Entries are now being accepted for the inaugural United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) “Make It Exotico” Cocktail Competition.
Mixologists from across the U.S. are invited to submit their best cocktail recipe using Exotico Blanco or Reposado Tequila as the base spirit for a chance to win a trip to Tales of the Cocktail 2017 in New Orleans and the grand prize: an all-expense paid trip to Jalisco, Mexico, to visit Exotico Tequila’s distillery, Destiladora González y González, and its agave fields.
Cocktail entries will be accepted until April 7, 2017.
A panel of USBG judges will narrow down the entries to 10 semifinalists for each of the six competition cities: Nashville, Tenn.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Denver, Colo.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash.; and Charleston, S.C.
At the six semifinal events, participants will each have seven minutes to make their cocktails live for four judges, and drinks will be judged on appearance, aroma, creativity, taste and overall impression. Judges – who will include USBG professionals, tequila experts and local media personalities – will determine one winner at each semifinal event.
The semifinal winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans to compete in the final round of the competition.
A crowd-favorite cocktail, as voted on by the audience, will also be determined at each semifinal event. Crowd-favorite winners will receive a gift card.
The six winners from each of the semifinal events will advance to the final competition at Tales of the Cocktail. There, the finalists will once again create their cocktails live for the judging panel, which will taste the cocktails and determine the grand prize winner based on the same judging criteria as the semifinal competitions.
Online applications are now being accepted for semifinal event consideration. Entrants can submit their Exotico Tequila cocktail recipes to this site until April 7, 2017. Semifinalists will be contacted between April 10-21. The competition is open to all U.S. bartenders. Full competition rules and regulations can be found at same website as linked above.
Semifinal competition dates:
· Nashville, TN: April 18
· Philadelphia, PA: May 9
· Denver, CO: May 16
· Portland, OR: June 6
· Seattle, WA: June 13
· Charleston, SC: June 27
