Coctail Party - Cuban Style

Washed in red and blue lighting, the Angel Orensanz Foundation served as the site for Bacardi's first "Legacy of the Cocktail" competition in New York. To highlight the brand's heritage, the event's producers looked to traditional Cuban street markets for design inspiration.

At tables around the perimeter of the venue's main floor, bartenders selected by the United States Bartender Guild were required to create libations inspired by and made predominantly with Bacardi's Superior brand of rum.

Vintage Bacardi ads were also part of the decor, standing on easels beside each competitor's table and bedecking a wall in one seating area.

The competition, which started in Europe three years ago, invites bartenders to make tipples using Bacardi's brand of Superior rum and judges the concoctions based on the balance and complexity of flavor.

As a functional design element, event producer Miguel Calvo placed café tables dressed with checkered tablecloths in one section, allowing guests to sit while trying the different cocktails.

Based on the markets of Cuba, Calvo created what he referred to as a "rolling bodega," from which a girl served pork crackling.

Another catering station pressed cubano panini.

Waitstaff dressed to match the red-and-black Bacardi logo passed additional nibbles, including cones of yucca fries.

As a reference to the history of the brand and the idea of creating a new age for cocktails, the event mixed the musical sounds of jazz and soul pianist Miles Dalto with DJ Cato's digital tunes.

The three winners from Sunday's event, Painkiller's Roberto Guentevilla, Compose's Bryan Matthys, and the Standard New York hotel's Tomas Delos Reyes, will go on to compete in Miami on February 3.