In Gran Gala Triple Orange Liqueur’s recent
Gran Gala Shakedown, a panel of experts
scored cocktail recipes based on taste, originality,
ease of preparation, presentation, and
consumer votes from the Shakedown site.
In the end, they unanimously chose Arturo
Vera-Felicie’s Chambeli Cocktail.
“I’ve judged many cocktail competitions,
and rarely has there been an immediate
consensus as to the overall winner,” says one
of the judges, Robert Plotkin, spirits writer
and publisher of AmericanCocktails.com. “In this case, the
Chambeli Cocktail was clearly the best in the field. The drink
was surgically balanced such that you could easily taste all of
the various ingredients. It had an engaging aroma and was
thoroughly delicious.”
Vera-Felicie added the cocktail, priced at $10,
to the menu at the Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange
in Kansas City, Missouri, where he is head
bartender. “I have Gran Gala in the well,” he
explains. “It’s a nice product. It’s really affordable
and is a good flavor to use in our cocktail
program and not have to charge an arm and a
leg for a really good drink.”
The cocktail calls for 3/4 ounce Gran Gala,
3/4 ounce Aperol, 3/4 ounce dry gin, two dashes
rhubarb bitters, and 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice.
Instructions are to mix all ingredients in a mixing
glass and shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass
garnished with an old-fashioned orange twist.
In 
