The Mezcal Collaborative and Panorama Mezcal announced The Mezcal Cocktail Mission, a multi-city cocktail competition with Pelotón de la Muerte, aiming to develop an original cocktail that belongs to mezcal using only four ingredients. As the cocktail scene booms, the Mezcal Collaborative, Panorama Mezcal and Pelotón de la Muerte are working towards innovating new mezcal forward cocktails that become synonymous to the spirit. Just as an “Old Fashioned” is synonymous with whiskey and bourbon, this multi-city cocktail competition is challenging industry tastemakers to create the first ever cocktail that can be uniquely identified with mezcal worldwide.
Currently, a majority of mezcal cocktails are riffs on classic cocktails that originally called for a different spirit and have been modified using mezcal. The goal of this competition is to create a signature category cocktail amongst the best bartenders in the United States and Mexico. The competition kicked off with the first round in San Francisco, the second round was in New York City and a final competition that will take place in Mexico on May 14th
Mixologists were encouraged to be as creative as possible with the idea that less is more and simple is better because cocktails must be replicable at home or at any reputable cocktail bar. The competition will be judged on taste, appearance, originality, and cocktail name. The mission of this competition is to create a cocktail that is instantly recognizable as ‘the mezcal cocktail’. Competitors will be limited to using only four ingredients, including the garnish. Every ingredient must be readily available and house-made syrups or infusions are prohibited. Each cocktail must contain at least one ounce of Pelotón de la Muerte mezcal and no more than one ounce of any other spirit.
The six finalists from San Francisco and New York competitions will be flown to Mexico City to compete with fellow bartenders from Mexico, London, Australia and Japan. There, they will spend two days in Mexico City, and one day in Malinalco, Mexico, to see the different palenques making traditional mezcal.
Aside from being recognized as the inventor of the world’s ‘signature mezcal cocktail’, the ultimate winner of The Mezcal Cocktail Mission will be awarded an all-expense paid, five-day trip for two to Michoacán, Mexico. The winner and their guest will explore the beautiful colonial town of Morelia, tour some the best mezcal palenques in the state, and then head west to experience Charanda (its own DO of r(h)um) and finally, in Raicilla country where they’ll spend time in the quaint beach town of Playa Azul.
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