We received a number of great recipes for next week's Drink Local Cocktail Contest, and had to narrow them down to five finalists. The judges had a hard time settling on just five contestants, given the total variety of great recipes received. Here they are, in no particular order:

Bobby Heugel, the Anvil (Houston)
Billy Hanky, the Good Knight (Austin)
Ben Craven, Starlite (Austin)
Bill Norris, FINO (Austin)
Will Earls, Gypsy (Austin)

These five finalists will compete live next Tuesday night at the Drink Local Night event at the Monarch*, from 6-9pm. The event is open to the public. Anyone who is interested in great cocktails with local flair should come check out this event; it will be one of the best gatherings of bartenders in Texas this year, and definitely worth checking out. In addition to the contest itself, all of the Texas spirits producers will be there sampling their wares, many with their own bartenders presenting signature cocktails. Congratulations to these finalists and a big Thank You to everyone who submitted recipes--we'll see you at the Monarch!

*The Monarch is the condo tower on 5th St. that looks like it is wearing a tiara