The bitter truth? Our hearts are still pumping from yesterday’s competition…and possibly from the avalanche of sugared beignets we snuck in to commemorate our last day in New Orleans.

In an hour and a half, our esteemed guest judges, Livio Lauro (USBG President), Allen Katz (Slow Food USA) and John Deragon (PDT) along with yours truly (Litty and Melkon) tasted and tested the final 15. We started first by nosing for aroma while the finalists explained their inspiration and process. Then, we tasted them with water, vodka and whiskey. The latter two in simple cocktail forms. The only extra ingredients available to our “fellowship of the bitters” were lemon juice, lime juice and simple syrup and ice. It was tough! Each one had strong merits.

(Esteemed judges looking mighty serious.)

We had plenty of company as we judged.  About 100 attendees also got to meet the very talented bitters makers and taste their handcrafted wares as they vied for the top prize: a chance to have their bitters professionally manufactured and sold later in the year with a cut of the profits ($$$…or more likely…$).

The Semi Finalists on the Fruit Side…

Blair Reynolds - Grapefruit

Kathy Casey - with a whopping 3 entries Golden Era, Harvest, & Kathy’s special bitters

Marshall Altier - Baked Apple

And the Spices…

Alex Smith - Anise

John Hogan & Tobin Ellis - English Lavender & Spice

Alex Velez - Chocolate Curry

George A. Costa - Smoked Curry Ginger (except this guy ain’t George, it’s his friend, Nick)

Michael Gehron - Kaffir Lime

The contenders on the Herb side…

Ron Oliver - Pachamama & Backhouse

Adam Seger - Swedish herb

Frederic Yarm - Celery

Bradley Dawson - Rose Petal

After a period of tasting, retasting, wringing of hands, etc., this is how the competition panned out:

FRUIT
Winner — Baked Big Apple bitters (Marshall Atlier)
Second — Grapefruit bitters (Blair Reynolds)
Third — Golden Era bitters (Kathy Casey)

HERB
Winner — Swedish bitters (Adam Seger)
Second — Pachamama bitters (Ron Oliver)
Third — Backhouse bitters (Ron Oliver)

SPICE
Winner — English Lavender & Spice bitters (Tobin Ellis & John Hogan)
Second — Anise bitters (Alex Smith)
Third — Smoked Ginger bitters (George A. Costa)

(Phew! The winners don't look shady!)