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Bartender Spirits Awards 🍸Get your spirits judged by America's Top bartenders & beverage directors | 2027 Entries are now open! 🏆✨

10/16/2026

The U.S. on-premise market presents opportunities for spirits brands, but understanding what buyers are looking for and which categories are gaining traction is key to planning for 2027. ⚡️

Join the Bartender Spirits Awards for On-Premise Spirits Trends of USA, featuring industry perspectives from three experienced professionals:

🥃 Richard Beltzer, Beverage Director at Muhājir and BOBO, Chicago
🥃 John Chesney, Chief Wh***ey Officer at Slightly Toasted and Toasted Hospitality
🥃 Sarah Jane Curran, Director of Food + Beverage, US/Canada, Marriott International

Here’s what you’ll learn:
• Which spirits categories and cocktail styles are gaining momentum.
• What’s driving demand across bars, restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality settings.
• Which drinking occasions and bar concepts are creating opportunities for spirits brands.
• How brands can better align their products with buyer priorities and on-premise programs.

Whether you’re looking to enter the U.S. market or strengthen your existing distribution, gain valuable trade perspectives to help inform your brand’s strategy for 2027.

📅 October 30, 2026
⏰ 12 PM EST | 9 AM PST

🔗 Register via link in bio

🥃 What makes your spirit worth a bartender’s attention?It could be its distinctive character, versatility in cocktails, ...
10/13/2026

🥃 What makes your spirit worth a bartender’s attention?

It could be its distinctive character, versatility in cocktails, or the way it brings something new to a drinks menu.

Pitch Your Spirit to Bartenders is your chance to explain what sets your product apart and how it can work behind the bar.✨

Selected pitches will be seen by Bartender Spirits Awards judges, with the top 10 receiving dedicated editorial brand profiles. The overall winner will receive free entry for two products into Bartender Spirits Awards 2027.

Submit your written pitch and include an optional video of up to 60 seconds for extra points.

📅 Submit by October 31, 2026
🔗 Ready to make your pitch? DM us to get the entry form link. 📩

10/07/2026

Accord stone Irish Wh***ey was built around a simple idea: what’s in the glass should matter more than what’s written on the label. 🥃

That flavor-first approach comes through in the way the brand sources quality casks and blends 12- and 7-year-old wh***eys from Oloroso sherry casks and bourbon barrels. Bottled at 100 proof, the blend is all about flavor, texture, and how it drinks.

At the 2026 Bartender Spirits Awards, Accordstone put that approach in front of the people who know what works behind the bar.

The result: 94 Points Gold Medal and Best Blended Irish Wh***ey. 🥇

The judges found it versatile enough to enjoy neat or on the rocks, with the character to hold its own in a cocktail. They also saw it as an approachable way for bourbon drinkers to explore Irish wh***ey.⚡️

For a brand focused on doing things differently, that kind of feedback makes the recognition even more meaningful.

Here’s to Accordstone and a blend built with flavor first.

Sláinte! 🥃

🔗Explore more at accordstone.com

***ey ***ey

Less than 48 hours to enter the Bartender Spirits Awards at Super Early Bird pricing. ⏳A medal tells you where your spir...
09/29/2026

Less than 48 hours to enter the Bartender Spirits Awards at Super Early Bird pricing. ⏳

A medal tells you where your spirit stands. Detailed feedback can tell you why.

The Bartender Spirits Awards judges spirits through the lens of the U.S. bar trade, looking at Taste & Mouthfeel, Mixability, Balance & Versatility, Packaging and Value. You’ll also receive feedback on how to improve and market your spirit, alongside on-premise buyer insights. 🔎

For brands looking to understand how their spirit lands with the people who work with it behind the bar, that insight can be just as valuable as the medal.

📅 Super Early Bird ends September 30
💰 Save 25% on your entry
Enter via the link in bio. 🔗

A spirit can have a strong story. The bigger question is whether it has a place on the back bar.⚡️That’s the kind of thi...
09/24/2026

A spirit can have a strong story. The bigger question is whether it has a place on the back bar.⚡️

That’s the kind of thinking Sarah Jane Curran brings to the 2027 Bartender Spirits Awards judging panel.

For spirits brands, meaningful judging should offer more than a medal. It should help answer where a product fits, how it can perform in hospitality, and what can make it more compelling to the trade.

Sarah’s perspective comes from working where beverage strategy meets hospitality operations, making her feedback especially relevant for brands building their on-premise presence.
Super Early Bird is open. Save 25% on your entry through September 30.💰

Put your spirit in front of an experienced judging panel → Link in bio. 🥃

Equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. A classic spec, but plenty of room for a bar program to make it its own. 🍸T...
09/23/2026

Equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. A classic spec, but plenty of room for a bar program to make it its own. 🍸

That’s what makes the Negroni such an interesting drink to watch during Negroni Week. The build may be familiar, but the thinking behind it can say a lot about a bar’s approach to ingredients, technique and menu development.

