Exeter bartender wins Great Cocktail Challenge: Why Obtuse Mongoose and others stood out

EXETER — Liz Hallahan has once again demonstrated her prowess as one of the top bartenders in the area.

Representing Street restaurant in Exeter, Hallahan recently clinched the top spot in the Great Cocktail Challenge with her coconut gin-based creation, The Obtuse Mongoose. This marks her second consecutive win, having secured the inaugural title last year with her rum-based concoction, Davy Jones’ Party Boat.

The week-long contest, organized by the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Dr. Gregory Biron of Exeter Dental Implant and Oral Surgery, saw 20 local restaurants compete to create the best drink, as voted by the public from July 19-28.

“Every cocktail I make is a creativity opportunity,” Hallahan said. “I have a competitive spirit for sure, but it’s all in fun … win or lose I feel everybody wins when we’re trying cocktails.”

Participating restaurants included Orient Pearl in Epping, which secured second place with their sushi-inspired cocktail, Yuzu Highball, and Sawbelly Brewing in Exeter, which took third place with its Shades of Summer.

The chamber also introduced a new category at this year’s challenge for best presentation, won by Ambrose restaurant in Exeter with its cocktail, Minty Air. The drink, which features London dry gin, orgeat, cold-pressed lemon juice, fresh mint and orange bitters, is presented in an enclosed treasure box, with cold air escaping when open.

What’s in the winning Obtuse Mongoose cocktail?

The winning cocktail features coconut-washed gin, ginger liqueur, carrot juice, passion fruit puree, lemon and simple syrup. The bright yellow-colored drink is presented in a coupe glass and topped with droplets of Thai basil oil.

Hallahan said she is not shy when it comes to trying new things, noting she likes to incorporate savory flavors into her cocktails.

“The way I bartend is really savory-leaning – so combinations that would go together well on a plate, and I try to put it in a glass,” she explained. “I knew I wanted to do something that was going to be really bright, really summery.”

The veteran bartender said the “hardest” part about creating a new drink was not figuring out the flavor profile – which took Hallahan only five tries before finding the perfect balance – but naming the actual drink.

A bad name, she said, could overshadow the cocktail.

“So I think I started with ‘Obtuse’ because I felt the color was fun, and ‘Mongoose’ just rhymed with it,” she joked.

Hallahan also credited her team of bartenders for her success, citing that she was on vacation for a huge portion of the competition. She said she had to rely on other staff to make the drink as she envisioned it and to market it to customers to give it a try.

With her second win in a row, Hallahan joked that she’s got “a target on my back” for next year’s challenge.

The Obtuse Mongoose will be available at Street restaurant until the end of the season. Hallahan said she isn’t sure if the drink will be part of the restaurant’s permanent menu in the future.

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Sushi sauce-inspired cocktail wins second place

Roy Qu, the bartender from Orient Pearl in Epping, knew about the challenge last year but felt he "wasn’t ready" to enter. This year, he was thrilled to learn that his sushi sauce-inspired cocktail won second place.

“This year I know if I join the challenge, I can win,” he added.

Qu’s cocktail features house-made yuzu cordial, shiso leaf, fresh yuzu, passion fruit syrup, Junmai sake, soda and plum bitter spray. The gold-colored drink is served in a tall glass with ice.

“We eat sushi and sometimes we have ponzu sauce, yuzu sauce,” he said. “I was thinking when you’re getting sushi, how about making a cocktail to go with that? I want to use Asian and Japanese (flavor).”

Qu, who started his nearly five-year bartending journey in New York City, said he is already looking forward to next year’s challenge, where he plans to put his creativity to the test.

He said Yuzu Highball will continue to be on Orient Pearl’s drinks menu.

A drink that encapsulates the ‘summer vibe'

Steve Holasek, bartender at Sawbelly Brewing, said his approach to the Cocktail Challenge was to create a drink “that would please a large audience of people.”

“Something that was a little more fruity and citrusy, kind of light, something that would speak to the summer vibe itself,” he explained.

Holasek’s creation, The Shades of Summer, features blueberry vodka, rose vermouth, guava, mint, and lemon and topped with just a hint of fizz. The pinkish-colored drink is topped with mint leaves and is served in a coupe glass.

The drink will only be available for the summer season.

A bartender of 15 years, Holasek went to school to be in the culinary industry and fell in love with the mixology side of business.

“There’s so many nuances and so many different areas you can go into,” he said. “It’s just really awesome to see people’s faces when they come across a brand-new cocktail that they may never taste before.”

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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter bartender wins Great Cocktail Challenge: Why Obtuse Mongoose and others stood out