2024 USA East finalists

Patrón Perfectionists 2024 USA East finalists image 1

Patrón Perfectionists 2024 USA East finalists

The US East winner and their cocktail, who'll go on to compete for a place in the Patrón Perfectionists Global Final in May 2024.

Gustavo Rodriguez

ency 58 image

Gustavo Rodriguez, a Miami native, boasts a decade of bartending expertise, primarily in the lively Miami scene. Raised in the heart of Florida, his passion for spirits has not only defined his craft but fueled a commitment to education and sustainability. Gustavo is revered for his unique cocktail creations, blending the vibrant essence of Miami with his dedication to sustainable practices. Beyond mixing drinks, he's a passionate advocate for educating both patrons and fellow industry professionals. With over 10 years of experience, Gustavo Rodriguez stands out not only for his mixology skills but for his unwavering commitment to the Miami cocktail culture and sustainable bartending practices.

Entry Challenge cocktail inspiration
"El Guayabo" pays homage to Gustavo's family's 100-year-old coffee farm in Ataco, El Salvador, blending the legacy of PATRÓN Tequila with their generational commitment to the land. This cocktail features coffee-infused PATRÓN Silver, a nod to the rich coffee heritage that inspired me. The infusion of cacao, coffee, orange, lemon, and lime creates a symphony of vibrant flavours reminiscent of a classic Margarita. Milk-washing enhances the luxurious mouthfeel, mirroring the meticulous care our family has devoted to the farm. As the torchbearer of El Salvador's agricultural tradition, each sip is a heartfelt tribute to the enduring legacy shared between Patrón Tequila and Gustavo's family's deep-rooted connection to the land.

ency 80 image

Gustavo Rodriguez's El Guayabo
Bar: Faena, Miami, FL
- 1.75 oz Espresso infused Patrón Silver*
- 1.5 oz Cacao orange syrup*
- 1 oz Citrus juice

*To make Espresso infused Patrón Silver:
2:1 by weight Patrón and coffee beans (These beans are from my family farm in El Salvador).

*To make Cacao orange syrup:
32 oz Soursop/Guanabana pulp
1/4 cup Dark Cacao Powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
5 cloves
16 oz water
3.5 cups sugar
Brix at 55% Citrus Juice - 20 oz
12 oz Lime
4 oz lemon
4 oz orange

Other finalists



ency 68 image

Alexis Duarte's Fruit Stand Parfait
Bar: Milady's, Jersey City, NJ
- 1.5 oz Olive Oil Washed Patrón Silver*
- 0.5 oz Cointreau
- 10 gr Greek yogurt
- 0.5 oz Fresh lime juice
- 1 oz Granola Infused Agave*
- 1/4 barspoon Salt

*To make Olive Oil Washed Patrón Silver:
Take 750 ml of delicious Patrón Silver tequila and pour it into a heat safe zip lock bag. Then, take 100 gr of high quality Greek extra virgin olive oil (don't skimp out of the good stuff, It will be worth it) and add it into the same bag. Zip the bag up and give it a quick light shake to mix. Submerge bag in a water-filled Cambro container and sous-vide at a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit) to heat infuse. After one hour of infusing, remove bag to let cool, transfer to a lidded container, and place in freezer overnight. Take container out of freezer and strain the solid particulates out of the tequila, leaving you with a slightly more textured and nuanced result that lends itself perfectly to Patrón Silver's core flavours.

