Murphy mixes winner as tipple shakes judges

IT wasn’t just the drink that was stirred yesterday as the final of the inaugural Southern Comfort Irish Open Cocktail Championship got under way.

Many of the 30 contenders looked like they could do with a stiff drink themselves as they waited to see who was going to be the first ever Irish champion mixer.

The honour went to James Murphy, 37, manager of Bowe's Lounge in Fleet Street, Dublin, as he mixed himself into the record books with a concoction of Southern Comfort, banana liqueur, passion fruit syrup and pineapple juice, all topped with a sinful measure of fresh cream and poured over ice.

James, who lectures in catering at the Institute of Technology in Cathal Brugha Street in Dublin, was thrilled to have won. "I have been in the business for 20 years and lecturing for 15, so this is great," he said.

James will now represent Ireland at the World Cocktail Championship in Seville next Wednesday and will enjoy sipping a cocktail or two from the other side of the bar when he finds the time to enjoy his prize, a trip for two to New Orleans, home of Southern Comfort.

The competition tested the knowledge and expertise of 30 of Ireland's most imaginative bartenders. The challenge to demonstrate professionalism and creativity in the art of cocktail making involved two heats in Dublin's Clontarf Castle Hotel and Clancy's Bar in Cork.

The final yesterday was a colourful event, with the bartenders lined up on stage to mix their magic at the Westin Hotel in Dublin. The producers of Southern Comfort, Edward Dillon & Co, were well pleased with the success of the competition.

"We are delighted with the volume and standard of entries," said Caroline Sleiman, product group manager.

With more than 70 recipes, the Southern Comfort Irish Open Cocktail Championship is the biggest cocktail competition in the country.

The grand occasion was a far cry from the origins of cocktails in the US during the prohibition era of the 1930s.

The bootleg alcohol that was produced then, often called gut-rot, tasted so vile that the bartenders learned to mix the alcohol with fruit juices to disguise the taste.

James Murphy had no such problems. His main job was to accentuate and not disguise the taste of Southern Comfort and, according to the judges, he did it with style.

His cocktail, Southern Belle, will now take its place among other famous mixes like the Screwdriver, originally a working man's drink of vodka and orange stirred with screwdrivers.