Bricks & Barrels bartender Kristian Fletcher has won the title for Best Manhattan in West Virginia. Sponsored by Woodford Reserve, the annual event is held at Vino’s Bar and Grill on the Kanawha Boulevard in downtown Charleston. This year’s contest pitted only the best, most experienced bartenders from Charleston and the southern West Virginia area. Bartenders from Bar 101, Boulevard Tavern, South Hills Market, The Block and Spats Restaurant and Lounge in the Blennerhassett Hotel in Parkersburg, amongst others, competed for the grand prize trip to tour the grounds of the Woodford Reserve distillery. The contest was judged by representatives from Woodford Reserve distillery and the Appalachian Whiskey Society.
Kristian’s winning drink she calls her Breakfast Manhattan made with Woodford Reserve Bourbon – not too smoky, not too sweet. She adds her own homemade vermouth that she makes with local WV maple syrup. She uses traditional Angostura bitters, used in the very first Manhattan made in the 1840s. Her tasty Manhattan is garnished with a bourbon-soaked cherry, a torched orange peel, and finished with a mist of orange essence. If you thought her winning Chocolate-Cherry Manhattan was good – which won her the 2016 title of Charleston’s best Manhattan – the 2017 Breakfast Manhattan is even better!
Kristian has been a bartender and server with Bricks & Barrels since its opening nearly two years ago. Previously, she was the bar manager at the Montmartre in the historic Hotel Morgan. She recently graduated with a certificate in Medical Coding from Ross Medical Education Center.