Enter the city’s most accomplished female bartenders who will be furiously shaking up cocktails during Speed Rack, the nationally renowned all-female speed bartending charity competition that raises money for breast cancer awareness and prevention. Speed Rack is the first nationwide competition designed to highlight up and coming women in the spirits industry, and build a stronger sense of community while giving back to those impacted by breast cancer. In that effort Speed Rack taps top female bartenders in key cocktail markets and puts them head to head in timed challenges that’s all about the speedy shaking of cocktails, all for the purpose of raising funds for breast cancer charities like SHARE and other charities supporting breast cancer research.
The 10-city 2012-2013 tour, which opened in Boston on October 3rd during the Boston Cocktail Summit, follows the success of last year’s Speed Rack competition, which raised over $69,000. Tampa’s topography – its 35 miles of beautiful sandy beaches and coves – contributed to Tampa cementing its reputation for being one of country’s ‘wettest’ cities during Prohibition, and with Repeal Day celebrations just ahead of us, it’s a perfect time for Speed Rack to descend on this town.
The town will see during the competition that participating local bartenders, using sponsors’ products*, will be required to make a round of cocktails, culled from a list of 50 accepted industry standard recipes, in front of a panel of judges. Judges will rate each drink based on
prep time and accuracy. The judging panel includes spirit industry luminaries such as Dale DeGroff, Julie Reiner, Audrey Saunders, Simon Ford, and locally based hospitality leaders in each city.
Leading the charge are Speed Rack co-founders, Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix. Mix, in awe of the impact they’ve had thus far, says, “When this all started, I had NO IDEA it would turn into what it has become.” Marrero is equally excited about the competition’s growth. She remarks, “I am excited for year two. The level of competition is expected to be higher. I think we will see ladies really pushing the limits. Now that we are a year in people know what to expect. Returning ladies have had time to think about strategy. Girls are running training sessions in their home towns! A lot of the ladies who felt like they have something to prove are ready to come back this year and prove to themselves that they have what it takes. It’s
exciting.”
After the excitement of the recent competition in Boston, which raised $4,537.00 and put Speed Rack that much closer to its 2012/2013 goal, it’ll be great to see how Tampa shows (see competitors’ list below). In 2013 the tour will hit St Louis, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and Chicago. At each event, attendees enjoy small bites from local restaurants as well as punches and cocktails from each one of our major sponsors.
Miss Speed Rack Tampa (as well as her fellow winners from each city) will be receiving several prizes: a $100 gift certificate from Cocktail Kingdom (www.cocktailkingdom.com), and, to ensure she can get to New York for the finals and her shot at the crown, Speed Rack’s returning sponsor, St Germain, is guaranteeing each of this year’s local winners a $500 honorarium to compete in the May 2013 finals in NYC.
The grand prize winner will be crowned Miss Speed Rack USA and receive an all inclusive trip for two to France, where they will enjoy the beauty of the Anjou region and take a tour of the Cointreau distillery while attending the Cointreau Bartender Academie, an educational and intricate program designed to enlighten the trade on the secrets and subtleties of Cointreau.
In addition, the founding Partners of BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource) are offering Miss Speed Rack 2013 a scholarship to their 5 day program.
Created by Ivy Mix and Lynnette Marrero of LUPEC NYC, the 10 city tour will be produced by Speed Rack Inc with event coordination by Claire Bertin-Lang of CBLLC. Videos will be produced by LeJit Productions. Additional information can be found on the Speed Rack website, on Facebook www.facebook/speedrackinfo and on twitter @speed_rack. To compete please contact ivy@speed-rack.com or lynnette@speed-rack.com.
Tickets for the Tampa event can be purchased online for $20 at Eventbrite, or for $25 at the door. For a taste of last year’s antics, please check out last season’s videos.
Venue:
The Ritz Ybor
1503 East 7th Avenue | Tampa, FL 33605
http://ritzybor.com/
Time: 6 -10 PM
Judges:
- Laura Cullen
- Andy Seymour
- Charlotte Voisey
Competitors:
- Cricket Nelson Cooper – Avenue Miami, FL
- Dawn Heidemann – Ciro’s Speakeast and Supperclub Tampa, FL
- Carla Marie Rivera – The Kennedy Tampa, FL
- Haleigh Barchard – Czar/The Bricks Tampa, FL
- Ashley Danella Hakkasan – Miami, FL
- Lisa Victoria Hare – The Castle Tampa, FL
- Elizabeth “Paige” Nast – Tap 42, Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Hillary Choo – Miami Beach Bar, Centro Miami, FL
- Marjorie Kammerlohr – Eat Here Sarasota
- Sabrina Romann – The bricks Ybor
Host
- Chris Patino
DJ
- DJ Coro
Participating Sponsors:
Top Shelf Sponsors
- Imbibe Magazine
- Pernod Ricard USA
Platinum Sponsors
- Absolut Vodka
- Beefeater Gin
- Brugal Rum
- Cointreau
- Altos Tequila
- Plymouth
- Four Roses Bourbon
Gold Sponsors
- Campari
- Bacardi USA: Benedictine, Drambuie, Martini
- Chartreuse
- Cutty Sark
- Heering: Cherry and Coffee
- Hine
- Luxardo
- Pig’s Nos Scotch
- St Germain
- William Grant and Sons: Lillet and Tullamore Dew
- Xanté
Silver Sponsors
- Barrits Ginger beer
- Becherovka
- Croft Port
- Del Maguey
- Haus Alpenz
- Pernod
- Perfect Purée
- Perrier
Local Sponsors
- Fever Tree Products
- Employees Only brands
Media Partners
- Crave Local Network
- Imbibe
- Inside F&B
- GazRegan.com