*To make Granola Infused Agave:
Homemade Granola: Take a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Also, preheat your trusty oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a mixing bowl, take two cups of old fashioned rolled oats, 1/2 cup of sliced almonds, 1/4 cup of green pumpkin seeds (pepitas), 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and stir it up like Bob Marley to mix. Then, take 1/4 cup of olive oil (remember the good stuff!), 1/4 cup of honey, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and pour into the same mixing bowl, making sure to mix well until every nut and oat is lightly coated. Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet, using a large spoon to spread into an even layer. Place in oven for about 20-25 minutes until it toasts up to a light golden colour. Don't forget to stir halfway through to get an even bake. Take the tray out of the oven and let it cool for about an hour. The result is a delicious, crunchy, granola with wafting aromas of autumn.
Take 750 gr of raw agave nectar, and blend with 250 gr of hot water. Blend fully. Then in a heat safe zip lock bag, pour in 200 gr of crushed homemade granola and all of the agave syrup. Zip bag up, give a nice shake to incorporate, and submerge in a Cambro filled with water. Sous-vide it all at 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit) for one hour to heat infuse. Then remove from water, let cool, and pour into a super bag to strain out agave from the granola into a separate container. You may have to use your hands to squeeze out every last bit of agave from the bag. The result, I dubbed Granola gave!

ency 22 image

Andrea Grujic's Gypsy Alley
Bar: Sip & Guzzle, Brooklyn, NY
- 1.5 oz Patrón Silver
- 1.5 oz Slivovitz/Plum Brandy Cordial*
- 1 barspoon Citric solution*
- 1 barspoon Light Blue Agave

*To make Slivovitz/Plum Brandy Cordial:
10 damson plums
2 cups 100 proof Slivovitz (aka Serbian Plum Brandy sourced at a local Brooklyn liquor store but is widely available online as well)
1 cup regular white sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
Pit the plums, cut into halves and place them in a medium sized pot where the plums are evenly distributed across the bottom. Add cinnamon sticks, pour 1 cup of Slivovitz, set the stovetop to medium heat, cover with lid and cook for 25 mins. Stir occasionally. Once time is up, turn the stove off and let it rest for about 2 hours. During this process most of the alcohol will evaporate which is why we add 1 more cup of Slivovitz once the mixture has cooled off a bit. Mix it in gently and leave overnight.
Strain the liquid through a mesh strainer and make sure you keep the leftover plum pulp; we will be using it to rim the glass and it also serves as delicious jam filling for crepes. In order to achieve the clearest texture, we will strain the cordial one more time through a coffee filter (a Chemex would have been great to use for this step but sadly I don't have one, so I improvised with a jar and some rubber bands).

*To make Citric solution:
Combine the following ingredients in a container and leave overnight:
2 lime peels
15 grams white sugar
15 grams citric acid
1/2 barspoon smoked salt
1 cup water

ency 97 image

Dorothy Douglas' Parisian Patisserita
Bar: Silver Lyan, Arlington, Va
- 50 ml Patrón Silver
- 20 ml Raspberry Macaron Cointreau*
- 15 ml Fresh squeezed lime juice
- 15 ml Brioche Agave
- 250 gr Profiterole Grand Marnier*

*To make Raspberry Macaron Cointreau:
Take 4 raspberry macarons and 400ml of Cointreau into a vacuum sealed bag. Crush macarons in Cointreau. Sous vide for 90 minutes at 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Strain through coffee filter and chinois.

*To make Brioche Agave:
Melt down 100g of unsalted butter then add 100ml of agave and a half teaspoon of kosher salt. Fine strain through a coffee filter and chinois.

*To make Profiterole Grand Marnier:
Take 250g of 72% cacao dark chocolate and melt in a metal bowl placed over boiling water. Once melted, add 250ml Grand Marnier and whisk until combined.

ency 89 image

Gonzalo Ramos' Shishimai Margarita
Bar: Industry Kitchen, New York, NY
- 1.5 oz Patrón Silver
- 1 dash Mizkan Ponzu Citrus Soy Sauce
- 0.25 oz Shishito Oleo Saccharum*
- 0.25 oz amajirushi Yuzu Seasoning Base
- 0.75 oz Shishito infused Patrón Ahumado Silver Tequila*

*To make Shishito Oleo Saccharum:
(62g average)
74g Chopped Shishito Pepper
74g Organic cane sugar
Combine both ingredients in a ziplock bag, remove the air and let it sit at least 5hrs no more than 14hrs. (The longer the rest, the darker the colour and the deeper the flavour). Fine mesh strain, use a spoon to press down and squeeze the peppers to get out every last drop. If you want to go the extra step, pour the liquid back into the bag and move around to collect all the sugar on the walls of the bag and fine mesh strain once again. Keep the Shishito Pepper leftover for the garnish. Bring the syrup to room temperature before use for best flavour experience.

