At Scooter Media, we’re driven to do great work and produce the highest quality results for our clients. But our competitive spirit doesn’t end there. That’s why we’ve instituted inter-office cooking competitions with our friends at Spotted Yeti. We’ve had a Chili Challenge, Christmas Cookie Exchange, and a Soup-er Bowl featuring you guessed it, soups! Now that summer is here we thought it would be the perfect time for a cocktail challenge – and we were even able to work in products from one of our newest clients!
We recently started working with Hopwater, a non-alcoholic carbonated soda with the aroma and pleasing bitterness of hops. We decided to use Hopwater as the foundation of our challenge. After sampling the four flavors (Original, Lime, Ginger, and Grapefruit), several times, we all went home to become amateur mixologists to work on crafting the perfect cocktail.
The afternoon of the competition we welcomed guest judges (we take competition very seriously in these offices) Amanda Greenwell, from UpTech, and Jim Guthrie, from Hub+Weber. After tasting the cocktails (disclaimer: we all had to drive, so samples were small). Votes were collected and tallied for both judges and staff picks. Spotted Yeti newcomer Tommy Migaki won the “Staff Pick” award for his Covington Sunset, and Scooter Media’s founder Shannan Boyer took home the top honors receiving the top score from our judges with her Cool as a Cucumber Summer Cocktail.
It was a great way to spend a summer afternoon and get to know more about one of our clients. Congratulations to our winners! Stay tuned to find out what we’re up to next.
Recipes for all of the “Hop-tails” are below.
Cool as a Cucumber Summer Cocktail (Shannan Boyer)
1 cup Cucumber vodka (I like Skinnygirl’s)
1 large cucumber
1/2 cup simple syrup
8 sprigs fresh mint
1 cup Hopwater Original
1/3 cup lime juice
Lime wedges (for garnish)
Ice
Directions
Simple Syrup:
On the stove, heat 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar. Stir until sugar completely dissolves. Allow to cool.
Cucumber Juice:
Using a potato peeler, peel one large (or two small) cucumber. Slice into smaller pieces. Add pieces into a blender and puree until smooth. Pour the puree slowly into a strainer, extracting just the liquid. Dispose of the remaining pulp.
Cocktail:
In a large pitcher mix the cucumber vodka, cucumber juice, 1/2 cup of simple syrup, Original Hopwater, lime juice, four sprigs of mint and ice. Stir. Pour into cute cocktail glasses. Garnish each glass with a lime wedge and sprig of mint. Extra simple syrup can be used by guests to adjust sweetness levels. Voila!
Hopwater Royale (Bridget Kochersperger)
2 oz fin
2 oz Hopwater Lime
3/4 oz simple syrup
Champagne
Sprig of mint
Directions:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the gin, simple syrup and Lime Hopwater. Do not shake — Stir until chilled, then strain into a flute. Top with champagne and garnish with a sprig of mint.
Hopwater Pimms Cup (Katie Scoville)
4oz. Hopwater Lime
2oz. Pimms
Fresh squeezed lime wedge
Ice
Directions:
Mix Pimms and Hopwater in a glass (or keep the same proportions and use a pitcher – that’s what I’d do) and squeeze in some fresh lime juice. Add ice and stir. Garnish with lime, lemon, raspberries, and mint
Kentucky Mule-berry (Molly Berrens)
2 shots bourbon
2 shots Hopwater Ginger
1/2 cup ginger beer
Fresh mint (2 Sprigs muddled, plus extra for garnish)
Blackberries (About 8, muddled)
Twist of lime
Directions:
Muddle together the blackberries and fresh mint. Stir in bourbon, ginger Hop Water & twist of lime. Pour over half cup of ginger beer and ice. Garnish with mint.
Covington Sunset (Tommy Migaki)
1.5 oz Gin
1.5 oz Amaretto
Squeeze of orange and lemon
Splash of ginger ale
Hopwater Original
Directions:
Shake all ingredients and pour in a glass topped with Hopwater.
