Post #738373 by Hurricane Hayward on Fri, Feb 27, 2015 10:15 PM

Here's a full recap of "The Art of Tiki: A Cocktail Showdown" hosted by Emeril Lagasse at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2015/02/19/bam-its-tiki-time-at-the-south-beach-wine-food-festival/

Our story includes reviews and ingredients for all the competing cocktails, a bonus cocktail recipe for The Mai-Kai’s Molokai Swizzle, plus a photo gallery of exclusive images.

The Mai-Kai’s Kern Mattei and Troy Gallant are busy preparing the Molokai Swizzle.

But the big news, beside the Judge’s Choice award won by Brian Miller, was the New York City bartender’s announcement that he will soon be leaving the Big Apple for Los Angeles. Grasping his $5,000 prize, Miller said he hopes to “take a seat at the big boys’ table” and “hopefully pick up where Don (the Beachcomber) left off.”

In our Week in Tiki feature this week, we also recap The Mai-Kai's "secret cocktails" event and preview the Legacy National Cocktail Competition, sponsored by Bacardi and held in Miami. Other news includes the Instro Summit surf music fest lineup, two special concerts in Tampa Bay, Chicago Area Tiki Tour tickets, and the auction of a massive collection of Tiki artifacts from Disneyland and Disney World.

http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2015/02/25/the-week-in-tiki-feb-24-2015-nycs-miller-takes-emerils-tiki-showdown-bacardi-seeks-new-classic-cocktails/

Our weekly features spotlight LeRoy Schmaltz of Oceanic Arts, The Pegu Blog, Double Crown Records, and Hale Pele in Portland. The rum of the week, Ron Zacapa 23 from Guatemala, is featured in the Zacapa Hurricane cocktail.