*To make Shishito infused Patrón Ahumado Silver Tequila:
(100g average)
20g Shishito Pepper
100g Patrón Ahumado Silver
Chop the Shishito pepper and combine with tequila in a mason jar. Sous Vide 4hrs at 140 F then fine mesh strain, bottle and date. Keep your leftover Shishito Pepper for any sauce that you want to prepare for another time.

ency 37 image

Erik Rosales' Autumn Youth
Bar: Employees Only, Brooklyn, NY
- 2 oz Patrón Silver
- 1 oz Lime juice
- 0.5 oz Timur Peppercorn Cordial*
- 0.5 oz Tarragon infused Agave*
- 1 dash Celery bitters

*To make Timur Peppercorn Cordial:
Cordial was made with granulated sugar, citric acid, water, lime juice.

*To make Tarragon infused Agave:
This syrup was put to rest for 24hrs so that the flavours of the tarragon can be infused with the agave. Grapefruit/Lemon Peels were also used into this syrup.

ency 93 image

Meghan Wright's The Perfect Vice
Bar: AquaGrille, Hobe Sound, FL
- 1.5 oz Patrón Silver
- 1 oz Coconut washed Combier*
- 0.75 oz Clarified pineapple cordial*
- 0.75 oz Lime juice
- 0.25 oz Lacto-fermented strawberry cordial*
- 0.25 oz Pineapple infused Raicilla*
- 5 dashes Green strawberry and Makwan bitters

*To make Coconut washed Combier:
500 ml Combier Orange Liqueur
500 ml Virgin Coconut Oil
Liquify coconut oil in a saucepan on low. Measure out equal parts Combier (500ml) and liquified coconut oil (500ml). Combine into a mason jar. Shake to integrate. Leave out at room temperature until oil and Combier separate. Repeat shake and let rest until oil settles again. Put into freezer and leave overnight. In the morning, remove from freezer. Remove frozen (solidified) oil cap and fine strain coconut washed Combier.

*To make Clarified pineapple cordial:
12 oz Roasted Pineapple Agave*
12 oz Drillaud Strawberry Liqueur
6 oz Day Trip Strawberry Amaro
2 oz Lemon Juice
2 oz Orange Juice
10 oz Coconut Milk
Combine all ingredients except for coconut milk into a container. Stir to integrate. Measure out coconut milk and pour into a separate container. Add combined ingredients to the container containing the coconut milk. Let sit for approximately 30 minutes. Coconut milk will begin to curdle. Strain through a coffee filter lined strainer. (I used a drip coffee plastic filter lined with v-shaped paper coffee filter).

*To make Roasted Pineapple Agave
505 g Pineapple
1 tbs. Unsalted butter
112 g Brown sugar
1 tbsp. Maple syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
15 oz Light Agave Nectar
Cut pineapple into cubes. Heat butter on low to melt. Combine all ingredients except for agave nectar into a large bowl. Stir until sugar is dissolved and coat pineapples. Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Roast for 12-15 minutes. Turn oven to broil on high. Broil pineapple for 3-5 minutes. Add warm roasted pineapple to agave nectar. Let sit together for 24 hours. Fine strain to remove pineapple pieces.

