Bar Wars holds a special place in my heart. For all those out there who didn’t know throwback Jenny, way before my banking & photographer days, I was a bartender for a LONG time. Some of my favorite people in the world I met during that time in my life & I always enjoy getting to go back around my old stomping grounds. This year was the fourth annual Bar Wars benefiting the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent. The first year I actually participated as a contestant. We had cute lil’ t’shirts made & everything! I didn’t win. HAHA. Last year I showed support by photographing as I did this year as well & probably will every year here on out. I don’t do many event like this, but I love being a part of something so awesome! *claps*
You might be thinking ‘What is Bar Wars?’ Well, this is an event hosted by Michelle & Ronnie Spence, owners of Sports Bar Victoria. They get together local bartenders from bars all over Victoria to come together & compete against each other for bragging rights of best bartender, an awesome trophy & a weekends stay at the Hampton Inn in the Whirlpool suite. The drinks are auctioned off to onlookers & the proceeds are donated to the Food Bank. There are 4 categories:
- Best Bloody Mary
- Best Bartenders Signature Drink
- Best Beer Cocktail
- Best Wildcard Drink
There are judges who are hidden throughout the process of the actual drink making, then come out to taste test & judge based off of presentation, originality & taste. The judges have no idea who made which drink so favoritism can’t be shown. There is also a silent auction with various donations from many lovely people. The money received from the silent auction goes to the food bank as well.
There is so much that goes into creating an event like this & Amanda Wilburn has taken the bull by the horns & handles the task so well every year. This year the event landed on the weekend before Halloween so contestants & onlookers showed up in their festive attire. Amanda organizes the entire event & is also in charge of rounding all the sponsors & contestants. This years super sponsors for the event were:
Victory Motors
EatZ Cafe
To Do Victoria
Eighty Two Media
Jenny King Photography
There are many many more people that helped make this event possible & I could make a list a mile long! To see all who donated for the event, be sure to stop by Sports & pick up your own 2017 Bar Wars t-shirt where the list of sponsors is on the back. They are $14 & are super cute! Just look for the guy at the front door who wears tank tops. He’ll hook you up.
MEET THE EIGHT FABULOUS CONTESTANTS FOR THIS YEAR!!! Aren’t they so fetching? Time to get down to business.
Round One: Best Bloody Mary. Most of them were complete meals! I think one auctioned off for $160!
Hello judges! That’s a good lookin’ group ready to get their drank on.
There’s our pretty host for the evening! She did so well as auctioneer! Make that money girl!
Round Two: Best Bartenders Signature drink. This is where each contestant makes their own specialty drink. You can literally make anything you want.
I made my rounds snapping pictures of patrons who bought drinks from the contestants & also people who just came out to see what’s good on a Friday night!
It’s not a party until Brother Gary Moses shows up! He took the time to come & announce all the contestants & thank everyone for their participation.
Round Three: Best Beer Cocktail. Bartender were required to select a beer of their choice & make a tasty cocktail out of it.
There were special guest appearances for the night as well…
Final Round Four: Wild card. Contestant had to draw two random ingredients from a jar & make up a drink on the fly. They had 2 minutes to think of their drink & grab necessary ingredients. Risky business, really.
Think long & hard judges! Every sip counts!
DJ Johnny G & friends even bid on a drink & won. I tasted that one made by Cassie. It tasted like grape Kool-aid!
Drawing time! During the night there was opportunity to buy raffle tickets for a chance to win HALF off all money made from the tickets. The other half went to the Food Bank. Of course Mark & Sammie won! Them lucky turkeys!!!!
I was able to snap a few pictures of items donated for the silent auction. There were so many great items & lots of people went home with some really great items!
The results are in…& the winners are:
Best Bloody Mary – Blaine Crabb
Best Bartenders Signature Drink ~ Andro Gonzales – Crail
Best Beer Cocktail – Tara Michele Urban
Best Wild Card ~ Andro Gonzales – Crail
And the 2017 Bar Wars Champion ISSSSSSSSS……..ANDRO!!!! I just love that look on his face!!!
Until Next year!!!!