The Sporting Life's Chartreuse cocktail recipe competition (1 of 4)

The I-80 near Berkeley (Photo by Minesweeper) - pretend it's the 10

Part One: Arrival

I’m late, pushing 100 mph down the atomic freeway, the I-10, playing fast and furious on the Los Angeles asphalt aorta that links the Pacific to the downtown dust corridors. A mere twelve hours have passed since the email invite landed in my box, asking me to come enjoy a bartender throwdown, a cocktail chef competition, an improvisational mixologist mêlée starring the Da Vinci Code of liquors, Chartreuse.

Marcos Antonio Tello, the catalyst for The Sporting Life, an informal, semi-exclusive club of Southern California bartenders and cocktail die-hards, set up an NCAA playoff-style tourney with 16 hooch-doyens going head-to head in four rounds of improv mixing.

The final four walk away with a flask of Herbal Elixir de la Grande-Chartreuse, purportedly illegal to import to the U.S. and derived from the original European recipe, which packs a divine 142 proof of “alcohol, sugar, plants and flowers.” This particular potion peregrinates in a special case to prevent daylight from punishing the liqueur, but it resembles a secret-agent’s (or chronic’s) airport customs-hacking shampoo bottle. The winner overall takes home one bottle each of the limited edition, aged extra-long V.E.P. Green and Yellow Chartreuse, plus a big tip.

Jane’s Addiction worsens my tinnitus, one hand swerving me around a cherry red VW van lost and loping in the number one lane, my other mitt chugging tap water off a sport bottle, trying to wash the taste of Crest toothpaste out of my mouth before I imbibe an elixir fabricated by an order of 11th century French monks from an ancient secret herbal formula presented to them by King Henry IV’s Marshall of Artillery in 1605.

It’s another perfect Randy Newman LA day; I’m wearing light linen pants and my new retro shirt from Robots in Orbit, I haven’t shaved in days and the last thing I ate was half a muffuletta from the Central Grocery Company that a buddy brought back to me from New Orleans. That was at 3am, and traffic just dead stopped around West Adams to watch some guys in neon vests and orange hardhats clean up the westbound shoulder. It's high noon. The showdown begins.

Click here for Part Two of Chartreuse Competition: Chorus

Click here for Part Three of Chartreuse Competition: Clash

Click here for Part Four of the Chartreuse Competition: Resolution

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