Sit down, grab yourself a cup of t(ea), of the agave or leaf variety, and take time to ingest what Lauren Mote, Global Director of On-Trade Excellence at PATRÓN Tequila and leader of PATRÓN Perfectionists programme has in store for the 2024 edition, what’s being touted as the most highly-anticipated educational platform in the tequila category. Spoiler alert: It’s going to be a corker – this is PATRÓN Perfectionists ramped up to 11!
Having attended the PATRÓN Perfectionists Global Final event last year, we have to say it was so perfectly pitched and so exciting to be part of, not just for the bartenders and their respective brand ambassadors but for those of us on the sidelines as well. Let’s start by digesting what you did last year and how it was for you?
Well, I’ve digested it, it was delicious – in fact, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in years! Seriously though, if trade advocacy programmes are meant to be leadership through education, providing experiences for bartenders and putting the bartenders and their amazing bars at the heart of a platform, then I think we did a good job. I say that because that comes from listening to what seasoned bartenders who have competed in other programmes or had their eye on the PATRÓN Perfectionists programme in the past are saying about it, completely unprompted. They’ve been commenting on how incredible the programme is, format-wise, time period-wise, about the tonality and what we’re trying to accomplish. We couldn’t be more proud of the results of last year.
As you should be but, that said, you’re switching things up again this year. Why? How do you evolve a theme like perfection?
By encouraging the bartenders to strive for their own level of perfection. So much of the DNA of PATRÓN Tequila is about being simply perfect – everything from how we make our additive-free tequila and the perfect blend of craftsmanship, to only using three ingredients – blue agave, water, yeast – and the attention-to-detail that goes into every bottle. Bartenders are following that same path. For me, when people think that everything has to be perfect and believe that there is only one definition of perfection, that can be quite alienating. I believe that PATRÓN Perfectionists is a safe and inclusive space for bartenders to really develop themselves and showcase the things they’re most proud of. I can’t think of a better brand to help bring that vision to life than PATRÓN because that style of thinking runs so deeply in everything we do. Plus, this year, our new educational modules and mentorship opportunities will provide participating bartenders with additional learning and inspiring tools to think about the theme of perfection from multiple angles.
So what can bartenders expect if they’re thinking about taking part in PATRÓN Perfectionists this year?
Introducing PATRÓN Paloma Perfecta
The critical change is that the global programme launches with PATRÓN Paloma Perfecta*. The focus on the Paloma gives bartenders the chance to learn more about one of Mexico’s most historic cocktails which is gaining an increased level of popularity around the world after the Margarita. Every couple of weeks until the end of September we’ll have some fresh, exciting content for the bartenders to get inspired by, so there will always be a good feature story around the Paloma.
*In the USA only, the competition entry challenge will be a spin on the Margarita featuring PATRÓN Silver Tequila, find more on TALESperfectionists.com
Education (the kind you’ll definitely want to swot up on)
We have some amazing things planned this year, including cook-along videos, live workshops and bar hops where some of our former brilliant PATRÓN Perfectionists champions share their thoughts and recipes based on the PATRÓN Paloma. And of course, everyone who registers will be part of the incredible PATRÓN Perfectionists community. The first three months (from July to the end of September) will focus on Paloma Perfecta, covering everything from the history of this iconic cocktail, to the DNA of the recipe and what Paloma Perfecta is all about – just to give everyone a good baseline to work from. Giulia Cuccurullo (Artesian, London), Kat Stanley-Whyte (American bar at the Savoy, London) and Yeray Monforte (Bad Company, Madrid) star in our Paloma Perfecta modules as ongoing members and supporters of our PATRÓN Perfectionists family.
Another change is that we won’t be launching all of our education at the same time. Instead, we’ll be drip-feeding it throughout the year, so it’s easier for our bartenders to take one concept at a time, develop the thought process around it, participate in a workshop and apply the learnings immediately; this is how PATRÓN Perfectionists truly becomes a 365-day advocacy programme. The Paloma education will be mirroring what the ask is for the global PATRÓN Perfectionists entry process. In the USA, we have teamed up with Tales of the Cocktail to sponsor the programme and our focus for both entry challenge and the educational modules running this Summer in the USA will be the Margarita.
Let’s hear it for the mentors
We’re also working with some fantastic PATRÓN mentors around the world, including the likes of Deano Moncrieffe of Hacha, London; Gina Barbachano of Hanky Panky in Mexico City; Matt Whiley of RE, Sydney; and many others that will be unveiled in due course. All of these amazing folk will be joining our programme over the next few months, supporting bartenders during their journey with us and providing plenty of inspiration from the entry through to the global final stage. They’ll be on hand for online seminars accessible to those bartenders who register to the portal before 15th August, also offering one-to-one sessions to a few lucky participants to the seminars. During these sessions, bartenders can ask anything to help with the entry process, such as how to use a specific ingredient in their cocktail or how to be a better storyteller for example – what they won’t be doing is offering specific advice on the recipe submission.
Time to make the Paloma shine
PATRÓN Paloma Perfecta is our call to bartenders to submit the most extravagant, most beautiful Paloma. The recipe has to feature PATRÓN Reposado Tequila as the base and include a cordial that can be made with anything they like as long as it’s balanced, delicious and grapefruit plays a role in some way. That can be using the skin, juice, peel, pith, essence – anything – along with plain soda. Salt and garnish is optional, and can be created as they like.
Paint the world PATRÓN Paloma Perfecta!
The key ask is how can you create a Paloma that is inspired by and tells the story of the favourite city that you’ve ever visited. For instance, I love Bangkok, so I would do a Paloma spin with PATRÓN Reposado Tequila and grapefruit but creating a beautiful story and concept based around my memories and flavour inspirations of that city.
Fabulous! So what are the key dates and how do bartenders register interest?
From now until August 15th:
Bartenders are invited to set up their profile at academiapatron.com/patronperfectionists. If they create a profile by 15 August, they’ll automatically be entered to the online mentorship program. They don’t have to submit a recipe at this stage – we suspect that with this new mentorship program and the opportunities it offers, most bartenders will wait, ask questions and share moments with their iconic role models from around the world and use the opportunity to think differently about their entry and how that one drink can really change their life. To take part in the cocktail competition, a recipe that responds to the brief needs to be submitted by 30th September.
From 15th August to 30th September:
Time to get your recipes in!
