The Arizona Restaurant Association raises its glass to valley mixologists through its participation in the city of Phoenix’s Spirit of Phoenix competition. This event is designed to dub one special sip “The Phoenix.”
The event, presented by Visit Phoenix, the Arizona Restaurant Association, Milagro Tequila, Arc Cardinal and William Grant & Sons invites valley residents to decide which creative cocktail will be designated as the city’s signature cocktail.
“As Phoenix continues to earn a stellar reputation for its evolving food and beverage industry, we welcome unique and engaging opportunities like the Spirit of Phoenix: Craft the City’s Signature Cocktail Competition,” said Steve Chucri, president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association. “Being an organization dedicated to the advocacy for and promotion of the businesses within the hospitality industry, we are thrilled to participate in this event and look forward to seeing how it shines a national spotlight on our valley’s finest mixologists.”
Here’s how it works: Mixologists will submit their cocktail idea online and judges will choose 20 of these to move on to the first round of tasting. In this round, blind judging will determine the top four beverages.
These four cocktails will then be available at multiple valley locations and will appear at pop-ups and experiences throughout the valley in April. This period of time will serve as round two, during which judging is opened up to the public. The people of Phoenix are encouraged to vote for the best cocktail to represent Phoenix. The third and final round will then present the top two cocktails from round two to be featured and voted upon throughout May.
The “last drink standing” will be dubbed The Phoenix and serve as the city’s signature sip. Get more about the Spirit of Phoenix: Craft the City’s Signature Cocktail Competition, including submission criteria, here.
Chucri is available for news story interviews and television segments to further discuss the concept of this contest as well as how the Arizona Restaurant Association supports and advocates for the hospitality industry in other ways.
