Patrón Perfectionists 2024 Spain & Portugal Finalists

Michel Alves

Originally from Venezuela, Michel has been living in Spain for the last 8 years. Having studied Hotel Management, she decided to specialise –in the beverage world, from cocktails, to wines and specialty coffee. Currently, Michel works as a bartender at Collage Cocktail Bar, in Barcelona, a venue specialising in modern exotic cocktails.

Entry Challenge cocktail inspiration
The city of inspiration for Hogar cocktail is Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), where Michel lived for four months in 2019. Puerto Vallarta represents three things to Michel: gastronomy, nature and human warmth. First of all, a key memory reflected in the drink is walking along the boardwalk eating chopped mangos and drinking fresh waters, breathing the sea breeze or the humid mountain air. This feeling is represented by the air of salt (which, in turn, simulates the foam of the sea) and the aroma of cedar, a typical tree of the city. Finally, and most importantly, the sense of hospitality of the city is represented by the cocktail's personalised coaster, full of photographs that refer to the sense of home experienced in Puerto Vallarta.

Michel Alves' Hogar

Bar: Collage, Barcelona
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 50ml Mango, grapefruit and hibiscus cordial
- 30ml Soda water

*To make Mango, grapefruit and hibiscus Cordial:
Vacuum pack a mango with a solution of 5% of its weight of pectinase, and a grapefruit with a solution of 5% of its weight of pectinase and naringinase enzyme – both fruits with their pulp and skin. Leave them in the fridge for 24 hours, then grind them with turmix and freeze both purees. Clarify with a paper filter and cold for 12 hours. Finally, for the composition of the cordial, mix 200 grams of mango water, 120 grams of grapefruit water, 160 grams of sugar, 16 grams of citric acid and 2 grams of salt. Add 4 grams of dehydrated hibiscus and leave to marinate for 25 minutes, then filter.

Other finalists

Carlos Fernández's Malaka

Bar: La Plage Casanis, Marbella
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 30ml Cordial of smoky lacto-fermented Pomelo and Jasmine
- 20ml Soda water

* To make Pomelo and Jasmine Cordial:
Lacto-ferment the grapefruit by adding 5% sugar to help the fermentation, 2% salt and 2% pectins. Infuse the resulting, filtered liquid, with 1 gram of smoky essence, and citric acid.

Carlos Wagner's Saudade

Bar: Euforia, Valencia
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 50ml Papaya, Star Fruit, Acerola, Sweet Chili & Pomelo Cordial
- 100ml Coconut oil, Gusano salt and soda water

*To make Papaya, Star Fruit, Acerola, Sweet Chili & Pomelo Cordial:
1200g of papaya fruit, 50cl of fresh grapefruit juice, 3 pieces of star fruit, 150g of sweet chili, 2 units of kafir leaves, zest of 2 limes. Clarification method: Agar Agar.

Berto Daaz's Monte

Bar: El Patio De Butacas, Asturias
- 45ml Patrón Reposado
- 30ml Chanterelles mushrooms, grapefruit and ceniza salt cordial
- 80ml Soda water

*To make Chanterelles mushrooms, grapefruit and ceniza salt Cordial:
Use pectinex to extract all the flavour out of the whole grapefruit. Simmer the Chanterelles at low heat with thyme, rosemary, ceniza salt and a bit of grapefruit juice. Filter and clarify with agar agar. Adjust with sugar, citric acid and ascorbic acid to balance our cordial.

Afonso Garcia's Crib

Bar: Royal Cocktail Club, Oporto
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 75ml Grapefruit, mulato chili pepper and 'Casca de Carvalho' melon
- 50ml Soda water

*To make homemade Cordial:
The cordial is made by blending 300 ml of the melon juice,150 ml of grapefruit juice, 250 g of sugar, 20 g of citric acid and 100ml of water infused with 500g og melon peels and 6.5g of mulato chili. Let it sit at 66º for 2 hours (sous vide).

Mario Oliveira's La Palmera

Bar: Tokkotai, Vila Nova De Gaia
- 50ml PATRÓN Reposado
- 25ml Carrot butter, grapefruit & cocoa cordial
- 60ml Carrot salt soda water

*To make Carrot butter, grapefruit & cocoa Cordial*
400gr carrot juice, 400gr white sugar, 60gr grapefruit peels, 50gr cocoa butter, 10ml cocoa bitters, citric acid powder (1gr for every 100ml of buttery syrup).
In a saucepan, combine the carrot juice and powdered sugar, stirring over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely, resulting in a uniform mixture. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the grapefruit peels and cocoa bitters. Leave it for 4 hours. After this period, strain the liquid to remove the shells. For the buttery step, melt the cocoa butter over low heat in a pan and mix it with the carrot syrup, sealing both in a vacuum bag. Leave it at cold temperature for 4 hours and then make a fine filtering using a cheese cloth to obtain velvety texture. Add citric acid to the liquid obtained and store in a glass container in the refrigerator until use.

David González's Nieve de Octubre

Bar: Little Bobby, Santander
- 50ml Patrón Reposado
- 35ml Grapefruit and 'te de roca' herb cordial
- 25ml Soda water

*To make Grapefruit and 'te de roca' herb Cordial*
Use oleo saccharum to make a grapefruit cordial from grapefruit juice, sugar and grapefruit skins. Then, add 'te de roca' herb extract and flowers

Germán Álvarez's Birlik

Bar: Especiarium, Barcelona
- 50ml PATRÓN Reposado
- 35ml Black tea, cardamom and grapefruit cordial
- 30ml Soda water

*To make Black tea, cardamom and grapefruit Cordial
800 ml black tea and grapefruit
400 grams of sugar
8 grams of cardamom (previously mashed)
3 grams of malic acid
1.5 grams of citric acid
Put all ingredients in a vacuum bag and sous vide it for 60 minutes at 60 degrees. Strain with a filter put in the fridge to cool.

Lían Alviz's El Nido

Bar: La Única, Madrid
- 45ml Patrón Reposado
- 85ml Spicy tomato and grapefruit cordial
- 65ml Soda water

*To make Spicy tomato and grapefruit Cordial
300ml Spicy tomato water. 300ml fortified grapefruit juice. 100ml grapefruit cordial. Place all the ingredients in a plastic bag and vacuum seal. Let it rest in the fridge.

Davide Norcini's Palomita

Bar: Dr Stravinsky, Barcelona
- 60ml Patrón Reposado
- 60ml Hollywood cordial
- 40ml Soda water

*To make Hollywood Cordial
Hollywood Cordial: 200 ml grapefruit juice, 150 ml lime juice, 200 ml pop corn syrup*, 5g Los Angeles spice mix^, 2g salt. Mix all the ingredients and filter with a fine strainer. Save the leftovers to make the rim.
*Pop corn syrup: Grind 20g of corn kikos, 20g of popcorn, 100ml of water and 200 grams of sugar. Filter and add to the cordial. Use leftovers for the rim.
^Los Angeles spice mix: 5g of dried dill, 5g of dried rosemary, 5g dried thyme, 10g onion powder, 15g spicy paprika, 15g paprika.