| By Dathan Kazsuk |
When Sarah McCabe walked onto the stage at Bay 7 in Durham for the 2025 NCRLA Chef Showdown, she wasn’t just another bartender hoping to impress a panel of judges. She was carrying with her years of late nights, packed services, trial-and-error experiments, and the kind of grit that only comes from living and breathing hospitality.
By the time her name was called as Mixologist of the Year, the moment felt less like a surprise and more like a culmination. For Sarah, it was the payoff of a journey that had started long before this competition, in bars and restaurants across the Triangle.
McCabe has been bartending for a decade, but her start looked nothing like the polished professional standing in front of judges this summer. She began humbly, working in restaurants while in college, hosting, backing, serving—doing whatever needed to be done. When she moved to Raleigh, she landed at Fox Liquor Bar, under the wing of acclaimed chef Ashley Christensen.
It was there she first felt the pull of bar management and the craft of cocktails. From there, her path led her to help open restaurants for Giorgios Bakatsias’ hospitality group, shaping bar programs for seven different concepts. She sharpened her skills with each one, but eventually she stepped away, searching for the right fit. That led her to The Longleaf Hotel, where she’s been for more than a year. In her words, Raleigh’s hospitality industry has been constantly shifting— restaurants opening and closing, bartenders moving around—but her own place in it has steadily grown more rooted.
It was Kelly Murphy from Cook’s Mill Whiskey who pulled Sarah into the world of the NCRLA competition. McCabe had known Murphy and her colleague Ian for nearly a decade in the beverage industry, and when Murphy approached her about partnering for the showdown, she didn’t hesitate. Murphy had been with Cook’s Mill since its launch, and the distillery was quickly earning a reputation as one of the best new names in North Carolina spirits. “It was a no-brainer,” McCabe says. “I love working with these guys.”
Cook’s Mill itself is a story steeped in history. The distillery was founded by Jason Queen, who many Raleigh locals know as the force behind Transfer Co. Food Hall. Queen has a passion for preservation, and when he came across the crumbling remains of an old gristmill in Mebane, he saw more than a relic—he saw an opportunity. Using heirloom corn linked to the site, Queen and his team worked with North Carolina State University to identify the best varieties for bourbon.
The result was a high-rye bourbon that stands out in flavor and character, a whiskey that Murphy and her team proudly championed in the Chef Showdown. “We only make one thing, but we make it really well,” she said. That one thing has now earned them the title of Distillery of the Year, just 3 years after hitting shelves.
For McCabe, the first challenge was the preliminaries. She had to create both a cocktail and a mocktail that showcased North Carolina ingredients while honoring Cook’s Mill’s bourbon. Instead of simply chasing trends or clever gimmicks, she turned inward. She decided her cocktail would be based on a lemon pound cake, a dessert tied to her childhood and family memories. It wasn’t just a drink, it was a personal story poured into a glass.
She shopped for ingredients at the State Farmers Market, leaning on her relationships with local farmers and her partner’s insight into seasonality. The result was something that tasted both nostalgic and fresh, comforting yet elevated. She refused to mask the whiskey with infusions or distractions—instead, she let Cook’s Mill shine. When the late-night message came that she’d advanced to the next round, she whooped with excitement in the middle of the night. The long hours of tinkering had paid off.
Moving into the semifinals, McCabe knew she couldn’t repeat herself. That meant starting over with a new idea, and after her sweet, dessert-inspired first round, she wanted to create something bolder, spicier, and rooted in Southern tradition. Her inspiration came while standing in her own kitchen, eating pepper jelly.
What if she could capture that balance of sweet heat in a cocktail? The idea sparked her imagination, and she delved into research, consulting with family members who canned pepper jelly and analyzing ingredients at local stores. She experimented with both peach and watermelon as a base, testing each until the very last moment. Twenty hours before the competition, she committed to peach. The gamble worked. The cocktail sang with layered flavors, with the spice of the bourbon marrying perfectly with the sweetness and heat of the jelly. It was a drink that felt familiar yet surprising, and it carried her into the finals.
Murphy was a key player during this process. She knew that high-rye bourbon could intimidate drinkers, but she trusted McCabe to balance the flavors in a way that made Cook’s Mill approachable without losing its edge. Murphy was there for tastings, offering small notes, encouraging McCabe to push forward with her instincts. It was a true collaboration—one side bringing the product, the other crafting the canvas.
The semifinals were another world entirely. Gone was the noise of a bar, replaced with the silence of a judging room, where three faces stared without reaction as McCabe poured and presented. “It was nerve-racking,” she admits later. “Behind the bar, I can be in front of a crowd all day long. But in that quiet room, every second felt eternal.” Her hands shook, but she filled the silence with her story—why she chose her ingredients, what the drink meant to her, the philosophy behind her bartending. By the end, even the judges acknowledged that she had settled into herself, showing not just skill, but presence.
When the winners were announced, the room erupted. Sarah McCabe, Mixologist of the Year. Cook’s Mill, Distillery of the Year. Two Raleigh names, taking home the state’s top honors together. For McCabe, it was validation that her approach—rooting cocktails in story and hospitality— mattered. “At the end of the day, it’s less about what’s in the cup, and more about the experience you’re giving people,” she said. “You can serve someone the best cocktail in the world, but if you make them feel unwelcome, they won’t come back. Give them a good drink and a great time, and you’ll see them at your bar every week.”
For Murphy, the recognition was proof that Cook’s Mill belonged in the conversation about great American bourbon. The distillery’s focus on heirloom grains and traditional methods had already set it apart, but winning this award gave them credibility with distributors, ABC boards, and skeptical bourbon drinkers who often overlook North Carolina spirits. “North Carolina actually started distilling bourbon 120 years before Kentucky,” Kelly says. “We just had stricter laws and prohibition.
Too many distilleries have rushed the process and hurt the state’s reputation, but we’re here to show North Carolina knows how to make great bourbon.”
The future looks bright for both women. Cook’s Mill plans to release new expressions, including a barrel-proof bourbon and an heirloom series that will explore how different North Carolina soils shape the flavor of corn. McCabe, meanwhile, is back behind the bar at Longleaf, where her regulars can taste the drinks that carried her to the top. And if there’s a message she hopes others take from her journey, it’s this: Competitions come and go, but hospitality endures. Approach every service, every drink, every guest with care and passion. That’s what wins the night, whether you’re on stage or at the corner of a bar in Raleigh.
The 2025 Chef Showdown will be remembered for many things, but for Raleigh, it marked the moment when a bartender and a distillery joined forces to show the state what’s possible. Sarah McCabe and Kelly Murphy didn’t just win awards. They told a story—of history, collaboration, and community—one sip at a time.