We’re looking at five U.S. bar programs putting their own perspective behind the classic:

• Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco
• Bar Bambi, Chicago
• Easy Bar, Chicago
• ViceVersa, Miami
• Bar Snack, New York City

Because sometimes, the most revealing drink on a menu is the one everyone already knows.⚡️

Before premium RTDs had a category of their own, Matthew Lindner and Charles Joly were already asking a different questi...
09/21/2026

Before premium RTDs had a category of their own, Matthew Lindner and Charles Joly were already asking a different question: could you put a properly made cocktail in a can without losing what made it good? 🍸

Their answer became Crafthouse Cocktails.

What started with a problem behind the bar grew into a conversation about where quality RTDs belong in today’s drinks trade, with faster service, inventory control and what makes a cocktail worth pouring all part of the conversation.

In our latest Producer Profile, Lindner shares how hospitality shaped the brand, why balance and taste matter, and where he sees opportunities for premium RTDs.⚡️

Read the full conversation via the link in bio.

If your spirit is built to work behind the bar, put it in front of the people who know what to look for.

🥃 Enter Bartender Spirits Awards 2027
💫 Save 25% on your spirit entry with Super Early Bird
📅 Offer Ends September 30

🥃 Get Your Spirits Brand in Front of Top On-Premise BuyersThe 2027 Bartender Spirits Awards gives spirits brands the opp...
09/18/2026

🥃 Get Your Spirits Brand in Front of Top On-Premise Buyers

The 2027 Bartender Spirits Awards gives spirits brands the opportunity to be evaluated by leading beverage buyers, directors, bar operators and bartenders who understand what performs in the U.S. on-premise market.

Meet some of our 2027 judges:

• Sarah Jane (Monroe) Curran — Director of Food and Beverage for the U.S. and Canada, Marriott International
• Charles Steadman — Director of Food & Beverage Experience and Strategic Partnerships, Virgin Voyages
• John Maraffa — Corporate Beverage Manager, Landry’s
• Steven Minor — Corporate Beverage Director, Starwood Hotels
• Jared Sowinski — Director of Beverage, Upward Projects Restaurant Group
• Michael P. Trow — Director of Bar Operations, RPM Restaurants
• David Mor — Beverage Director and Partner at Mirra, Lilac Tiger, TRUCE and Mariela
• Danny Shapiro — Founding Partner and Beverage Director, Scofflaw Group
• Lynn House — National Spirits Specialist and Portfolio Mixologist, Heaven Hill
• Alexis Ortega — 2026 World Class U.S. Bartender of the Year
• Krys Irizarry — Beverage Director, award-winning bartender and spirits expert
• John Chesney — Chief Wh***ey Officer at Slightly Toasted and Beverage Director at Toasted Hospitality
• Emanuel Santiago — Beverage Manager and Cocktail Director, Scratch Restaurants

These are the professionals making purchasing decisions, developing beverage programs and influencing what gets poured across America’s bars, restaurants, hotels and hospitality groups.

Every entry receives more than a medal opportunity. Brands gain detailed score breakdowns, constructive feedback, recommendations on how to improve, guidance on how to market and sell, and insights into their potential within the U.S. on-premise channel.

🌎 Domestic and international spirits brands are invited.

Save 25% on entry fees when you enter by September 30, 2026.

Enter now: https://bartenderspiritsawards.com/

View all 2027 judges: https://bartenderspiritsawards.com/en/judges/2027/

Those emojis aren’t just for fun. They represent the five things every spirit is judged on at the Bartender Spirits Awar...
07/23/2026

Those emojis aren’t just for fun. They represent the five things every spirit is judged on at the Bartender Spirits Awards.

🍸 Mixability – Does it perform well in cocktails?
⚖️ Balance & Versatility – Is it balanced and adaptable across different serves?
👅 Taste – Does it deliver on aroma, flavor, and finish?
🍾 Packaging – Does it stand out on the back bar and communicate quality?
💰 Value – Does it justify its price?

Every spirit is evaluated across these five criteria by bartenders, bar managers, and beverage buyers who know what it takes to succeed in the on-premise industry.🤌

Because a winning spirit should do more than taste great. It should earn its place behind the bar and deliver value where it matters most.

A lot goes into every bottle entered into the Bartender Spirits Awards. We believe the value you receive should go beyon...
07/20/2026

A lot goes into every bottle entered into the Bartender Spirits Awards. We believe the value you receive should go beyond the medal.🏅

For BSA 2027, we've introduced a few important updates designed to give entrants more insight, more transparency, and more value from the competition.

✨ New feedback sections that go beyond scoring, including How To Improve and How To Market & Sell, so every entrant walks away with practical takeaways.

📊 A complimentary On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report, bringing together insights from bartenders and hospitality professionals to help brands better understand what today's buyers are looking for.

🔍 Greater transparency into the judging process, giving entrants a clearer understanding of how spirits are evaluated by leading on-premise experts.

These updates are part of our continued commitment to making the Bartender Spirits Awards one of the industry's most valuable competitions for spirits brands.

🔗 Discover everything that's new for BSA 2027 through the link in our bio.

#2027

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