Season 1: Punch Kings
HANDCRAFTED | WHOLE BOTTLE | HOSPITALITY
The Cochon US Tour DNA Series, “Punch Kings” is a mini-doc series focusing on some of the best bartenders in the country competing within Cochon 555’s 2016 Tour.
The competition focuses on 5 top bartenders in each city creating a punch made with one whole bottle of Breckenridge bourbon. A panel of experts judges score each punch based on Presentation, Creativity, and Flavor. The winning punch and barkeep are then sent to Snowmass to compete in the national “Last Call” Competition to become the Punch King or Queen for the year. We watch as bartenders take us through the history, recipes and their stories about punch and how they go about crafting a winning recipe. Punch Kings is sponsored by Breckenridge Distillery and complete with a supporting website with over 200 recipes: www.punchkings.com.
This episode introduces the concept of Punch Kings in the context of the Cochon555 event. Barkeeps from multiple cities talk about how their punches are “handcrafted” and why that’s important. We also meet Patrick, our subject that we follow through the competition to the finale and as he makes his punch.
In this episode, we continue to follow Patrick and the other bartenders through the judging process, while we introduce the “whole bottle” concept. Bartenders love talking about bourbon and how it fits into the Punch Kings competition. We spotlight Breckenridge Bourbon. Does Patrick win the Houston Punch Kings competition and moves on to the finale, Last Call?
The bartenders and Brady Lowe, CEO of Cochon555, discuss how punch represents hospitality, and how punch was the first communal libation that fostered community. Here we see Patrick wrap up our exploration of what makes punch special, we also find out who becomes our final winner.
Season 2 airs Fall 2017. Meet your 2017 Punch Kings, Last Call bartenders here.
