By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — The city's top baristas and bartenders are teaming up to craft creative coffee cocktails for a one-night-only event in TriBeCa this May.
Buzzed: A Coffee Cocktail Mash-Up, sponsored by the new high-end bar Compose, at 77 Worth St., and its coffee shop neighbor RBC NYC, will award a $1,000 cash prize to the pair that dreams up the best caffeinated libation at the exclusive May 22 event.
The 35 tickets are already sold out, but curious imbibers can stop by Compose after 10 p.m. that evening to try the winning drink and the other contenders for $15 apiece.
The alcoholic caffeinated drink Four Loko may have been banned last November, but Eamon Rockey, general manager at Compose, said he has long been interested in bringing New Yorkers' two favorite beverages together for an event.
"The two worlds collide all the time," Rockey said. "There's a beauty in the marriage between cocktails and coffee, and there's a similar culture that surrounds the two groups."
Cora Lambert, director of coffee at RBC NYC, said coffee has just as many subtle flavors and aromas as wine or spirits, and aficionados of both camps use the same flavor wheel to detect the floral or pungent notes.
"A lot more goes into coffee than anyone understands," Lambert said. "Coffee is a very complex substance."
For that reason, she expects the teams to begin by tasting a range of coffees before picking one that will serve as the base of their drink. The mixologist will then bring in other ingredients to enhance, rather than obscure, the central flavor of the coffee.
Rockey said he expects a wide range of entrants, from simple, elegant drinks that would not be too hard to replicate at home, to exotic libations with hard-to-find ingredients and labor-intensive preparations.
Competitors include Jesse Khan of World Bean and Mickey McIlroy of Milk & Honey; Katie Cargulio of Counter Culture and Aaron Polsky of The Top of the Standard; Park Brannen of Cafe Grumpy and Jane Danger of Cienfuegos; Kevin St. John of Stumptown and Eryn Reece of Mayahuel; and Christopher Buerke of Blue Bottle and Frank Cisneros of Drink/Dram.
The judges — Jim Meehan of PDT, Mike White of ShotZombies.com, Mari Uyehara of Time Out NY and Alia Akkam of Beverage Media Group — will pick the drink with the best flavor, balance, concept and presentation.
