The Maker’s Mark Pro-Am Bourbon, Blues & BBQ Dinner presented by Sea Island and Southern Soul Barbeque is a sizzling new addition to this year’s festival. It is planned for Thursday, October 3rd on Sea Island’s scenic Rainbow Island. The event will feature PGA Tour professionals (to be announced) and the hosting Sea Island and Southern Soul Barbeque teams, plus impressive visiting pitmasters Tiffani Faison, the Fox brothers, and Jimmy Hagood, in a culinary challenge. Music for the evening will be provided by The Eric Culberson Band, a popular, high energy three-piece band from Savannah with more than 20 years of wowing audiences under their belts. From Delta Blues to Urban Funk Blues, Texas Swing, and Chicago Blues to Rock n’ Roll, they combine old-school styles and classics with fresh new energy and original material. With such a wide range of music, this band is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
A Maker’s Mark Brand Ambassador (like Don Billings, who is pictured here) will be in attendance at the Blues, Bourbon and Barbeque Dinner and will artfully guide guests’ through the evening with a variety of libations including the special concoctions shared here by Arianne Fielder/Seven Lamps and Hallie Arnold/The Grocery.
THE MIXOLOGISTS
ARIANNE FIELDER
Known as the “head mixtress” at Seven Lamps, Arianne Fielder is designing a beverage program inspired by fresh, seasonal flavors that includes craft cocktails made with innovative ingredients and techniques, house-made sodas, artisan coffees, craft beers and eclectic wines. Fielder was head mixologist of Southern Art restaurant and Bourbon Bar where she designed the beverage menus and cocktails for celebrity chef Art Smith. At Ormsby’s, she created the first ever beer cocktail menu in the South. An active member of the United States Bartenders’ Guild, Arianne enjoys participating in competitive bartending and cocktail competitions and was named runner-up to “Atlanta’s Best Bartender” in the 2011 Barcraft Competition at Taste of Atlanta. In 2012, she won first place in the Berentzen competition.
Field of Dreams
A very earthy, herbaceous combination with rosemary and ginger, and very mild sweetness from the local sorghum.
Ingredients
1 oz. Maker’s Mark
1/4 oz. Shrub & Co. ginger shrub
1/2 oz. Rosemary-infused sorghum syrup (prepared ahead with recipe below)
2.5 oz. Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy Craft Brew
Method
Combine Maker’s Mark, shrub, sorghum and beer in a shaker glass, add ice, stir to release the carbonation, then shake. Strain into a cocktail coupe and garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Rosemary-infused sorghum syrup
Ingredients
4 oz. sorghum syrup
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Method
Place sorghum in small glass measuring cup and add rosemary, breaking to submerge it entirely. Microwave just until sorghum boils (30-45 seconds). Remove and let stand at room temperature for 1 day. Strain and store in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
HALLIE ARNOLD
Hallie Arnold Hallie (short for “Hallelujah”) Arnold serves up more than delicious cocktails as head bartender at The Grocery. With a bubbly personality, extensive knowledge of cocktail history and a variety of ingredients at her fingertips, the Johnson & Wales University graduate often crafts cocktails with flavorful infusions, from fresh herbs to the brine from the restaurant’s house pickled vegetables. Her beet garnished cocktail helped her win “People’s Choice” at the 2013 Charleston Wine + Food Official Mixologist Competition – her first professional competition.
Loretta Lemonade
Ingredients
1.5 oz. strawberry infused Maker’s Mark (prepared ahead with recipe below)
One wedge of lemon squeezed
Spicy ginger ale
Method
Mix ingredients on the rocks. Top with spicy ginger ale.
Strawberry infused Maker’s Mark:
Ingredients
2 pints of strawberries
1 bottle of Maker’s Mark
Method
Quarter strawberries and place in large mason jar. Pour Maker’s Mark over berries until covered. Seal and let sit over night or as long as you would like. Strain and refrigerate.
Interested in learning more about Maker’s Mark? Visit makersmark.com or attend the Maker’s Mark Pro-Am Bourbon, Blues and Barbeque Dinner on October 3. Tickets are $85 and are available online now at www.saintsimonsfoodandspirits.com.
