San Antonio Tag-Team Beats Houston Duo in South Texas Cocktail Competition
Photos by Luis Vazquez, SA Sentinel - Photographer.
August 5, 2019 - San Antonio
Article By: Ashley Bailey - Writer, SA Sentinel
It was a notable win for San Antonio’s service industry last Monday as bartenders battled in a South-Texas cocktail competition sponsored by Espolon Tequila. The multi-city competition tours through 12 cities to find the best bartenders and mixologists to see which city can make the most creative cocktail featuring Espolon Tequila. Winners get an all expense paid trip to Mexico to explore the Espolon Tequila distillery and compete for the national championship in Portland, Oregon.
Host Anne Louise Marquis says having a tasty drink isn’t the only factor in this competition. “It’s showmanship, it’s creativity, innovation, it’s great character and story telling,” said Marquis, regarding how contestants are expected to be extra creative by dressing up in costume and acting out a unique performance to describe their cocktails.
The Beatniks celebrate their victory at the cocktail competition.
A full house of service industry and patrons witnessed San Antonio and Houston go neck-and- neck for the title as a panel of judges evaluated the contestants cocktail concoctions. One of the judges on the panel, Jonny Yumol who has competed in the past in Cocktail Fights says presentation and putting on a show is key. “You have to be as ridiculous as possible, like you had to be dancing, your entrance had to be a big part of it, your character had to be a big part of it,” said Yumol. “All of these are factors in the competition.”
San Antonio tag team Haleigh Guillory and Rachel Rainwater (The Beatniks) won the Cocktail Fights for South Texas against the Houston team with their carrot juice apperitivo. “It was just the better cocktail. Honestly thats all it is. The other was extremely bitter and unbalanced,” stated Yumol. “If it would have had that effervescence, then it would have been the greatest cocktail.”
The San Antonio duo will be moving on to compete in Portland, Oregon for the final round against some of the best bartenders in the country.