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Patrón marks Margarita Day with cocktail contest
Patrón Tequila has launched its 2017 quest to find its Margarita of the Year, coinciding with International Margarita Day held on 22 February.
All seven Patrón Margarita of the Year 2017 finalists
Following the competition’s 2016 launch, this year seven bartenders from around the world met at the Hacienda Patrón, Jalisco, Mexico, to create their own interpretation of a Margarita serve, using local ingredients and cultural references.
The resulting serves – all in the running to be voted Margarita of the Year are:
- English Garden Margarita, with green peas and earl grey, created by Sophie Bratt from London
- Mumbai Margarita, with mango and Indian spices, by New York City’s Hemant Pathak
- Tropicante Margarita, combining mango and fresh avocado, created by Alexander Kady from Denver
- Coralina Margarita, with red wine and hibiscus, by Mexico City’s Riesler Morales
- Tiki Rita, with grapefruit and tiki spices, by Mindy Kucan from Portland, Oregon
- Pacific Rim Margarita, with coconut and jalapeño, by Max Greco from Sydney, Australia
- High Plains Drifter Margarita, created with charred pineapple and sage, by Atlanta’s Shaun Gordon
The cocktails, all of which use Patrón as a base spirit, will be unveiled at events in New York, Sydney, London and Mexico City.
For those unable to attend the events, Patrón has enlisted delivery service Cocktail Courier to create an at-home Margarita of the Year kit with ingredients and garnishes.
In addition the cocktails will be available to taste at key bars and restaurants, detailed at MargaritaOfTheYear.com.
Consumers have until 9 April to vote for their favourite at MargaritaOfTheYear.com. The three top voted serves will go through to a final on 17 April, ahead of Cinco de Mayo, when the Margarita of the Year will be announced.
“The Margarita has been the most popular cocktail in the US for years, and for good reason given the tremendous creativity we’ve seen, particularly in the last several years as culinary and mixology trends have intersected,” said says Lee Applbaum, Patrón’s global chief marketing officer.
“What’s really quite exciting to see is how much the margarita’s reputation has grown globally as local flavours and styles have been integrated into this iconic cocktail.
“Today, International Margarita Day, is a perfect time to begin our 2017 search for the Margarita of the Year, a global celebration of the margarita, perfected by Patrón.”
The winner of the inaugural 2016 Margarita of the Year contest, Jordan Corney from Texas, added: “It’s truly amazing to see the countless styles of margaritas and the unique and inventive recipes that are being developed by bartenders across the world.
“I’m a bit sad to give up my trophy, but at the same time I’m very excited to taste each of this year’s Margarita of the Year contenders!”