Patrón Tequila has announced the five winners of the Regional Heats of the Australian and New Zealand Patrón Perfectionists Cocktail Competition.
South Australia Regional Winners:
- Rohan Massie – Rude Boy in Lauderdale, Tasmania – ‘Summertime Queen’
- Oisin Conneely – Black Pearl in Melbourne, Victoria – ‘The In-Laws’
New South Wales Regional Winners:
- Anneliese Grazioli – Hot Tamale in Darwin, Northern Territory – ‘Over & Above’
- Jamie Fleming – Alba Bar & Deli in Brisbane, Queensland – ‘My Hands’
New Zealand Winner:
- Jordan Davies – Los Banditos in Wellington, New Zealand – ‘Conquistador’
The South Australian regional heats were held at Electra House in Adelaide on Sunday, 8 September and the esteemed judging panel included:
- Andres Valderrama, Marketing Manager of Patrón Tequila Australia
- Marcus Motteram from Hains & Co
- Libby Curran from Concrete Playground
Rohan Massie from Rude Boy in Tasmania impressed judges with his ‘Summertime Queen’ cocktail. “It’s been such an amazing experience from the entry process up until now,” says Massie. “It’s the most beautiful thing to be able to display all this local produce from Hobart too!”
Oisin Conneely won over judges with his cocktail, ‘The In Laws’, that was inspired by his first Christmas on the beach in Queensland. “My cocktail is a perfect representation of that day, gathering whatever was around me at that time from strawberries, watermelon and cucumber and it worked almost too well with the flavour profile of Patrón Tequila, creating the perfect light aperitif,” he says.
Held at Bar Patrón in Sydney on Tuesday, 10 September, the NSW Regional Heat was judged by the following judges:
- Andres Valderrama
- Chris Jepson from Palmer & Co
- Marissa Ciampi from Concrete Playground
With competing bartenders hailing from the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, Anneliese Grazioli from Hot Tamale in Darwin and Jamie Fleming from Alba Bar & Deli in Brisbane were announced last night as the Regional Winners for NSW.
“After being in the agave industry for seven years, I am totally inspired by what the industry is today from the bars, the people and brands,” says Gazioli. “This is one competition that focuses on just tequila so I am thrilled to be going to finals.”
Joining the Australian Regional Winners is Jordan Davies from Los Banditos in Wellington who took out the competition in New Zealand with his equally remarkable Patrón cocktail, ‘Conquistador’.
All five bartenders will travel to Melbourne on Tuesday, 15 October to compete at the Australian and New Zealand National final of the Patrón Perfectionists Cocktail Competition with expert judging panel including special guest and creator of the Tommy’s Margarita, Julio Bermejo, Director of International Marketing at Patrón Tequila, Matthew Sykes and Editor in Chief of Executive Style, Michael Harry.
