SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge - Round 2 - voting open through September 9th

SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge Round 2 Voting is Live

32 cocktails remain in the SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge

64 drinks entered the head-to-head SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge competition that began August 15th. After the first round, 32 drinks remain.

Presented by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce as a Pasadena Restaurant Week event, SIP-tember: A Celebration of the Cocktail encourages people to taste cocktails from restaurants and lounges throughout Pasadena. For the SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge, 64 drinks are paired in head-to-head competition over six weeks until four finalist cocktails are determined by online voters. The four finalist cocktails meet for a live challenge at the Taste of Pasadena at the Rose Bowl on September 25^th from 6pm to 9pm. Only those attending the Taste of Pasadena have the opportunity to vote in the final challenge. The winner of the final is named Pasadena’s favorite cocktail for 2014. Previous winners have included Ruth’s Chris Steak House’s Broad Street Hurricane in 2012 and Toro Sushi Bar Lounge for the Cucumber Skinny-tini in 2013.

After one round, 32 drinks remain in the friendly competition. Will Ruth's Chris Jala-Pina-Rita move to the round of 8? Will the Pomegranate Smash

from Trattoria Neapolis move on? Will The Taproom at the Langham return as one of the four finalist cocktails? Will El Bombero from new participant PUNCH move on to the next round? Maybe Roy's Hawaiian Fusion's Peaches and Rye will advance to the final round? Will the New Old Fashioned from Speakeasy at New York Deli be a fan favorite? Or perhaps the Bangkok Monkey from iPic's Salt Lounge will prevail. Mixologists and bartenders have put their best and most creative cocktails forward to take the SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge.

Click here to see who remains in the SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge: SIP-tember Cocktail Challenge brackets ROUND 2.pdf

Patrons sample drinks and vote for their favorites online at www.pasadenarestaurantweek.com/vote.

SIP-tember patrons are encouraged to drink responsibly.

The four finalist cocktails will square off live at the Taste of Pasadena at the Rose Bowl on September 25th. The winner of that round will be declared Pasadena's Favorite Cocktail for 2014.

Through September 25^th, local restaurants are serving cocktails that will be paired against each other in a competition. 64 cocktails, ranging from drinks specially concocted for the competition to margaritas and sangria, began the competition that will culminate in a live taste-off of the four drinks that win their bracket. For the initial rounds, all voting is done online.

The first challenge ended August 27^th at midnight. 32 pairs of cocktails faced off against each other. Each week following the winners will be paired head-to-head with another winning cocktail until, on September 25th, the four finalists will be matched in a live tasting during the annual Taste of Pasadena hosted by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Voting in the cocktail bracket challenge went live on Friday, August 15^th.

Complete participant and cocktail information is posted at www.pasadenarestaurantweek.com.

SIP-tember kicked off with a citywide cocktail party to celebrate the 102^nd anniversary of the birth of America’s first celebrity chef and Pasadena’s own Julia Child. Coinciding with Happy Hour, the Julia Child Pasadena Cocktail Party on August 15^th occurred in participating SIP-tember restaurants all over Pasadena. It culminated in a citywide happy birthday toast at 7:00pm. Patrons were encouraged to dress for a 1950s, 1960s or 1970s era cocktail party.

SIP-tember: a celebration of the cocktail is presented by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. The City of Pasadena and Trusted Choice Agents of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena are generously sponsoring the event.