USBG Legacy Cocktail Showcase

Photography by Nathan Valentine on March 3rd, 2013 in Celebrity, Lifestyle, Nightlife

Miami Beach, FL – February 26, 2013 – BACARDÍ pitted eight top mixologists from around the country against each other in last week’s United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) Legacy Cocktail Competition. These eight finalists were narrowed down from a group of 50 who competed in their hometown cities of Boston, New York, Chicago and Miami, over the past five months. This marked the third year of the annual event, sponsored by BACARDÍ at the James Royal Palm hotel. Over the past few years, the USBG Legacy Cocktail Showcase has become a chance for the best mixologists to create a balanced, appealing and enduring drink that will become classic cocktails like the BACARDÍ Mojito and BACARDÍ Daiquirí, inspired by BACARDÍ rum, the world’s most awarded spirit.

At the end of a shaken and stirred night, USBG crowned Miami’s own Nick Nistico as the U.S. winner of its third annual in Miami. Nistico will now move on to the final Global Showcase in Puerto Rico in April. Coming in at second place was Casey Wallin, and Steve Schneider took third. But it was Nistico’s innovative Garden Gimlet cocktail that won him first. The recipe fuses BACARDÍ Superior rum, lemon, simple syrup, dried caraway seed, red bell pepper puree, fresh arugula, and a bell pepper slice sprinkled with sea salt to produce the next BACARDÍ Classic Cocktail. The event was judged by BACARDÍ Senior Brand Master, William Ramos; the Global Winner of 2012 USBG Legacy Cocktail Showcase, Shingo Gokan; USBG Vice-President, Frank Martucci; and James Beard Award-winning chef, Michael Schwartz.