Las Vegas Weekly

April 28, 2009 · 1:24 PM

He could go all the way! The World Cocktail Competition kicks-off in Sin City

By Xania Woodman

Make it fresh. Keep it simple.

Photo: Armando Rosario / Southern Wine & Spirits

“Make it fresh … Keep it simple”

And with that, Southern Wine & Spirits’ Director of Mixology Armando Rosario accepted his trophy (a cocktail shaker atop a marble mortar) as winner of the United States Bartenders’ Guild’s 2009 Nevada championship.

Sunday was a day like any other. Only filled with tequila - Sauza’s Tres Generaciones tequila, to be precise.

From the plata (silver) to the reposado to the añejo, 15 bartenders, mixologists and beverage professionals mixed, stirred, shook and muddled their hearts out to create the one tequila cocktail good enough to represent the Nevada chapter at the national finals in San Francisco next month.

Secreted away behind a curtain at Nora’s Cuisine, we three “blind judges” evaluated the submissions for their appearance, aroma, taste, garnish and overall impression while still more technical judges kept a critical eye on things out front at the bar.

Much like the drinks, the competition was stiff!

A variety of cocktail trends were visible in the parade of drinks, which arrived with just a numbered sticker to identify them. The cocktail descriptions read rather like a grocery shopping list featuring tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, verbena, tarragon, sage, yuzu and a variety of peppers and pepper oils. Egg white is making a comeback as is sherry. One cocktail employed the somewhat rare Italian Sanbitter soda, and a few more substituted agave syrup for simple syrup or sugar.

But in the end, it was Rosario’s creation—we won’t spill the beans, just in case Rosario’s competition is reading this!—that won the day.

On May 12, Armando will represent Nevada in the USBG’s national championship at the Drake Hotel in San Francisco. The winner of that heat will go on to represent the United States at the International Bartenders Association (IBA)’s prestigious annual World Cocktail Competition in Germany. Nope, no pressure there…

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