Spirit of Phoenix: Craft the City’s Signature Cocktail

Inspired by regional cocktails with legendary notoriety such as New York City's iconic Manhattan cocktail, Mayor Kate Gallego set on a mission to create Phoenix's first signature city cocktail. In partnership with Visit Phoenix, the Mayor's office collaborated with local cocktail industry professionals from award-winning bars such as Little Rituals , Century Grand , and Garden Bar, among others. 

With that, the Spirit of Phoenix cocktail contest was born. We gave contestants very few rules. They needed to live in a Phoenix zip code, the cocktail had to be made via a "traditional" bar technique, a maximum of three house made ingredients could be used, no more than two ounces used for the base spirit, one full ounce had to be Milagro Tequila, and local and indigenous ingredients were encouraged. 

With those limitations set in place, Nicole Long of Santo Arcadia's recipe for "The Phoenix" came in at first place, voted on by residents of the city of Phoenix. The Santo Arcadia mixologist crafted a unique cocktail recipe that was selected as the cocktail most representative of our bold and diverse city. With homemade Chiltepin mesquite honey syrup, prickly pear fruit, and lemon juice from lemon’s picked by Nicole, her cocktail is a true garden-to-glass experience. 

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