Order Up!: Save the Date for Motif’s 2023 Bartender Ball

Motif’s RI Bartender Ball is a chance to celebrate the incredible people who keep our glasses full from behind the bar. There is an awards ceremony with categories ranging from Favorite Cocktail Bartender, Bartender as Therapist, Local Icon, to Best Multitasker and Sassiest Bartender. 

In between the awards there are live bartending competitions put on in partnership with companies such as Guinness, Smoke Lab Vodka, and more. Best Guinness pour, Best Gin Fizz, and Fastest Wine Pour are among the live competitions in the past, and the ridiculous but still competitive energy is crazy to behold (see a sampler in last year’s video at youtube.com/watch?v=rEWxlL2OFG4). 

Live performances by local musicians and other performative artists act as a garnish to the proceedings – last year featured arealists from Arielle Arts, and Rhode Island favorites like the Providence Drum Troupe, Big Nazo and Amy the Mime. Food by R1 Indoor Karting’s in-house restaurant, Burrito Bowl, is on offer and the drinks are flowing, with different sponsors giving out samples of their product. 

The people who make sure we always have a good time deserve to have one too, so we’re excited to invite all – especially those in the industry – to the second annual Ball, Monday, July 10 at R1 Indoor Karting!

In the meantime, by popular demand for more competitive mixology, Motif has launched a monthly series of Bartender Challenges. Every month we’ll be at a new location with a new challenge for 10 local bartenders. The first one is happening May 30 at Dusk in Providence, where last year’s overall winner, Danielle Tellier and Smoke Lab representatives will judge contestants on invented cocktails using aniseed vodka as a central ingredient. And for round two, happening June 19 at R1 Indoor Karting in Lincoln, the theme will match their dart field: dystopian drinks. Celebrate mixology by joining in, or just sampling – each event will have some audience judging as well!