Five Northwest Arkansas bartenders competed in their region’s section of the Great Arkansas ROX STAR Bartender Competition at Fayetteville’s Cannibal & Craft Monday night.
Competitors included Jorge Prado of Maxine’s Tap Room, Shaun Traxler of Vault, Andrew Crittenden of Vault, Nilson Clark of Ben’s Apartment and Joshua Blackwell-Purdy of Local Flavor Café in Eureka Springs. Prado, Clark and Blackwell-Purdy will advance to the final round. Watch the video below to see scenes from the competition.
“The NW Arkansas bartenders ROX’d the Arkansas hills with visually stunning and incredibly tasty cocktails. Jorge, Nilson and Joshua will ably represent the NW region admirably in the finals. We thank the USBG – Fayetteville Chapter (United States Bartender’s Guild) for their support of the competition,” said Donald Short of New Artisan Spirits, Inc., the makers of ROXOR gin. The Texas-based gin company is hosting the competition. AY Magazine is sponsoring the ROX STAR Bartender Competition.
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The next phase of the competition is in Central Arkansas. 15 local bartenders will face off at 6 p.m. Monday, June 11 at Cache Restaurant & Lounge, located at 425 President Clinton Avenue in Little Rock.
The top six contestants from the regional rounds will qualify for the ROX STAR final round, which is set for June 25 at the Capital Hotel in Little Rock. The winner will receive a trip to attend Tales of the Cocktail, a New Orleans-based bartender conference.