
- Fax: +011 (507) 264-1443
- Cell: +011 (507) 6675-4508
- Email: tim@panacheimports.com
- Website: 42 Below or www.panacheimports.com
