The Patrón Perfectionist competition has always sought to reflect the traits that the brand holds dear; care and dedication, attention to detail, creativity and flair.
For bartenders, it represents a chance for them to showcase their mixology skills through a rich and compelling story. Yet this year, like so many things, the competition was given a twist, as it asked bartenders to think outside their comfort zone.
With everyone in lockdown, the brand decided to not only test the creativity of the entrants but also give them a practical understanding of the importance of craftsmanship, dedication and what it means to make by hand.
Through the taste, the brand wanted to see what inspiration could be gained from the 60 hands that are involved in crafting the tequila at the Hacienda Patrón in Mexico – from the jimadors that harvest the agave to the glass artisans that create the Patrón Tequila bottles.
To test that they enlisted the help of Melbourne ceramicist Tantri Mustika, as they asked the bartenders to create a hand-crafted cocktail vessel.in clay.
Like the competition itself, the judging was done virtually led by Australian Patrón Brand Ambassador Joseph Chisholm.
With more than 130 entries, the winning submission told a story of the tequila production process through the sides of an hexagonal highball vessel.
Starting with a representation of honeycomb to represent the bees’ pollination of the agave, the story continued with an image of pinã to represent the Jimadors, clay bricks to illustrate the ovens, then bubbles for fermentation and fire to characterise distillation. Finally, the handcraft vessel represents the hand bottling.
The hexagon design was created by Perth bartender Matt Bodycote from Baxter Supper Club.
But, of course, it wasn’t all about the vessel – the drink was important too. The cocktail created was the Palamiel, which incorporates a milk-washed silver tequila, grapefruit liqueur, honey syrup and a pineapple tepaché.
Stay tuned for more details around where and when you will be able to see Matt’s cocktail vessel being used in bars across the nation.
PALAMIEL*
- *40ml Milk-washed Patrón Silver
- *20ml Grapefruit liqueur
- *10ml Honey syrup
- *30ml Pineapple Tepaché
- *2 dashes Regans no. 6
- Dried grapefruit & lemon-thyme
Production methods and the bees attracted to the blue weber agave. From hexagons mimicking honeycomb and symbols on each side representing the steps of Patrón production. (white glaze inside to finish) The drink itself borrowing on ideas of bees, fermentation and methods to mellow bittering
