Female Bartenders Shake It Up in Speed Rack Finals

Almost 200 female bartenders across the country have poured their hearts, souls and favorite spirits into the Speed Rack regional heats that were held in eight of the top cocktail cities nationwide – New York; Miami; Austin, TX; Seattle; San Francisco; San Diego, CA; Chicago, and Kansas City, MO. Eight finalists rose to the top and will be taking the stage on Thursday, May 8 – along with eight wildcard winners – in a shaking and stirring showdown at the Speed Rack National Finals in New York City. 

WHAT: Cheer on the fastest female bartenders in the country at Speed Rack National Finals!

Spectator sport meets the best in bartending when mixtresses from across the country compete in heats to make rounds of cocktails, culled from a list of 50 accepted industry-standard classic recipes, in front of a panel of judges and a crowd of excited viewers. Judges rate each drink based on prep time and accuracy. The judging panel includes such cocktail world luminaries as: Julie Reiner of Clover Club and Flatiron Lounge; Dale DeGroff, a.k.a. King Cocktail, and Kate Krader of Food & Wine Magazine. Pernod-Ricard’s Chris Patino will emcee the proceedings while English Gins Ambassador Nick Van Tiel will DJ the night away.

The only nationwide competition designed to highlight up-and-coming women in the cocktail industry, and give back to those impacted by breast cancer, Speed Rack taps top female bartenders in leading cocktail markets and puts them shaker to shaker in timed challenges – all to raise funds for breast cancer charities and other charities supporting breast cancer research. To date, Speed Rack has raised almost $200,00, and beneficiaries have included SHARE cancer support, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Susan G Love, The Helen David Foundation and others.

WHEN: Thursday, May 8, 2013
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm

WHERE: Stage 48
605 West 48th Street,
New York City, NY 10036

CONTENDERS:

Elisabeth Forsythe, Blue Box (Austin); Ms. Speed Rack Texas
Mia Mastroianni – Soho House West Hollywood (Los Angeles); Ms. Speed Rack San Diego
Caitlin Laman – Trick Dog; Ms. Speed Rack San Francisco
Liz Pearce – The Gage; Ms. Speed Rack Chicago
Shannon Ponche – Myahuel and NiteCap; Ms. Speed Rack New York City
Angel Teta – Ataula (Portland, OR); Ms. Speed Rack Seattle
Paige Unger – Extra Virgin (Roeland Park); Ms. Speed Rack Kansas City
Jaki Winkles – Miami Heat, AlambiQ; Ms. Speed Rack Miami

Victoria George – Rickhouse; San Francisco Wildcard Winner
Lacy Hawkins – BAR; New York City Wildcard Winner
Jojo Martinez – J. Martini Bartender Services (Houston); Texas Wildcard Winner
Carisa Cola Lynch – Bar Rossa (Eudora); Kansas City Wildcard Winner
Julia Momose – The Office and The Dawson; Chicago Wildcard Winner
Amanda Reed – Tavern Law; Seattle Wildcard Winner
Tina Ross – Harvard & Stone (Los Angeles); San Diego Wildcard Winner
Oxana Vladimirovna – Blackbird Ordinary; Miami Wildcard Winner

COST: Tickets are available in advance for $30 and at the door for $35
(cash and credit cards accepted)

WHY: Ladies shaking drinks for Breast Cancer! Guests’ entry donation, in advance or at the door, includes plenty of drinks from sponsors, and bites for the audience to nosh while rooting for the country’s fastest female bartenders!

WHO: Speed Rack, Inc. was created and produced by nationally acclaimed bartenders and industry ambassadors, Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix. 2013-2014 tour is filmed by Le Jit Productions, with event execution by Double Barrel Productions.

PRIZES: Miss Speed Rack USA, will receive an all-inclusive trip for two to France, where she 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 USA 2014 a scholarship to their five-day program
(http://www.beveragealcoholresource.com/ <http://www.beveragealcoholresource.com/> ).

ANOTHER ROUND: Additional information can be found on the Speed Rack website www.speed-rack.com, on Facebook and on Twitter @speed_rack. Check out the antics at last year’s regional heats by visiting: http://www.speed-rack.com/videos and http://bit.ly/1cIrwLH.