Cochon 555 Punch King title served up at Ace

On a booze-filled Sunday afternoon at Ace, ten of the top bartenders in the country -- Josh Wortman of Anejo NYC; Trip Sandifer of The Spence in Atlanta; Dustin Hoeft of Modis in Breck; Adam Fortuna of Artusi in Seattle; Kevin Mabry of JM Curley in Boston; Daniel Godinez and...

By Samantha Alviani

June 3, 2013

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On a booze-filled Sunday afternoon at Ace, ten of the top bartenders in the country -- Josh Wortman of Anejo NYC; Trip Sandifer of The Spence in Atlanta; Dustin Hoeft of Modis in Breck; Adam Fortuna of Artusi in Seattle; Kevin Mabry of JM Curley in Boston; Daniel Godinez and Andrew Meltzer of 15 Romolo in San Francisco; Allegra Angelo of Swine Southern Table and Bar in Miami; Christina DeLucca of the Drawing Room in Chicago; Josh Goldman of the Soigné Group in LA; and James Vickers of Williams & Graham here in Denver -- duked it out for the Punch King Crown, competing for honor, a pair of one-of-a-kind boxing gloves, and a trip to the Aspen FOOD & WINE Classic with Cochon 555.

The first-ever Punch Kings Competition was put on by Cochon 555 and the team at Breckenridge Distillery as a way of celebrating the barkeeps who complement the philosophy (and flavor) of heritage pork and keep the pork-driven rapture rolling. Each bartender created a punch for the event, and the consumption of ten punches in under an hour had the judges in a state of euphoria -- but after a careful deliberation period, Josh Goldman walked away with the Punch King title.

Keep reading for photos of the creative concoctions that packed plenty of...punch.

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