*To make Lacto-fermented strawberry cordial:
500 g Frozen strawberries
500 g Granulated sugar
500 g Water
15 g Lactic acid non-iodized salt
Combine strawberries and sugar. Evenly coat and vacuum seal strawberry/sugar mixture. Leave overnight to create an oleo-saccharum. Strain strawberries from liquid. (Save strawberries.) Add 15 grams lactic acid to strawberry liquid and stir to dissolve. Measure the weight in grams of the strawberry and lactic acid liquid. Multiple the weight by 0.02. This will be the amount of salt you add. (Weight of liquid x 0.02g = amount of salt.) Add salt and stir till dissolved. Add liquid back to strawberries. Vacuum seal liquid and solid strawberries and ferment for 4-7 days until bag balloons. Open and fine strain.

*To make Pineapple infused Raicilla:
180 g Pineapple (fresh cut)
6 oz Estancia Raicilla
Combine ingredients and let infuse for 3 days. Fine strain.

ency 74 image

Michael Aredes' Nom Nom Nom
Bar: Superbueno, New York, NY
- 1.5 oz Patrón Silver
- 0.5 oz Aberfeldy 12
- 0.75 oz Coconut water Agave syrup (1:1 by volume)*
- 1 oz Fresh lime juice
- 1 oz Unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 dash Saline solution (5:1 water to salt)

*To make Coconut water Agave syrup:
Combine 8 oz of agave nectar into 8 oz of coconut water and still to combine.
Black Sesame Salt: take 1 tablespoon of salt, black sesame powder, and white sugar, and put into a container. Seal it and shake it up until it is fully incorporated.

ency 76 image

Orestes Cruz's Al Pastor Margaritav
Bar: Tortuga y Chango, Atlanta, GA
- 2 oz Patrón Silver
- 1 oz Al Pastor Cordial
- 0.75 oz Patrón Citronge Orange Liqueur infused with Ancho Chile*
- 0.75 oz Lime

*To make Patrón Citronge Orange Liqueur infused with Ancho Chile:
In an airtight container, add a bottle of Patrón Citronge Orange Liqueur and one cup of Ancho Chiles. Let it sit for 1 hour and strain. Store in fridge, good for up to 1 month.

Yellow bell pepper syrup:
Wash and cut six yellow bell peppers. Remove stems and seeds. Use juicer to extract liquid from pepper. Six peppers makes about 30 oz of juice. Measure out equal parts of juice and white sugar. Heat the juice at low temperature and when warm, mix in sugar. Stir sugar until it dissolves. Let it cool and refrigerate, good for up to two weeks.

ency 14 image

Jon Kraus' Pizza Margarita
Bar: Peak, New York, NY
- 1.5 oz Patrón Silver
- 0.75 oz Margherita cordial*
- 1 oz Margherita syrup*
- 0.75 oz Fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz Patrón Ahumado Reposado (Float at the end)

*To make Margherita cordial:
Equal Parts of Massenez 'Garden Party' Basil & Massenez 'Garden Party' Sun Dried Tomato. Combine one of each 375ml bottle into a 750ml bottle.

*To make Margherita syrup:
- 500 g In-season tomatoes, washed
- 400 g White sugar
- 1 Clove hard stem garlic
- 90 g Fresh basil, washed (Italian 'Genovese' preferred - not the one that tastes like anise)
Slice Tomatoes and lay out over aluminium foil. Crush garlic clove with knife and lay on foil. Use a butane torch to lightly char the tomatoes and garlic. We want quick colour but not to warm the tomatoes up. Combine everything in a container with sugar and basil. Cover, toss and let sit. Toss occasionally. Fine strain after several hours once the sugar has dissolved - it will be a nice, translucent red colour. Do not let sit too long or garlic will overpower. It will taste like the best tomato basil.

ency 43 image

Scooby Oliver's Casa de Ybor
Bar: The Barterhouse, Tampa, FL
- 2 oz Patrón Blanco
- 1 oz Guava necter
- 0.75 oz Pierre ferrand yuzu curaco
- 0.75 oz Espresso infused agave*
- 1 barspoon Tepache oleo*

