With a shaker in one hand and a stirring spoon in the other, the Texas region’s top female bartenders went head-to-head as they competed for industry glory and breast cancer research in the Texas Regional Speed Rack all-female bartending competition, held on Sunday, January 20, 2012, part of the national Speed Rack series.
Karah Carmack of the Esquire Tavern in San Antonio took home the title of Miss Speed Rack Texas, but all is not lost for the runners-up. Today, Speed Rack launches its online Wild Card voting, inviting everyone to cast a ballot for their favorite regional runner-up; the winner will go to the National Finals on Thursday, May 16, in New York City.
Our city’s own Bonnie Wilson from Whiskey Cake in Plano can make the cut with your vote. Go to the website and vote for Bonnie, and vote often. We have witnessed her talents often, and this woman can pour!
Speed Rack is a national cocktail competition featuring top female bartenders in key cocktail markets, putting them head to head in round robin style timed and judged challenges. It is the first competition to highlight the up and coming generation of strong women in the spirits industry.
In each city, using sponsors’ products, participating bartenders are required to make a round of cocktails selected at random culled from a list of 50 industry-standard recipes. In front of a panel of food and beverage luminaries, the ladies go head to head in round robin style instant elimination rounds. The judges request and evaluate each drink based on accuracy, taste and presentation. After the surviving time and judging penalties, the swiftest and most skilled women under pressure move forward to the next round until our bracket is down to two. There is only one winner. She is crowned Miss Speed Rack.
Each local winner receives an honorarium to compete in the finals and the opportunity to be crowned Miss Speed Rack USA. Proceeds go to support breast cancer related charities. In our inaugural year (2011-2012), Speed Rack raised over $69,000 for: NBCF and SHARE.