The 2022 Bartender Spirits Awards is back in San Francisco! This celebrated award helps spirits and distilleries be noticed and become a favorite choice for bars, restaurants, clubs, and on-premise establishments within the United States. The awards are currently accepting entries until April 24, 2022. The winners of Bartender Spirits Awards 2022 will be declared at the Award Show in San Francisco on May 31, 2022.

The awards go out of their way to help great spirits be discovered by getting them tasted and reviewed by an illustrious judges panel. The judges help curate the best of the best spirits from all the entries using this formula: M (Mixability Score) + B (Balance and Versatility Score) + T (Taste, Mouthfeel, and Finish Score) + P (Package Score) + V (Value Score) = Bartenders Spirits Awards Final Score. This metric is applied in three steps where Step 1 entails Blind Tasting, Step 2 involves Price Score Evaluation, and Step 3 focuses on Packaging Evaluation.

The 2022 Bartender Spirits Awards also features some of the best bartenders and mixologists in the trade. This edition includes:

Zachary Faden

Lead Bartender & Manager at Brasserie Liberté, Washington DC, United States, Source: Bartenders Business

Zachary Faden is an academically trained historian turned bartender. He has bartended and overseen drink programs throughout the Washington, DC area, and is currently the Director of Spirits Curation and Education with the Museum of Distilled Spirits. Among other honors, he won the 2017 Tales of the Cocktail Official Cocktail Competition; was selected to the Top 100 for Bombay Sapphire’s Most Imaginative Bartender Competition in both 2018 and 2019; and has been a Woodford Reserve’s Manhattan Experience regional finalist in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Juyoung Kang

Juyoung Kang in action. Source: Bartenders Business

Juyoung Kang is the lead bartender at Zouk Group, Las Vegas, NV. She has previously worked at  The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Thompson Beverly Hills Hotel, Comme Ça at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Park on Fremont and Commonwealth in 2012, including its acclaimed speakeasy, "The Laundry Room", Rose.Rabbit.Lie, and BLVD Cocktail Company. In 2017, Wine Enthusiast named Kang on its list of "40 Under 40 Tastemakers," and was nominated by Eater Las Vegas as "Bartender of the Year." In 2015, she was the Nevada Restaurant Association's "Bartender of the Year" and, in 2014, won recognition as GQ and Bombay Sapphire's "Most Imaginative Bartender." 

Adam ‘Boots’ Brogan

Bootsy Brogan home behind a bar. Source: Bootsy Brogan

Bar Manager at Louie’s Bar, San Francisco and Owner of The Bootsy Company

Born in San Francisco, but raised in the pubs of London, it’s no wonder that Adam “Boots” Brogan finds himself most at home behind a bar. With over 10 years of experience, Boots has won a number of cocktail competitions in San Francisco and is a contributing writer & mixology expert for Chefsfeed.com and Barchick.com. Whether it be at his bar, teaching cocktail classes, or on his YouTube channel, "The Bootsy Guide", Boots brings his love & passion for bartending everywhere he goes to spread "the boozy gospel".

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Other reputed bartenders illuminating the judges' panel at the 2022 Bartender Spirits Awards include Mark Roa, Bartender at Lost & Found Cocktail Bar, and Bar Manager at Neck of the Woods Bar & Club; Jessica Schjavland, Bartender at San Pedro Square Market Bar; Zachary Taylor, Bartender at 83 Proof, San Francisco; Ash Miyasaki, Bar Manager at Bar Henry; and Shirley Brooks, Bartender at Madrone Art Bar, San Francisco.

Key Dates:

Early Bird now to January 31, 2022

Warehouse Closes: April 24, 2022

Judging Day: May 15, 2022

Winners Announced: May 31, 2022

Pricing:

Early Bird Pricing - $120 per spirit (November 1, 2021, to January 31, 2022)

Regular Pricing - $160 per spirit (February 1, 2022, to April 20, 2022)

PS: Special Quantity Discounts are also available on bulk entries. Sign your spirit up today!