The Bartender Spirits Awards is pleased to announce that Sarah Jane Curran, Director of Food & Beverage for the U.S. and Canada at Marriott International, will join its 2027 judging panel in Chicago.

Sarah brings extensive experience in beverage strategy, menu development, and hospitality operations across one of the world’s most influential hotel companies. At Marriott International, she helps guide food and beverage programs across the United States and Canada, connecting brand strategy with guest expectations, operational requirements, and commercial performance.

Her appointment is particularly important for spirits brands seeking to build meaningful relationships with the U.S. on-premise market. Hotel beverage programs require more than an interesting bottle or a strong brand story. Products must deliver quality, consistency, versatility, and value while also working within real service environments across bars, restaurants, events, and multiple hotel formats.

Marriott International is the world’s largest hotel company

The Scale and Influence of Marriott International

Marriott International operates more than 10,000 properties across 148 countries and territories, with a portfolio of over 30 hotel brands. Its portfolio spans luxury, premium, full-service, select-service and extended-stay hospitality, including globally recognized brands such as The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott, W Hotels, EDITION, The Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Westin and Autograph Collection. Marriott International

This scale makes Marriott a major influence on global food and beverage trends. Its properties serve business travellers, leisure guests, luxury consumers, conference attendees, wedding parties and local customers across hotel bars, restaurants, lounges, banqueting operations, resorts and in-room dining.

For a spirits brand, success within a hotel environment can create exposure across several occasions and customer groups. However, products must meet demanding commercial and operational requirements. They need to offer consistent quality, reliable supply, appropriate pricing and sufficient versatility to work across different properties, menus and service formats.

Sarah’s role gives her a clear understanding of how beverage concepts must balance brand identity, guest expectations, operational practicality and financial performance across a large hospitality network.

A Judge Who Understands Beverage Programs at Scale

Sarah’s career combines hands-on hospitality experience with corporate beverage leadership. She developed her passion for beverages while studying at The Culinary Institute of America and later earned a master’s degree from New York University, where her research focused on beverage history and education.

Her previous roles include Beer Director at Eleven Madison Park in New York City and General Manager at ChurchKey in Washington, D.C. She has also taught beverage classes through Cornell University and Ana G. Méndez University.

This background gives Sarah a particularly valuable perspective as a judge. She understands what makes a spirit compelling behind the bar, but she also knows what is required for a product to perform successfully across a larger hospitality organization.

Why Sarah’s Participation Matters to Spirits Brands

Getting a spirit listed within a major hotel or restaurant group involves several layers of evaluation. Buyers must consider the liquid itself, but they must also assess pricing, availability, distribution, staff training, guest appeal, and the product’s ability to work across different drinks and service occasions.

A spirit may taste excellent on its own, but on-premise buyers also need to know whether it can deliver consistently in cocktails, whether bartenders can work with it efficiently, and whether guests will understand its value at the final menu price.

Sarah’s experience allows her to evaluate entries through this wider commercial lens. She understands the questions that hospitality buyers ask when reviewing a new spirit:

Can it strengthen the cocktail program? Is it versatile enough to support several serves? Does the price work for the venue and the guest? Can the supplier support multiple properties? Will the product remain consistent at scale? Does its packaging communicate the right message behind the bar?

These considerations are essential for brands that want to move beyond recognition and secure real on-premise opportunities.

Spirits Judged for Real On-Premise Performance

The Bartender Spirits Awards are designed to identify spirits that bartenders, beverage directors and hospitality buyers would be confident introducing to their customers.

Entries are evaluated for mixability, balance and versatility, taste, mouthfeel and finish, packaging and value. This approach helps determine whether a spirit has the complete qualities required to succeed in today’s bars, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality venues.

Sarah’s involvement strengthens this commercial focus. Her experience with beverage programming, menu development, costing and guest experience will help identify products that offer both liquid quality and genuine market potential.

For emerging brands, this provides an opportunity to have their spirits assessed by a senior hospitality professional who understands how new products are reviewed and introduced within large organizations. For established producers, it offers an important test of whether their products remain relevant, versatile and commercially competitive.

More Than a Medal

Winning at the Bartender Spirits Awards gives brands an endorsement from the professionals responsible for building and managing real beverage programs.

The 2027 competition will also provide entrants with an expanded score breakdown, constructive feedback, recommendations on how to improve and how to market and sell their products, and greater judging transparency through the “Tasted By” feature.

This feedback can help producers improve their commercial presentations, refine their on-premise strategies, and communicate more effectively with bartenders, beverage directors, distributors, and hospitality buyers.

With Sarah Jane Curran joining the panel, entrants will benefit from the perspective of a leader who understands how beverage ideas move from initial evaluation to menu placement and execution across multiple hospitality environments.

Enter the 2027 Bartender Spirits Awards

Spirits brands looking to grow within the U.S. on-premise market are encouraged to enter and present their products to an influential panel of bartenders, beverage directors, and hospitality buyers.

Enter your spirits and discover how they perform when evaluated for quality, mixability, value, and real on-premise potential.

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