THE
COCKTAIL
COMPETITION
HELD IN THE BAR AT ENGINE ROOM
MYSTIC,CT
NOV 10 - 8PM
THE
A LETTER TO YOU,
DEAR BARTENDER
We’re so excited you’d like to enter our competition!
This page will give you all the info you need to get your recipe in front of our judges for the in-person showdown this fall.
Cocktails will be judged on 4 criteria: flavor, creativity, traditionalism, & presentation.
The idea here is if you want to go crazy with the most left-field ahi tuna fat washed amaro mixture you will get rewarded with creativity points, but if you just want to share a really damn good French 75 combo you came up with then you’ll be rewarded for traditionalism - not just the most outlandish recipe will be chosen.
We break it down into three phases:
1 - Regionals
2 - Digital Semi-Finals
3 - Live In-Person Finals
BELOW ARE THE DETAILS OF EACH PHASE:
REGIONAL PHASE
- Recipes are to use at least one of the sponsor brands and are to be submitted to INFO@MYSTICCOCKTAIL.COM by September 15th, 2025
- Recipes can be done in any fashion you see fit and will be sorted into one of four categories based on the primary spirit ingredient: LIQUER, GIN, RUM & WHISKEY - you do not have to decide this category, we will sort as we see fit (& it does not affect the final decision).
- Provide us with the full & detailed list of ingredients, measurements, technique, serving rituals, garnish, glassware etc.
- Once your recipe is sorted, it will be sent to the judge of your spirit category (who is a producer and/or a connoisseur of that category) for a decision.
DIGITAL
SEMI-FINALS
WHITTLED DOWN TO TWELVE
Our category judges will each decide on three cocktails based on your submitted recipes, garnering a total of twelve semi-finalists.
If your cocktail is chosen you will be asked to submit a video of you making the cocktail live with a description of your process, full garnish & presentation.
Four of the final twelve cocktails will be chosen based off these videos and those finalists will be invited to join us at Engine Room in Mystic, CT on November 10th at 8pm for the in-person competition.
The eight who are not selected will be awarded with prizes & an honorable mention.
THE FINALS
ENGINE ROOM
8PM - NOV 10TH 2025
The 4 finalists shake up their cocktails live at Engine Room on Monday, November 10th in front of our panelist judges as well as a consumer audience.
Judges award points on a scale from 1 to 5
in each of these categories:
Flavor, Creativity, Traditionalism & Presentation.
Additionally, contestants will pre-batch 30 servings of their cocktail which will be served to the live audience who will also give each cocktail an over all score of 1 to 10.
The collective audience score will be counted as a fraction of one additional “Consumer” point in the over all cocktail score.
(Contestants will be reimbursed for or provided the ingredients required for their pre-batched cocktails)
Points awarded for the Flavor, Creativity, Traditionalism & Presentation categories will be added and averaged.
Then the consumer score will be added as a tenth of a point
making a maximum total score of 6.
THE PRIZES
NOT ALL FOR NAUGHT
FOURTH PLACE:
THIRD PLACE:
An overnight stay for 2 in Mystic with a tour of Veritable Distillery along with a bottle of Ship’s Bell Limited Edition Bourbon.
SECOND PLACE:
A trip for 2 to a weekend stay in Vermont with a tour of Bar Hill Gin & a bottle from each of the sponsor brands.
FIRST PLACE:
A trip for 2 to Barbados with a private tour of Foursquare Distillery with Richard Seale along with two
t-shirts, a blanket and a bottle from each of the sponsor brands.
