The USBG “Make It Exotico” Cocktail Competition Names Indianapolis Semifinal Event Winner
The USBG “Make It Exotico” Cocktail Competition (sponsored by Exotico Tequlia) held on Tuesday, March 20th at Thunderbird in Fountain Square has named an Indianapolis semifinal winner. There were a total of ten participants in this leg of the competition coming from Chicago, New York and Indianapolis. A four-person judging panel including publisher, Jennifer Rubenstein of Edible Indy, named Eli Sanchez, a mixologist at Rook in Indianapolis, the winner with his cocktail “Hecho Con Cariño.”
Along with the trophy for winning this leg of the competition, Sanchez receives an all-expense paid trip to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans (July 17 - 22) to compete against six other finalists for the Grand Prize: an all-expense paid trip to Exotico Tequila’s distillery in Jalisco, Mexico.
The USBG “Make It Exotico” cocktail competition invited mixologists from across the country to submit their best cocktail recipe using Exotico Blanco or Exotico Reposado 100% agave tequila as the base spirit. A panel of expert USBG (United States Bartenders’ Guild) judges narrowed down the entries to 10 semifinalists for each of the seven competition cities: Miami; Raleigh, N.C.; San Diego; Austin, Texas; Indianapolis; Denver; and Detroit.
Semifinal participants had a maximum of seven minutes to make their cocktails live for four judges, who judged on appearance, aroma, creativity, taste and overall impression. Judges included USBG professionals, tequila and cocktail experts, and local media personalities.
At the Indianapolis semifinal event, which was held at Thunderbird, the audience crowned mixologist Olivia Patterson from Libertine and Sangrita Saloon, cocktail “Agave Suave” as the crowd-favorite winner.
Want to make Sanchez's award winning recipe at home? Get the recipe here.
