The United States Bartenders' Guild (USBG) Tampa Bay Chapter hosted its annual Sunset Tiki Party Sunday, June 8, at St. Pete Beach’s Postcard Inn on the Beach.
Libations flowed with unlimited pours of over 17 hand-crafted cocktails on the menu. Bay area distillers were included in the event and featured cocktails such as local mixologist Ryan Pine’s Night Night Punch, which mixes Florida Cane Sunrise and Sunset moonshines in a sweet summer punch.
Florida Cane Moonshine is a whopping 109-proof spirit and is distilled on Falkenburg Road, just between the border of Brandon and Tampa.
USBG bartenders came from cities like New York and New Orleans to help out, and sponsors were spread throughout the event. Tanduay Asian Rum hailed from as far as the Philippines.
As one of the world’s most popular rum brands, Tanduay is catching up with Bacardi in global sales. The brand was released in the United States last summer and was served at the event as a Tanduay Typhoon cocktail with pineapple and mango juice, grenadine and candied ginger.
USBG Tampa Bay bartender Justin Gray from downtown Tampa’s Anise Global Gastrobar said it was a crowd favorite.
Blue skies and warm weather led the tiki party into an action-packed night. While guests enjoyed a whole smoked pig with barbecue sauce, cole slaw, chips and bread served by Postcard Inn, hula dancers and flame dancers kept the summer spirit alive, as did live music from Pablus, O’Some Do Jazz and Stolen Idols.
The next USBG Tampa Bay-hosted event will be its Repeal Day Party on Saturday, Dec. 6, that annually celebrates the end of Prohibition, which banned U.S. alcohol sales during the 1920s and early 1930s. Themed as “The Golden Days of the Silver Screen,” a weekend of seminars, tastings, happy hours and craft dinners is planned, along with the gala event.
The purpose of the USBG is to empower bartenders to lead in their craft, and the association is active in over 40 markets nationwide. USBG’s Tampa Bay chapter passed 100 members locally and is one of the largest in the nation.