Cachaça Cocktail Championship brings together 20 bartenders from Paraná.| Photo: Rafael Demetrios/Disclosure

The 1st Paraná Creative Cocktail Championship with Cachaça takes place this Monday (9), in Curitiba, an event organized by Templo da Cachaça, a store that offers more than 8 thousand labels and has a museum dedicated to the drink.

A group of 20 bartenders from Paraná compete in the competition, which is divided into three stages. In the first, the bartender needs to choose just by smell and through a brief tasting (without visually identifying the label) which cachaça he wants to build his cocktail with. Among the options are artisanal, white, aged or stored in wooden barrels versions, which will only be revealed after the end of the competition.

Afterwards, participants are directed to a small grocery store set up in the environment, containing fruits, juices, bitters, vermouths, syrups, among other inputs. The last step is the final presentation of the cocktails to the evaluators. In total, there will be two hours to try the cachaças available, think about the cocktail to be produced, carry out tests and present the results. A panel of judges made up of ten experts will determine the top three, who will be awarded a total of R$2,000.

“It’s almost a ‘MasterChef’ of cachaças, which will certainly stir our taste buds. The idea is to dare, innovate, but also give competitors the freedom to choose the products they want. We want to value palate and good taste”, explains the owner of Rede Cachaçaria Regui Brasil and Templo da Cachaça, Orlando Régis.