The National Finals of the USBG Shake It Up Classic Cocktail & Flair Competitions will be returning to the 2025 Bar & Restaurant Expo on March 25 & 26, and we now know who will be competing! The USBG announced the top five finalists in each competition who will be moving on to the nationals in Vegas.
During the Shake It Up National Finals, both the Classic and Flair Finalists will be competing in a challenge to create a cocktail using an assigned spirit and present it using IBA Standards.
Both the Champion and Runner-Up of each division will join Team USA to represent the US. The Champions will advance to the World Cocktail Championship (WCC) in Colombia in Fall 2025. The Runners-Up will advance to the Pan-American Cocktail Championship in Chile in Fall 2025.
USBG Shake It Up Classic Cocktail Competition Finalists
This year, a number of incredible submissions were received for Shake It Up 2025, the USBG National Cocktail Competition which identifies the US Classic Champions for the International Bartenders Association (IBA) Global Competitions.
In addition to submitting a signature cocktail, applicants were asked to submit a video cocktail demonstration and a one-minute inspiration story.
Two panels of judges reviewed each submission with the recipe portion being evaluated anonymously. The scores were combined to determine the Top 5 highest-scoring entrants who will advance to the Shake It Up Classic Cocktail Competition National Final in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, on the Spotlight Stage at the 2025 Bar & Restaurant Expo.
The 2025 Shake It Up Classic National Finalists are:
A Life of Flavours, Felipe Castro C, Salt Lake City, UT
Paradise Peach, Yolanda Gregg, Charlotte, NC
Updated Nostalgia, Connor Perry, Ann Arbor, MI
Tropical Muse, Liz Rodriguez, Miami, FL
Yes Chef, Jonathan Stanyard, Seattle, WA
USBG Shake It Up Flair Competition Finalists
Earlier this year, flair bartenders had the opportunity to compete to advance to the Shake It Up Flair National Final that will take place on the Spotlight Stage at the Bar & Restaurant Expo in Las Vegas on Wednesday, March 26.
The 2025 Shake It Up Flair National Finalists are:
Mariano Gil, Jr., Brownsville, TX
Mike Hastings, Nashville, TN
Manuel Picon, Miami, FL
Harry Rivera, Las Vegas, NV
Kenjiro Yanagi, Las Vegas, NV
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