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| The Diplomatico World Cocktail Tournament contestants |
One of the honors that was bestowed on the six RumXP's in Venezuela was being asked to judge the Diplomatico World Cocktail Tournament in Barquisimeto, Lara. The tournament took place at "Tantra" a very classy bar in the Hotel Jirahara. There were a total of fifteen barmen entered in the tournament. Their skills were extremely good and the originality of the cocktails showed a love for their craft.
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| RumXP Panel |
The Panel made up of Robert A. Burr, Robin Burr, John Gibbons, Adam Kanter, Robert V. Burr and myself, were given the tough chore of rating the cocktails based on the criteria spelled out in the rules of the tournament. There were three areas on which we would judge the cocktails. The first was a combination of neatness, precision of the work, uniformity of the four glasses, simplicity of the recipe, and manners and presences on stage. The Second was the garnish, originality of the name for the cocktail, cocktail presentation, general appearance, and color of the cocktail. The third was for our palates to decide, aroma, taste, and balance of the cocktail. Each area was scored on a 0 to 10 rating, yielding a possible 30 points for perfection.
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| Jose Garcia with the RumXP Panel |
After each barman took their turn on stage, and all of the evaluation completed, it was time for the statisticians to announce the winner, who will move on the Venezuela Tournament and possibly to the World Finals. Tonight in a very close event, Jose Garcia was the winner.
The tournament was just another of the fun time all of us RumXP's enjoyed while with the Diplomatico people in Venezuela. I just can't say enough about the gracious treatment afforded us while in country. Plus it was a pleasure to be able to sample fifteen great original cocktails. ;o)
