Mason’s Grill wins best cocktail at Garden Fest – More than 1,000 people attended Garden Fest at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden Center last weekend.

More than 1,000 people attended Garden Fest at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden Center last weekend. Among the festivities were fresh omelets for breakfast, a look at the AgCenter’s food incubator, and a cocktail challenge.

In the latter event, Mason’s Grill’s Blackberry Mojito took first place. The Cove’s Old New Orleans Swizzle and Olive or Twist’s Sloe Gator tied for second place. Serranos’ Nola Jam Sipper and Doe’s Eat Place’s Raspy Tchouper tied for third place.

Ingredients:
1 oz. your favorite rum
3-4 blackberries
3-5 fresh mint leaves
3-4 oz. lemon lime soda/soda water with fresh lemon and lime juice
˝ oz. simple syrup
A squeeze of lime

Muddle the mint and berries with the rum, and then add all other ingredients. Shake and pour over ice. Garnish with a slice of lime and fresh blackberries.

1 part Old New Orleans 10 Year Rum
Quarter-part Cherry Herring
A dash of Falernum
5 drops of Tiki Bitters
Half-part lime

Swizzle and strain into a Collins glass with crushed ice. Top with Regatta ginger beer. Garnish with sliced, fresh ginger.

1 Ľ oz. Domaine de Canton Ginger liqueur
1 oz. Bitter Truth Sloeberry Sloe Gin
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
ľ oz. Spiced Bayou Rum
˝ oz. Steen’s Cane Syrup spiced with cardamom and cracked black pepper
2-4 cloves
2 drops Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla bitters

Combine ingredients in shaker. Shake and strain into glass with blueberry ice sphere. For blueberry ice sphere, freeze fresh blueberries in water. Use as ice in cocktail as needed.

1 strawberry
2 blackberries
4 raspberries
4 blueberries
1 tbsp. Louisiana cane sugar
2 oz. Old New Orleans 10 Year Rum
1 twist of lemon
1 twist of lime
1 oz. simple syrup

To make the jam, muddle berries with cane sugar and cook down in a pan with ˝ oz. of rum.

Mix 1 oz. of rum jam with the 1 oz. of simple syrup and Old New Orleans Rum and pour over crushed ice. Add lemon and lime twist and stir to finish.

10 raspberries
5 mint leaves
2 oz. Old New Orleans Crystal Rum
Ľ oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
Ľ oz. simple syrup
Ľ oz. Cointreau
Ice
Ginger ale

Place raspberries, mint leaves and rum into a whipped cream siphon. Shake hard for one minute. Release the pressure then unscrew the lid. Strain the infused rum mixture from the pulp. Add the infused rum, lemon juice, simple syrup and Cointreau into the shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with ginger ale and garnish with a mint leaf and raspberry.