Road Trip To Taste Award-Winning Cocktails Near St. Croix Falls

Meat raffles in Central Minnesota are akin to Supper Clubs across Wisconsin, they just go hand in hand. One of the things about a Wisconsin supper club that many try, but don't always like, is an Old Fashioned. One Wisconsin Supper Club, just across the border from Minnesota, was just crowned for having one of the best Old Fashioneds around!

What is an 'Old Fashioned'?

Depending on whether you are a purist or not when it comes to your Old Fashioned, you need three ingredients to make one.

Simple Syrup
Whiskey/Bourbon
Bitters

Some choose to muddle fruit in their beverage, like a cherry or orange slice, but that's all about your personal preference. In reality, the cocktail that is an Old Fashioned consists of those three above ingredients.

How does one determine the best?

Recently, a distillery, also located just across the border into Wisconsin, had a competition called the 'Old Fashioned Face-Off' that ran on Saturday from noon to 3pm.

45th Parallel Distillery, located in New Richmond, ran the contest, and it gave us some great future road trip destinations, but the one I was most interested in was the winner closest to Minnesota.

Competing this weekend were 5 bars/restaurants in 3 different categories. The categories were:

1. Classic Old Fashioned with Best Presentation
2. Innovative Old Fashioned
3. Fan Favorite Old Fashioned (People's Choice Vote)

Worth the road trip, experience, and the 'Old Fashioned'

Thank you 45th Parallel for a great comp! We took home 1st in judging for the Innovation Old Fashioned and 1st in the People’s Choice! We are so proud and so grateful! There wasn’t a bad old fashioned in the house, it was an honor to compete with all of you! A special thank you to Angela Heyers for the incredibly hard work on the dandelion nectar, Nate Boyer for the maple syrup, Amy for holding the fort down, Adam for the mad muddling skills, Anne & Ross for the excellent photos, everyone who put on the event and OUR BELOVED DH FAMILY WHO CAME OUT TO SHOW US ALL THE LOVE! I can’t believe how blessed I am most days!

The most innovative Old Fashioned went to a Supper Club in St. Croix Falls, just 90 minutes from St. Cloud if you take Highway 95 across. The winner came from The Dalles House Restaurant and Lounge.

SALTiE in New Richmond took home the honors for classic Old Fashioned.