SF Jerk Off – Details

Everything has been finalized for the San Francisco Jerk Off, the first ever soda jerk competition. The competition is being held on September 23rd starting at 9:00PM at The Tempest in San Francisco and is the closing event at SF Cocktail week, so expect it to be great. The winner of the Jerk Off will get $500 plus the title of the Worlds Best Soda Jerk (submit your recipe to jerkoff (at) artofdrink.com). There will be soda fountain drinks served as well as the best handcrafted vodka “soda’s”! And if you haven’t already noticed, this event is filled with innuendo and the goal is to make the competition as entertaining as possible.

A special thanks goes to our sponsors (Angostura Rum and Bitters and Karlsson’s Gold Vodka) for providing the funding to get this event rolling. With this being the first soda jerk event, ever, many brands were reluctant to jump on-board. Some were reluctant because of the name “Jerk Off”, while others didn’t see a connection between liquor and soda fountain drinks.

I do find it mildly humorous that a number of brands flinched at the name of this event considering so many companies have made millions of dollars off cocktails and shots with names like the Blow Job, Red Headed Slut, Sex on the Beach and so on. Alcohol and sex are inextricably tied together, just look at any of the marketing material put out by the big brands. The point is, let’s loosen up a bit and have some fun, because that is what drinking is suppose to be.

As for how soda fountain drinks fit in with alcohol, let me explain. Cocktails are best enjoyed cold and strong. Because of these conditions it accelerates the speed at which people consume a cocktail. To linger over a Manhattan or Martini longer than 15 minutes ruins the drink, but stretching a glass of beer or wine for an hour is perfectly fine. Long drinks (Collins, highballs, etc.) have generally been the slow sipping cocktails of choice, though the ice tends to dilute the drink making for a tepid finish. Again, wine and beer don’t suffer from dilution issues. With cocktails you start strong and finish weak, which isn’t necessarily the best way to enjoy one.

This is where soda fountain inspired drinks come into play. I’ve been playing with the term “buzz management” and will most likely be doing a presentation on it at some point (Tales 2013?) but it relates to the idea of managing the perfect buzz. Too many drinks and you are wasted, too few and the party seems boring. Cocktails are strong drinks by design, so pounding them back will push you over the edge, plus we all need to worry about drinking and driving. Then there is the business aspect where bars would just like to keep serving drinks instead of people taking up seats while nursing a drink. Soda inspired drinks give a low alcohol option that can be enjoyed in-between the more potent cocktails. That means you don’t have to nurse one drink because you now have a way to manage the buzz by enjoying a low alcohol option. And notice that I say “low” not “non” as I believe that things like Fernet can be used in small quantities in these soda style drinks to impart great flavour.

From a brand perspective, supporting events like the “Jerk Off” is an active way of supporting responsible drinking. Many of the current methods of promoting responsible consumption just pay lip service to the idea, but don’t actually offer anything substantial. Just think about the websites that require you to enter your birthday to enter. Does that really do anything?

Anyway, a kudos to our sponsors for supporting us. Now, here are the other details about the event.

Facebook event details

The esteemed judging panel, or as we like to call it “The Circle of Jerks” is composed of:

Virginia Miller- San Francisco Bay Guardian
Rick Dobbs- CocktailGoGo.com
Dave Smith- Distiller, St. George Spirits
Russell Davis- Nightclub and Bar’s 2012 Bartender of the Year
Darcy O’Neil- Author/Bartender, “Fix the Pumps” and ArtofDrink.com

Drinks Specials
“Reach Arounds” – $5.00 beer and shot special
(Corralejo Tequila and a PBR (or Highlife))
Angostura Phosphate’s and the worlds best Vodka “Soda”

Small Bites inspired by “The Dispenser’s Formulary” created by Chef Stephen Crawford.

Sponsored by:
Angostura Caribbean Rum
Angostura Bitters
Karlsson’s Gold Vodka
ORO Pisco
Fernet Branca
Corralejo Tequila
St George Terroir Gin
St George Absinthe
Breaking and Entering Bourbon

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