BRITTINI RAE PETERSON CROWNED MISS SPEED RACK 2015

On Sunday, June 15, 16 of the country’s top female bartenders went shaker-to-shaker at the finals of the Speed Rack National Tour, competing for industry glory and breast cancer research. The competition was fierce in the spectator-sport-meets-the-best-in-bartending event, but Brittini Rae Peterson of Los Angeles’s Melrose Umbrella Co. rose to the top, beating out her competitors in the shaking and stirring showdown, earning the title of Miss Speed Rack USA 2015.
           
More than 200 female bartenders across the country poured their hearts, souls and favorite spirits into the Speed Rack regional heats that were held in eight of the top cocktail cities nationwide.  Eight finalists rose to the top and took the stage along with eight wild card winners at the Speed Rack National Finals held at Webster Hall in New York City. The master mixtresses competed 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. The judging panel, which featured cocktail world luminaries Dale DeGroff, a.k.a King Cocktail, Kate Krader of Food & Wine Magazine, Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club, and Charlotte Voisey, Portfolio Mixologist, William Grant & Sons, USA, rated each drink based on prep time and accuracy.
 
More than 500 guests cheered on the contenders while Pernod-Ricard’s Chris Patino emceed the event while San Francisco bar owner, bartender and DJ Ryan Fitzgerald had the house rocking and the audience amped. Top-name male bartenders served as barbacks to keep the show running smoothly and prep the finalists for each round.
 
Miss Speed Rack USA 2015 will join Speed Rack founders Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix for an educational trip to the Jameson Distillery in Ireland and represent the United States at the Jameson Bartender Ball; along with the Speed Rack winner in each tour city. She also receives 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, Miss Speed Rack USA 2015 receives a scholarship to its five-day program from the founding Partners of BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource) and a custom bar bag from Barkeeper & Co.
 
The first 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 head to head in timed challenges – all for the purpose of raising funds for breast cancer charities and other charities supporting breast cancer research. To date, Speed Rack has raised more than $160,000. Speed Rack, Inc. was created by produced by nationally acclaimed bartenders and industry ambassadors, Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix. The 2013-2014 tour is filmed by Le Jit Productions, with event execution by Double Barrel Productions.
 
Additional information can be found on the Speed Rack website www.speed-rack.com, on Facebook www.facebook/speedrackinfo 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.