Alex Velez is a walking chemist of cocktail culture – of flavors and foam, pairings and palates, spirits and scents.
The Puerto Rican-born Santa Fean won the U.S. Bartender’s Guild First Annual “Emotion in a Glass” Competition sponsored by Russian Standard Vodka. The win was announced Monday.
Velez was one of 25 finalists in the cocktail challenge inviting mixologists to convey a personalized connection between mood and taste. Dubbed “Passion,” his concoction mixes Grand Marnier, vodka, fig puree, warm jasmine tea, Pedro Ximenez Grand Reserve Spanish sweet wine, lemon juice and rhubarb bitters, garnished with figs.
“I relied on the finer things in life,” Velez said.
His was one of hundreds of entries to the contest’s inaugural year, Russian Standard Vodka spokesman Sumindi Peiris said in an email.
Judges considered innovation, taste, appearance and texture, as well as the ability of the cocktail to connect to the defined emotion.
To concoct his emotion-in-a-glass, Velez paired his drink with food and smoke, the latest trend in haute cuisine.
The dish features 20-year-old Manchego Spanish goat cheese, an assortment of Brazilian nuts, fresh figs, raspberries and blueberries, Jamon Iberico (Spanish ham), plus a pistachio pie infused with agave nectar, topped by a 1985 Garcia Vega Grand Reserve cigar.
“We look into ourselves and say, ‘How do I translate everything I live for and enjoy into something everyone can enjoy?’ ” Velez said.
Known for translating all of the ingredients of Caesar salad into a cocktail, Velez’s is a rags-to-riches story of classic American gumption. He came to the continental U.S. 17 years ago knowing no one and speaking no English, armed only with a dirty backpack and $300. He intended to study forensic psychology.
His journey took him from Chicago to Las Vegas, Nev., where his bartending skills blossomed into mixology. He won an award for best bartender in the city in 2009. He created a Hawaiian pizza cocktail; the salad cocktail landed him in GQ magazine.
He came to Santa Fe last August when a friend hired him to develop cocktails for the Hotel Plaza Real. He’s worked at La Casa Sena for just three months.
“I won the first cocktail contest in Santa Fe with the Silver Coyote,” he said. The drink combined 100 percent malted barley with whiskey. Velez prevailed over 22 submissions.
For the current contest, he started building a flavor by distilling a trinity of smoke, food and cocktails.
“That smokiness when it coats the mouth, it pushed the flavors more,” he explained. “It has to be a cigar – pure tobacco leaf.
“I had to sit down and go, ‘What emotion describes me best?’ It’s like introspection. Once I know myself, I will know that guest sitting across from me that’s maybe having a bad day. It’s to see that person across from me and have them feel like home.”
Mixing exotic concoctions fueled his new life in the United States.
“It was my gateway to be who I am today,” he said. “I come from a very tough neighborhood in Puerto Rico. It was either go to school and study or go out into the streets. This lead me (to) a way to be creative.”
He once “deconstructed” a dirty martini (usually blended with olive juice) into five different textures. The ingredients included olive oil and liquid nitroglycerin. The experiment landed him in GQ once again.
Despite all his success with a blender and shaker, he’s still studying online at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, working on a double major of psychology and philosophy to develop better training for managers. He wants to develop a TV show based on cocktails, spirits and food.
“It’s knowing how to drink and what to drink,” he said. “People think alcohol is for getting drunk. It’s not. Alcohol is to be enjoyed. There’s more to just sitting down to a shot and beer.”
He wants to open his own place, selling tributes to Santa Fe in a glass dating back to the Anasazi.
“This was the first place where people drank,” he maintained. “We are the oldest capital city in the U.S. I would like to tell that story through cocktails.
“If it’s done properly, with heart and (good) intentions, pouring that liquor and hearing the ice crack – that’s the sound of satisfaction.”
Velez learned about this latest award last week. The winner gets a color spread in Food & Wine magazine and an educational trip to St. Petersburg, Russia.
“I was shocked; I was honored,” he said. “There’s a lot of friends of mine all over the nation that submitted recipes. I’m very fortunate because people have noticed what I’ve done.”
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