Meg Jones

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

There were Maraschino cherries.

Lots of sliced oranges.

Dashes of bitters.

And of course, brandy. Lots of brandy — a spirit near and dear to Wisconsinites' hearts. And livers.

Arrayed on a long table at State Fair's Horticulture, Craft & Culinary Pavilion on Sunday afternoon, 38 old-fashioned cocktails lined up like Miss America contestants, vying for the judges' eyes, and taste buds, with all manner of garnish, colored straws, blinking plastic ice cubes and fancy swizzle sticks.

All for the intoxicating honor of winning the best brandy old-fashioned crown at the Wisconsin State Fair. Some contestants were daring in their audacious use of unusual ingredients — anise, bacon, ginger, vanilla beans (thankfully, not all in the same cocktail) — while some old-fashioned recipes were, well, old-fashioned. Brandy, soda water, sugar, cherry, orange.

The State Fair offers plenty of culinary competitions each year, ranging from the best German potato pancakes, marble rye bread and jam thumbprint cookies to Blue Ribbon-worthy pomegranate jelly, pickled radishes and carrot cake, but this is the first year old-fashioneds were added to the list following the popularity of last year's Bloody Mary throw-down.

"We wanted a contest that would bring new exhibitors to the fair, and (old-fashioneds) are so Wisconsin," said Jill Albanese, competitive exhibits director at the fair.

Wisconsin doesn't have an official state cocktail, but if it did, it would surely be the brandy old-fashioned. No one is sure why, but Cheeseheads love brandy, and though we may or may not be the No. 1 per capita consumers of the liquour, the old-fashioned is the hands-down drink of choice at supper clubs and taverns throughout the state.

Of the 38 entries, 34 were first-time contestants at the fair. Among them was Julie Freimuth of Franklin.

"You know, I love brandy old-fashioneds. I love going to supper clubs. I thought it'd be fun," said Freimuth, as she collected her box of ingredients before mixing her entry.

Nervous? "Very. I always wanted to do a competition at State Fair," said Freimuth, who used ginger and ginger beer instead of soda in her recipe, which finished in fourth place.

Paul Mayer, a Port Washington native who now lives in Chicago, came up with an old-fashioned recipe of the standard ingredients plus cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, orange juice and sour mix instead of soda.

"I just like brandy old-fashioneds. I got a whole bunch of people in Chicago drinking them, they call them Wisconsin old-fashioneds," said Mayer, who said his inspiration for his first State Fair competition was Aunt Bee, the "Andy Griffith Show" character.

Entries were scored 40% for taste, 35% appearance and 25% creativity and originality. Contestants registered online by the June deadline and were required to drop off their ingredients Sunday morning before returning a half-hour before the contest.

At long tables contestants carefully poured out liquids, sliced fruit, retrieved olives from bottles, twisted orange slices into yoga positions straddling Mason jar rims, crushed fruit and sugar with wooden pestles, and stabbed Maraschino cherries. Bottles of brandy, bitters, Karo syrup, honey, maple syrup, juices and secret blends were splashed or slowly measured as if chemicals in beakers.

Tim Vertz of River Hills wore a blue "Making Old Fashioneds Great Again" T-shirt and waited until almost the last minute to make his contest entry. He laid out a cherry wood cutting board and used a small kitchen torch before holding his glass over the scorched wood to give his drink a smoky flavor.

Vertz's recipe was entirely of Wisconsin-made ingredients, including clover honey, maple sugar and brandy from Door County Distillery.

"I think the big secret is Jolly Good soda," said Vertz.

A large crowd turned out for the judging, filling all the benches in the pavilion and standing several deep, drinking in the sight of 38 old-fashioned cocktails arrayed on the long table, hues ranging from blood orange and honey yellow to root beer brown and sunrise pink. All manner of garnishes decorated entries, including cinnamon sticks, bacon, mint, black and green olives, and a blinking plastic ice cube as well as the de rigueur old-fashioned accessories, cherries and oranges.

As four judges in purple Wisconsin State Fair aprons began sipping and writing notes on clipboards, volunteer Chris Leutner dashed the hopes of the thirsty crowd. "In case some of you are wondering," Leutner said, "you're not getting samples after the judging is done."

Somebody yelled "Rush the stage!"

Anxious old-fashioned mixologists groaned as their entries were taken off the table one by one and judges whittled the group to four finalists.

"It's been very difficult. They've all been wonderful," said judge Jared Sutliff, adding that the contest entries were "absolutely spectacular old-fashioneds."

Patti Flaker was the winner, decorating her entry with a blinking plastic ice cube and serving it in a square glass next to a small display of swizzle sticks in a tiny salt shaker. She had never been to the Wisconsin State Fair and drove 3 1/2 hours from her Wausau home to compete, earning a $150 gift certificate at The Packing House, a Milwaukee supper club.

Flaker's winning recipe included Korbel brandy, simple syrup, bitters and a secret syrup of her own blend she said includes sugar and cinnamon.