*To make Espresso infused agave:
16 oz agave is heated and mixed with used 1.5 oz Espresso Grounds. Sits overnight then filtered to remove particles.
*To make Tepache oleo:
Pineapple skins used to make tepache are reused and added to sugar to make an oleo saccharum.

ency 81 image

Steven Loveland's Beach Cactus
Bar: Heirloom, Freehold, NJ
- 2 oz Patrón Silver
- 0.75 oz Fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz Rambutan agave syrup*
- 0.5 oz Carpano Bianco Vermouth
- 0.5 oz "The Perfect Puree" Prickly Pear Puree
- 3 dashes Orange bitters

*To make Rambutan agave syrup:
Peel and deseed fresh Rambutan and blend the fruit with standard Agave syrup in a ratio of 4-5 (depending on size) Rambutan to every 250ml of syrup.

ency 35 image

Victoria Rivera's Equinox Margaritas
Bar: Hidden Pearl, Brooklyn, NY
- 2.5 oz Patrón Blanco
- 0.69 oz Panela and orange syrup
- 0.83 oz Winter spice tea
- 1.12 oz Pumpkin puree
- 0.83 oz Super lime juice
- 1.12 oz Coconut milk

Milk Punch Tea 2 tsp
Vanilla extract 4
star anise pods 1 tsp
nutmeg .5 tsp
cardamom (4 cracked green cardomom pods)
Pinch of cloves (salt 1tsp)
.5 tsp coriander
32 oz hot water
2 tsp Canela
(4 cracked sticks) 8grams panela
Roast spices On low heat For 5 mins except for Vanilla extract + salt +panela
add 32 oz water
Add vanilla and salt and panela
Let Steep for 15mins

Milk punch
Add spirit
Add puree
Add tea
Add super lime juice
Add syrup
Simmer coconut milk and then add batched mixture into warmed coconut milk
Let sit for 2-24hrs

Double coffee strain Syrup Recipe
156 g panela
312 hot water
1 whole orange peels
2 oz orange juice
20 dashes orange bitters
6 dashes coriander bitters

ency 23 image

Vivian Foong's Tokyo Drift
Bar: Sexy Fish, Miami, FL
- 1.5 oz Patrón Silver
- 0.5 oz Kumquat Shiso oleo*
- 0.5 oz Kabosu juice
- 0.5 oz Kumquat Shiso liqueur*

*To make Kumquat Shiso Oleo:
Combine 480 gms kumquats, 30 shiso leaves & 480 gms cane sugar, vacuum seal, let steep for 36 hours. Strain oleo from solids. Reserve leftover kumquats for gummy production.

*To make Kumquat Shiso Liqueur:
Vacuum seal 240 gms kumquats, 240 gms sugar, 30 shiso leaves & 240 gms Patrón Silver tequila; cook sous vide for 3-4 hrs at 135 F; let rest to room temp & chill overnight; strain liqueur through fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth & reserve kumquats to be juiced and used in gummy production. Place a few ounces of strained liqueur in an atomizer to be used as an aromatic spray.

Kumquat Gummy: Puree leftover kumquats from the infusion and oleo. Fine strain through mesh sieve. Blend 250 gms kumquat juice with 750 gms tangerine & 20 gms kabosu juice. Heat to 120 F. Add 300 gms glucose, 35 gms pectin & 175 gms sugar to juice blend and cook to 218 F (1.5 to 2 hrs). Add 18 gms citric acid & 175 gms additional sugar to the mix, cook for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and immediately pour onto silicone sheet lined baking tray. Be quick in this action because it will set almost immediately. Let rest for 30 minutes. Use a circular mold to shape gummies from sheet.

Togarashi Chili Salt: 3:1:1 ratio of shichimi togarashi, cane sugar, maldon salt

Welcome to Difford's Guide

All editorial and photography on this website is copyright protected

© Odd Firm of Sin 2025