Top Rated Vodka Russian Standard Serves”Emotion in a Glass”

A collaboration of mixology and gastronomy summoned a small group of local food pundits to The Restaurant, located at the incredible Setai hotel in Miami Beach on Thursday afternoon.  Guests were invited to savor the hotel’s exquisite foods paired with innovative libations care of a contest fashioned by Русский Стандарт, a.k.a Russian Standard Vodka and the US Bartender’s Guild, asking mixologists to put their “Emotion in a Glass”.

Where most Vodka’s imbibed neat, might make you cringe and conjure rubbing alcohol, Russian Standard has perfected the wheat-based spirit to leave a clean and smooth finish.  The brand’s concept for this emotional competition came by way of their own creations that capture Passion and Desire. The contestants were invited to build upon this with their own contributions.

Two Miami bartenders were selected as top 25 finalists in the first annual and aptly named contest “Emotion in a Glass”, where they could choose an emotion and formulate an original cocktail around it.  The two talented finalists from Miami, Walid Hamid of Sra. Martinez and The Forge and Philip Khandehrish of The Setai, were placed rightfully in the limelight at the marketing luncheon to introduce not only themselves but their delicious concoctions to local connoisseurs.

The lunch selections were compiled from The Restaurant’s original menu and included such dishes as a yuzu marinated Hamachi, chilled soba noodles with truffle ice cream, and a savory green curry stew.  The Kaffir Lime Parfait offered as dessert was light and airy, and just as palatable as the rest of the tasting menu.

Details of the competition are available on Russian Standard’s Facebook page where you can also vote for your local favorites once you visit the finalists’ relative bars and judge their amazing cocktails.