I always love it when I get to judge food and drink competitions. Not only do you get to taste unique interpretations of whatever it is you are judging, but the interactions you get with the crowd and other judges, and hearing their feedback, is a complete treat every time.
This past week, I served (I think) my sixth year as a judge in the 15th annual Tahoe Bloody Mary Fest that took place at the pool deck at the Golden Nugget in South Lake Tahoe.
As you could imagine, the weather will always play a part when it comes to outdoor events. Imagine having to taste hot food with no shade in 90-plus degree weather. I’ve done it. It’s not awesome. Thankfully, this was not one of those days, as we were treated with perfect high 70-degree temps and a slight breeze to go along with each of the cold beverages.
Speaking of beverages, Bloody Marys are not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve been team Bloodies from the start, so this event has always held a special place in my heart. But there are plenty of people out there that aren’t sold on the idea of this drink and I have to say, sometimes they’re right. It could be the most polarizing drink of all time.
When you get one that great, it’s fantastic. But anyone who drinks Bloody Marys, you’ve had a bad one, and probably many bad ones. When you get one of those, your attitude is shrouded in darkness because you’ve just ruined your palette for the rest of the day – at least for me.
But we’re here to talk about the positive side of this experience which brings me to the tasting itself. The event hosts anywhere from 12 – 15 booths that are slinging Bloodies to thirsty crowd-goers for hours. Judges grade three categories from one to 10 on taste, presentation and use of ingredients.
The hardest part about any judging is where to set the baseline on tasting number one. You can’t just go hog wild and throw out 10s to start – even if it is amazing. What happens if you taste something better down the road? I’ve found that you do not tally your totals until the very end because every entry deserves to be graded individually and you need some wiggle room to go back and adjust accordingly.
Inevitably, I always get asked if I’ve ever tasted any bad entries. The answer is yes. It’s always yes. But you learn to put on your best judging face, assess accordingly, place what you think are fair scores, and sometimes, have some fun conversations with your fellow judges.
Especially with Bloody Marys, the garnish plays a key role. I’ve seen entries with full blown meals crowning the cocktail and others that keep it ultra simple. For me, it’s not about the excess; it’s about what you do with the garnish to accentuate the drink. Attention to detail on ingredients, amazing flavors, creativity, they can all help play a role in a high score.
Now, for those of you that have been wine tasting, you ever get to the third or fourth winery and everything starts tasting good? It’s not too different. You have to really focus on the task at hand and make sure you’re still grading objectively.
When all is said and done, and you recap your notes and scores, if you feel like you’ve done your best and scored fairly, then that’s all you can really do … then maybe go back to your favorite and indulge in one more sip.
