It might be very easy to rest on your laurels when your name is Lauren Mote. The co-founder of Bittered Sling Bitters and head bartender at UVA Wine & Cocktail Bar was just named Bartender of the Year by Vancouver Magazine (on her birthday, no less), and has become an international ambassador for Canadian cocktail culture. Mote, however, is a legendary whirl of energy that never seems to sit still, as her latest project proves.
If you’ve never heard of Speed Rack, don’t feel bad. The all-female bartending competition in support of breast cancer awareness was founded in the US less than a handful of years ago by bartenders Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix. Marrero and Mix approached Mote about bringing Speed Rack to Canada, and Mote brought aboard Danielle Tatarin, beverage director and GM at The Keefer, with whom she has collaborated many times over the years, and who was already affiliated with Speed Rack in the US.
The pair has worked together to create something more than just another bartending competition. “It’s bringing everyone [in the community] together in support of a common goal,” enthuses Mote. “It’s also important in that we are supporting a cause with a staggeringly frightening statistic; one in three women will have breast cancer.”
The recipient of the event, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – BC and Yukon Chapter, will receive 100 per cent of the proceeds, but Mote sees another benefit to the event. “If the VanMag Awards taught us anything, it’s that winning Bartender of the Year is a really great honour, but recognizing only the second female bartender to win that award is an even greater honour, as is perpetuating this amazing idea that female bartenders don’t have to hide under the cloak of this male-dominated industry, that the paradigm shift is changing. Bringing all these women (18 in total) from across Canada to compete in Speed Rack Canada; it means more than just having a good time, it’s about really empowering women to step up and say, ‘You know what? I am an incredible bartender, and nobody is going to stand in the way of my executing what I want to do.’”
Each region was open for applications, and bartenders submitted not only proof of their speed at the bar, but also an essay on why Speed Rack is important to them, why breast cancer is a cause they want to support, and why they love bartending and chose to focus on it for their career. The finalists come from Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto and will be competing during the EAT! Vancouver Food & Cooking Festival this weekend.
Bartenders are judged on not only speed, but also the quality of the cocktail. “Each girl has the ability to adjust her drink slightly, it’s up to them to understand what the fundamentals of the classic recipe are,” explains Mote. “But, what they present to the judges has to be balanced and recognizable as whatever drink they’re supposed to be making. If it’s a Margarita, then it needs to be a bar-quality, sellable margarita that you could charge $12 for.” Rankings are awarded in equal parts based on speed, technique, taste and likeness to the original concept of the cocktail. The winner receives one of two spots to compete in Giffard’s prestigious Iron Bartender Competition in France in June. “And they’ll have bragging rights,” laughs Mote.
• Speed Rack Canada National Finals are on Saturday, May 2, 1pm-4pm, at BC Place Banquet Ballroom. Tickets are $25 and include entry to EAT! Vancouver on the day of the event, free cocktails, food and more. Eat-Vancouver.com/Speed-Rack-Canada-National-Finals
