Cocktails Gone Crazy at NC Mixology Contest

By dathan

July 1, 2025

Natalie Takacs of End of Days Distillery in Wilmington prepares her Primrose of the Pines drink. Photo by Dathan Kazsuk.

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From sausage-infused rum to BBQ cocktails with pork rind garnishes—the road to the NCRLA’s Mixologist of the Year

By Dathan Kazsuk

Being a part of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s preliminary rounds for Mixologist of the Year felt like being in an episode of The White Lotus—somebody metaphorically dies in the first 20 minutes, and then we flash back to “one week earlier.” Except in our case, it was two weeks earlier. Monday, April 14. Piccione Vineyards. Ronda, North Carolina. Ground zero.

That’s where the journey began for NCRLA’s 2025 Mixologist of the Year, set to be crowned on Saturday, August 4 at the Angus Barn’s Bay 7 inside Durham’s American Tobacco Campus. Mark your calendars. Bring your taste buds.

Day one at Piccione was all about getting our footing—watching the mixologists and distillers roll in, set up their stations and hustle against the clock. Rules for them. Rules for us. With embargos set, we couldn’t show off any of the amazing drinks until after the judges narrowed it down to 10, moving to the next round. We’ve been sitting on this like a juicy piece of gossip, just waiting for the green light from the one and only heidibillottofood.com.

The preliminary round judges—Stephanie Elliott (Merle’s/Piccione Vineyards), Amy Waas (Cheeni/Bar Beej) and Esteban McMahan (Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery/Distillery)—had a monstrous task: trimming down 15 cocktails and 15 mocktails to just 10 each. The odds were good, but the competition was brutal.

The drinks? Oh, they brought the crazy: rum infused with Neese County sausage, dirty rice orgeat, sage-infused vermouth, pine flower dust and vegan strawberry foam. Are we still talking about cocktails, or is this an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern?

Talking shop is part of the process—and honestly, one of the best parts. During our two full days of media coverage, we sat with brilliant minds like Billotto, Got to be NC’s Chad Blackwelder, Piccione Vineyards’ vineyard manager Dustin Gentry and NCRLA’s president, Lynn Minges. Whether it’s chatting about food trends, how frost recently destroyed crops, cocktail culture or where the industry is heading next, it’s like pulling up a chair to a secret society meeting—except everyone’s nicer and better hydrated.

Fast-forward to Monday, April 28, and things got even more bizarre—in the best possible way.

Aquafaba (a starchy liquid that remains after cooking or canning chickpeas) replaces egg whites. Thick purple yam syrup. A vinegar-based BBQ cocktail with a torched oak plank, crowned with a pork rind dripping in sticky barbecue sauce. Why stop there? We also sampled a rum steeped in roasted shrimp shells—it tasted exactly like you would imagine. Like licking the floor of a shrimp boat—but heck, it was creative!

Even the NA (nonalcoholic) options came to play. One mixologist combined tomato and asparagus into a legit refreshing sipper, paired with a salted lager from Resident Culture Brewing that was so good it almost made us rethink every bad NA beer experience we’ve ever had.

PICCIONE VINEYARDS: ON TO THE SEMIS

Set inside the relatively new La Collina tasting room high atop a hill in Ronda, overlooking acres of vines, these mixologists were fortunate to make it to the semifinals and the respective distilleries they have partnered with.

Ashley Sarkis of Yunta Nikkea in Charlotte, partnered with Oaklore Distilling Co. in Matthews; Connor Schlosser of Folia in Charlotte, partnered with Chemist Spirits in Asheville; Lauren Burkert of Free Range Brewing in Charlotte, partnered with Great Wagon Road Distilling Co. in Charlotte; Sean Teague of Chief’s Modern Cocktail Parlor in Charlotte, partnered with Southern Artisan Spirits in Kings Mountain; and Sekani Akunyun of Lorem Ipsum Listening Bar in Charlotte, partnered with Mystic Farm & Distillery in Durham.

END OF DAYS: ON TO THE SEMIS

On the second installment of the NCRLA finding its Mixologist of the Year, the judges and I went to Wilmington’s End of Days Distillery. The battle was fierce, as nine participants were narrowed to five. Below is the list making it to the semifinals.

Kayla Wenzel of Native Fine Diner in Greenville, partnered with The Hackney Distillery in Washington; Meggan Mendoza of Weldon Mills Distillery in Durham, partnered with Weldon Mills Distillery; Natalie Takacs of End of Days Distillery in Wilmington, partnered with End of Days Distillery; Sarah McCabe of The Longleaf Hotel in Raleigh, partnered with Cook’s Mill Whiskey in Raleigh; and Travis James of Julep Contemporary Kitchen in Greenville, partnered with Crush Vodka in Greenville.

I wish the Triangle was a little more represented in this competition, but at least we’re there. We have one mixologist from Raleigh, and a couple of distilleries from Raleigh and Durham are still in the battle—let’s cross our fingers.

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