I'm not sure when I first started noticing it, but the "official cocktail" has become a regular feature at a number of festivals lately. The Tales of the Cocktail conference/festival/booze orgy that takes place in New Orleans every summer has had an official cocktail contest for several years. I submitted an entry the last couple years. Neither passed Go, nor collected any $.

Last year we introduced an Official Cocktail contest to the Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, this year's version of which took place here in Austin a couple weeks ago.

Well fire up your shakers for another Official Cocktail contest, this one is the Houston area at the Grand Wine & Food Affair. I will be the host. Deadline is coming up quickly (Wednesday 4/13) but it's a tequila cocktail contest so hopefully you have some original recipe in your tool kit that is perfect for this event! Sponsored by Top Shelf Wine & Spirits in Sugarland, the contest features a $1000 cash prize for the winning recipe.

The Click won't work on this logo but CLICK HERE for rules, etc.