The Australian edition of the Patrón Perfectionist Cocktail Competition was held last week, an exclusive event on floating Sydney bar The Island.
Over 100 bartenders from all around the country entered the online competition with their own Patrón Tequila cocktails deemed worthy of the title of Patrón Perfectionist. From these, nine finalists were selected to travel to the Sydney final and create their Patrón cocktails in front of a panel of industry expert judges.
The prize? An exclusive journey to Hacienda Patrón, the home of Patrón's distillery in the highlands of Mexico. Here our Australian winner will be competing with expert cocktail bartenders from across the world at the international final.
Our Australian finalists were:
Mitchell Gurrin (The Dominion League, WA) with ‘Fifty Shades of Clay’
Nicholas Cozens (Eau De Vie, VIC) with ‘Song of the Sea’
Nicholas David Anile (Long Chim Perth, WA) with ‘Wild Himalayan’
Sarah Dawn Mitchell (Boilermaker House, VIC) with ‘El Claridad’
Kurtis Bosley (Bar Moncur, NSW) with ‘La Smoka Rosa’
Hannah Bolt (The Statler and Waldorf, QLD) with ‘Split Pearsonality’
Alexander Boon (Brooklyn Standard/Maker, QLD) with ‘The Hacienda Cup’
Alexander Gilmour (Tio's Cerveceria, NSW) with ‘Don’t Take Me Lightly Senorita!’
Alexander Archibald (Seamstress, VIC) with ‘Sage Advice
And the expert judges:
Lee Applbaum – Patrón Spirits' Chief Marketing Officer
Phil Bayly – Pioneer in developing the Agave spirits category in Australia, ‘the ultimate’ Tequila Ambassador
Ben Davidson – former Cocktail World Cup Champion (2004)
Thalita Gabriel – Bartender at Bulletin Place, Sydney (World’s 50 Best Bars 4 years running)
Simon McGoram – Owner of Bondi’s Neighbourhood Bar, involved in judging many cocktail competitions, including ‘World Class’ Cocktail Comp (2010)
Guests were entertained throughout the evening with free flowing Silver Patrón tequila cocktail favourites - Patrón Paloma (with pink grapefruit and soda), Patrón Collins (with lemon, elderflower and soda) and Patrón Mule (with Fever Tree ginger beer and lime). A fine refreshing accompaniment to the stellar sunset views over Sydney Harbour.
Claiming a tight competition with some friendly argument between the judges, a winner was finally decided upon:
Melbourne's Nick Cozens (from Eau De Vie, Melbourne) was crowned Australia's Perfectionist for his cocktail ‘Song of the Sea’:
40ml Patrón Silver
15ml vanilla washed Lillet Blanc
20ml fresh lime juice
20ml black pepper and coriander shrub
20ml fresh pineapple juice
salted agave air spooned over the top
Served in a conch sea shell vessel and garnished with salted agave air, resting on a bed of pineapple and black pepper sand.
Sydney's Alex Gilmour amiably invited the crew to kick on after the event at his Surry Hills tequila bar Tio's Cerveceria.
The Island Sydney hosts exclusive Beach Party events on weekends throughout the warmer months. It is also available for private functions.
