Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/3815
22 / the tasting panel / october 2009 An Effen Good Time I n Los Angeles, nobody does Martinis better than Nic's Bev- erly Hills, so when the Effen vodka team came to town, a visit to this Beverly Hills hotspot was a must-do. THE TASTING PANEL show snuggled up with this fun bunch in Nic's famed VODBOX, a walk-in freezer kept at 28°, where everyone donned faux-fur coats and hats to ward off the chill while a "vodkateur" walked us through a tasting. The team then enjoyed one of Nic's signature cocktails, Where's My Effen Martini. As Lisa Saeger, Effen Brand Manager, quipped: "It's an Effen good time." —R.B. Left to right: Jim Piser, Beam Global Sales Manager; Mike O'Leary, Beam Global State Manager, IL; Jenny Pike, Account Planning Director; Lisa Saeger, Effen Brand Manager Beam Global; Kim Washington, Effen Brand Director Beam Global; Daniel Deephouse, Effen Brand Manager, Beam Global West Division; Chris Archibald, Beam Global Luxury Sales; Tom Stark, VP Regional Marketing, Con- trol States; Brandon Bartlett, Beam Global Sales Manager; Wayne Pozzi, Beam Global Luxury Sales Central Region; Bob Lanigan, Beam Global Luxury Sales Manager, Central Region; Luis Sanchez, Director of Food and Beverage, Nic's Beverly Hills; Center on table: Larry Nicola, owner of Nic's Beverly Hills. The Message Kahlúa Cream Hits the Internet I n a world where blogging, Tweeting or Facebooking is increasingly de rigueur, spirits companies are warming up to the trend. Leading the pack is Kahlúa, which recently hosted some of Los Angeles's top cocktail bloggers at überhip Malo restau- rant in Silver Lake as part of its launch of the brand's newest expression, Kahlúa Coffee Cream. Participating bloggers were contributors to the Mixoloseum Bar, an online forum that hosts weekly chats about anything and everything in the cocktail and spirits world. Cocktailians whipped up drinks like Mother's Milk, made with mez- cal, Kahlúa Coffee Cream and fresh agave, before taking to the net to compare tasting notes. —R.B. Nova Marketing's Samantha Harrigan (standing), who spends her days online talking with spirits advocates worldwide, gets face-to-face with bloggers Niki Lovejoy and Daniel Miller (sloshed.hyperkinetic.org) over some Kahlúa Coffee Cream. Cîroc Breaks it Down C îroc Master Distiller Jean Sebastien visited Hollywood's swanky hotspot, Bar Deluxe, where he met with the brand's California distribution and sales team, and walked the crowd through a multi-fac- eted tasting of the celebrity-favorite vodka. Sebastien focused on the various stages of Cîroc's distillation, answering questions along the way, before tasting the audience on Cîroc's two new expressions, which will ar- rive in a few months. —R.B. PHOTO: ELAINE CHEN-FERNANDEZ PHOTO: CATHY TWIGG-BLUMEL Jean Sebastien, Master Distiller for Cîroc. PHOTO: ELAINE CHEN-FERNANDEZ