Hail to the alcohol holiday! National Margarita Day was Monday, February 22nd and I had a valid excuse to wet my whistle with a variety of margaritas. I ventured to Washington DC’s restaurant Quarter+Glory ( 2017 14th St NW) to drink and judge the Margarita Standoff Competition hosted by MIAgency and US Bartender’s Guild DC.

Six bartenders were paired against each other in a competition-style setting.  They all had to reach into a bowl and choose blindly a slip of paper that would decide if they use Tequila or Mezcal for the competition. Ironically from left to right, the first three bartenders choose Tequila and the remaining three chose Mezcal.  They then had to run to the end of the bar and choose what items they would use in their margarita.

There was a variety of ingredients to choose from such as fruits, vegetables, spices, juices and syrups. The competitors then had 30 minutes to make a large batch of their competition-worthy margarita.  The preparation portion of the competition was tense.  Each bartender was passionately focused on making their margarita.  The finished margaritas were complete with cool names such as God Never Dies, Sinners Delight, Desperate Cowboy, Phil Promised Me Spring, Rico Tico Tavi, and The Oopsy Daisy.

Judges and guests were given one hour to sample a glass of each margarita.  We were also given ballots to vote for Best Tasting, Best Garnish and Best Name.

My personal choices were God Never Dies for Best Tasting as well as Best Name and Sinners Delight for Best Garnish. I also liked Phil Promised Me Spring because the Mezcal gave it a smokey taste and the bartender also used blood oranges the sweet taste balanced it out.

After all votes were tallied,  the winners were…

Best Tasting and Best Overall — God Never Dies

Best Garnish — Phil Promised Me Spring

Best Name — I honestly don’t remember who won this category, I did have 6+ margaritas after all

God Never Dies recipe via MIAgency

1.5 oz @vidatequila blanco, 1 oz Grapefruit Juice,  1/2 oz Lemon Juice,  1/2 oz Cointreau, and 1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Method: Add above ingredients to a shaker tin. Muddle slice of fresh ginger, Rosemary spring and jalapeño slice (with seeds) inside shaker tin with liquid ingredients. Fill shaker with ice and shaker vigorously for 10-13 seconds. Pour and double strain over fresh ice garnish : blood orange slice stuffed with a rosemary spring

Job well done to MIAgency and US Bartender’s Guild DC for the first #MargaritaStandoff! The event was organized and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Be sure to follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on Instagram.com/Arlisappetite and twitter.com/ArliBaby.