The United States Bartenders Guild Connecticut (USBG CT) chapter, along with Allan S. Goodman and Eder Bros., Inc., held the fifth event out of a series of ten in the “Connecticut Civil War Bartending Competition” at Kawa Ni on June 13. Competing USBG CT chapter members each mixed a cocktail featuring Xicaru Mezcal. Bartender Jaime Johel won the night’s top slot. Millwrights Restaurant hosted the sixth USBG Civil Bar bartending competition on June 27, featuring Boodles British Gin. Kristen Mixter, Bartender at Hartford’s Little River Restoratives took first place at the competition.
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- Jaime Johel took first place (far right) next to Corey Bonderenko, second place and Conrad Meurice (center), third place. Craig Ventrice (front), Bar Manager, Kawa Ni, surrounded by competitors.
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- Local bartenders had to create a cocktail using Xicaru Mezcal on June 13. The artisanal mezcal is made from 100-percent Espadin. The agave is crushed and roasted in the traditional method using mesquite and ocote wood. Natural fermentation takes place in pine vats before double distillation in copper pots.
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- A selection of cocktails during the June 13 competition at Kawa Ni.
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- Aaron Stepka, Millwrights, surrounded by the winners: Jaime Oakes in second place, Kristen Mixter in first and Erick Karadima in third place, next to Jeff Conelius, Craft Spirit Specialist, Allan S. Goodman.
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- Kristen Mixter’s first place cocktail “Mind Your Peas & Q’s” featuring Boodles British Gin. The gin is distilled from British wheat and then infused with a number of traditional herbs and spices including nutmeg, sage and rosemary
