Smiles All Around: Caribbean Producers' (CPJ) sales manager, Devon Reid (left), with third-place winner Shane Reid, representing Rose Hall Resort and Country Club; Tom Tyler, co-chairman CPJ; 2009 Bacardi Mojito Competition winner O'Brian Jackson of Couples Swept Away; and Roy Lawrence, Grand Palladium, who came second. The event saw 32 bartenders including six females, battling for the $100,000 cash prize at Iberostar Resort in Rose Hall, St. James on Sunday, August 23. - photos by Nagra Plunkett

WESTERN BUREAU:

Caribbean Producers extended an invitation for the best Bacardi Mojito mixologists to participate in a competition, for which they would claim the 'Best Mojito' title in Jamaica and represent the country at the Caribbean Regional Competition, for later this year.

O'Brian Jackson, a 33-year-old bartender employed to Couples Swept Away in Negril, took up the offer and on Sunday became $100,000 richer after he won the title from a field of 32 other contestants.

It was a bitter-sweet moment for the resident of Old Hope in Little London, Westmoreland.

"I have to thank God for this," an emotional Jackson told The Gleaner shortly after the winner was announced.

"I was about to go through the door because I just got some bad news that my eight-year-old daughter O'Breana was sick."

Alcoholic drink

An array of creatively presented Bacardi Mojitos that were mixed by bartenders during a Bacardi Mojito Competition in Montego Bay on Sunday, August 23.

But Jackson says he is ready to make Jamaica proud at the regional finals. He also won an all-expense paid trip to Puerto Rico where he will observe an international Bacardi Mojito Competition.

A Mojito is an alcoholic drink made of rum, sugar, lime juice, crushed mint leaves, soda water, and ice.

CPJ and Iberostar Resort hosted the event, which is the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean.

"This competition is a way of recapturing Mojito for Bacardi in Jamaica. The original Mojito came from Bacardi in 1862, and over time other rums have taken over the drink," explained Devon Reid, CPJ's sales manager. "It is also part of CPJ's 15th anniversary activities that feature a series of events with our hospitality partners."

Judging panel

The competition was overseen by a five-member judging panel comprising Eva Myers, restaurateur; Dr Leahchim Semaj, psychologist and rum connoisseur; Jorge Lopez, president of the Puerto Rico Bartenders' Association; Jackie Sinclair, food stylist; and Jacque Tyson.

The bartenders, representing hotels, bars and restaurants across the island, saw groups of four persons getting two seven-minute segments to mix an original Mojito cocktail, and then concoct a creative Mojito.

Contestants prepare garnishes for use in their original and creative Bacardi Mojitos.

Jorge Lopez, president of the Puerto Rico Bartenders' Association and chief judge at the 2009 Bacardi Mojito Competition, prepares to taste a batch of original mojitos at Iberostar Resort on Sunday.