All Hail the Cocktail

Here’s some recent cocktail news items from the last week that you might be interested in.

• Smirnoff creates Vodka infused with Gold - The headline says it all.
• Boutique Spirits, Classic Cocktails & No. 3 London Dry Gin – No. 3′s story is actually an interesting lesson in the history of distillation, gin and the flavor industry from NPR.
• List of the Best 50 Bars in the World – Cocktail industry magazine Drinks International has released a global top 50 list featuring bars from around the world. The list was determined by polling a hundred bar professionals, including media folk, a “diamond-ice carver,” and various other cocktail know-it-alls.
• Cocktail contest searches for outstanding bartenders (in Vietnam) - The National Cocktail Competition 2012 was launched nationwide in Vietnam on November 4, aimed at discovering talented bartenders and bar managers in the country.
• Donate Your Amputated Toes to the Sourtoe Cocktail Club – Finally, something to do with your amputated digits. Gross.  Read it to believe it.
• Japanese bartender wins world cocktail title with reconstruction-themed drink – A 35-year-old Japanese bartender won the World Cocktail Championship in Poland on Wednesday with an original cocktail on the theme of reconstruction from the March 11 disaster in Japan, according to a bartenders guild. Takafumi Yamada said he created the vodka-based cocktail, Great Sunrise, in hope that “a wonderful sunrise will shine all over Japan.”