The bartenders at the Hard Rock Café are rocking out for the 2nd annual BARocker competition held last week at the 16th Street Mall café in Denver. Four of the café’s top bartenders competed to take the prize as Denver’s best bar rocker by mixing stylish cocktails for a panel of judges. The winner gets a rockstar trip to Las Vegas to compete at the North American regional competition.

The Denver’s BARocker was held last Thursday, October 23, and featured three rounds of testing and judging. The bartenders took a written test prior to the evening event to test their memory and cocktail knowledge. Then it was time for them to put on a show and impress the judges with their speed, personality and ability to make delicious cocktails. Judges for this auspicious event included Rich Grant from Visit Denver, Leah Arthur of Colorado Beer Girl and Drink Denver’s own Carrie Dow. The bartenders were also judged by two of the café’s managers for speed and recipe accuracy. No pressure, right?

The four competing bartenders were Jonny “Thunder Fingers,” Lawrence “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Hurricane” Hayli and “Scuba” Steve. For the first part of the competition, each bartender had to make four drinks in under two minutes with the four drinks being chosen at random, however, one cocktail, the Mojito, was made by all four so the judges could compare. For round two, each bartender had to make three cocktails, two of their own choosing and one chosen by the judges. Again all cocktails had to be made in under two minutes.

After watching, tasting and taking notes, all the judges held a meeting to determine the winner. It was not an easy decision as all four were engaging, entertaining and made some might tasty drinks. In the end, however, there can only be one. And the winner is…

Hurricane Hayli!

Hayli will receive a copper 2014 BARocker pin with red stones and a special prize package. She will then go on to the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in November to compete in the North American regional BARocker. The winner of the regional will then go on to Hard Rock Hotel in the Riviera Maya, Mexico, to compete in the BARocker World Championships.

Stay tuned to Drink Denver to see how Hayli does. Good luck!