CHOW’s Square Off Cocktail Competition Kicks Off in Fall

SAN FRANCISCO, CA —JULY, 2007— Cocktail aficionados around the country eagerly await the inaugural Square Off cocktail competition co-hosted by CHOW.com and Om Organics this fall. On September 25th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, two of the nation’s foremost cocktailians will vie to create the most delicious culinary cocktail from seasonal, organic ingredients. After the bustle of CUESA’s famed Tuesday Farmer’s Market, one avid amateur mixologist and one top professional bartender will square off in a contest of individual mixing talent and vision – and a tribute to the country’s flourishing interest in sustainability and organic culinary drinks culture.

CHOW has selected Square One® Organic Vodka as the featured spirit for its Square Off. It invites amateur and professional liquid chefs to submit their recipes on CHOW.com using Square One and other organic ingredients. A stellar panel of judges from the spirits world will single out the most mouthwatering concoctions. The two contenders will then come to San Francisco for a showdown before a fervent public audience and an expert committee of food and wine authorities.

The contestants’ first challenge will be to create an original recipe for a pitcher cocktail using Square One® Organic Vodka and at least 75% organic ingredients. They will send in this recipe to CHOW.com and the two chosen cocktails will be served at the event and judged by both the panel and the gathered audience in a people’s choice category. For the actual Square Off, two additional cocktails will be created onsite: 1) a cocktail using ingredients culled from the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building that day; and 2) a cocktail based on a mystery seasonal, organic ingredient – to be picked by the judges on that day from the Farmers Market. The judges’ verdicts on these three drinks will determine the winner.

The Square Off’s five-person judging panel will feature prominent food and drinks writers, renowned trade figures and one lucky consumer (to be chosen locally). In addition, as part of an ongoing effort to forge ties with likeminded companies within the eco community, the competition will bring together an exciting mix of innovators from the green space and beyond. Ticket proceeds from the final event will benefit the non-profit groups Om Organics and CUESA and their mission to promote organic and local foods. CHOW will also make a further announcement on judges and sponsors later in the summer. Stay tuned for more details.

For more information, please visit: www.squareonevodka.com/squareoff.html. To receive updates about the contest, please drop us a line at squareoff@chow.com.

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About Square One® Organic Vodka
Square One® Organic Vodka was borne of the philosophy that going green shouldn’t mean going without. Fittingly, the vodka starts at square one with the purest of ingredients: North Dakota-grown rye and pristine water from the Teton Mountains. Next, Square One applies a proprietary certified organic fermentation process that meets with the stringent requirements of Oregon Tilth [www.tilth.org] and the vodka is packaged with an eye toward both eco-and fashion-consciousness. The result is the first certified organic vodka to be made from 100% certified organic American rye — proving that a premium spirit can indeed embrace the ethos of “eco chic.” Yet Square One’s unique approach to business and the environment continues beyond the glass: company travel receives carbon offsets from the Carbon Fund and Terra Pass, and Square One is committed to seeking out ever more sustainable sources for packaging and shipping as and when they become available. Moreover, Square One Organic Spirits LLC is a progressive female-owned and operated company that encourages a life-work balance. Established in 2006, Square One Organic Spirits is a start up company and when profitable it will donate a portion of proceeds to non-political environmental causes. As a company, Square One is constantly forging ties with other innovative companies and individuals who have that certain cocktail of panache and earth friendliness.

About CHOW
CHOW (www.chow.com) is an interactive media property for food and drink enthusiasts online. CHOW combines original editorial from the team that created CHOW Magazine with the passionate community of Chowhounds to create a different kind of food website for those who live to eat. CHOW includes recipes, tips for entertaining, restaurant reviews, trend stories, personality features and the passionate and opinionated voice of its users.

About Om Organics
Om Organics (www.omorganics.org) works to increase the demand for sustainable agriculture in the San Francisco Bay Area through its educational website and comprehensive online directory to find local, sustainable foods and food-related events. Established in 2002, Om Organics (a non-profit project of the San Francisco Foundation-Community Initiative Funds) began with a Farm-to-Restaurant cooperative network, where it assisted with sales and delivery direct from farmers to restaurant chefs.

About CUESA
The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) was established in 1994 as a non-profit organization to educate urban consumers about sustainable agriculture and to create links between urban dwellers and the farmers who practice sustainable agriculture in the Bay Area. CUESA is dedicated to promoting a sustainable food system through the operation of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and its educational programs.

For press information, visit http://www.charlescomm.com/clients/square_one.html or call Kimberly Charles or Kayu Lam at 415-701-9463.