Josh Hendricks has been hailed as SA's Patrón cocktail master after winning the local leg of the Patrón Perfectionists competition. This international bartending contest gives mixologists a platform to showcase their skills and creativity as they strive to perfect their craft.

Hendricks, who is the head bartender at Fable in Cape Town, will jet off to Mexico to represent Mzansi in the global finals in March next year, where he's hoping to be named the ultimate Patrón Perfectionist — a prestigious title that's only been awarded to a select few bartenders at the top of their game.

The 26-year-old has already proved he's got what it takes to impress a panel of judges. During the South African finals, he beat out nine other mixologists over two rounds of intense competition, which saw them whip up innovative Patrón-inspired cocktails.

For the first challenge, they were tasked with crafting a Margarita De Mexico, featuring Patrón silver and an authentic Mexican ingredient.

Picking fresh spearmint as his Mexican ingredient, Hendricks combined tequila with cucumber cordial, lime juice, Cointreau, beetroot vinegar and jalapeño tincture to create a margarita dubbed the Amethyst De Jalisco, garnished with a rice cracker chicharrón.

Of this novel finishing touch, Hendricks said: “A rich cracker chicharrón is like pork crackling, but I made it vegan so it’s approachable for anyone. I wanted that contrast between savoury and really fresh from the cucumber, mint and agave.”

For the second challenge, the contestants had to mix up a drink paying homage to the Paloma — a classic tequila-based cocktail with grapefruit flavours — and present it using a ritual serve.

Hendricks' creation, called Eventide No. 2, featured Patrón Reposado and was themed around the beauty of Cape Town. For his ritual serve, he presented a library bookshelf, with each book revealing a different ingredient used in the cocktail.

“You open [a book] and the ingredients are there with your instructions. It tells you about Patrón and its origins and flavour notes, so you learn about the actual product,” the mixologist said.

Hendricks' preferred way of drinking Patrón Tequila is in a classic margarita with fresh lime and Cointreau. But, if you'd like some cocktail inspiration, here he shares his winning recipes:

Amethyst De Jalisco

Serves: 1 

Ingredients:

60ml Patrón Silver

15ml cucumber cordial (see recipe below)

10ml Cointreau 

15ml fresh lime juice

5ml beetroot vinegar (brine from a pickled beetroot jar) 

2 dashes jalapeño tincture (see recipe below)

8 spearmint leaves 

Rice cracker chicharrón, to garnish

Salt and cracked black pepper, to rim the glass 

Method:

Shake the cocktail ingredients together with ice, double strain and serve in a glass rimmed with salt and cracked black pepper, garnished with a rice cracker chicharrón. 

To make the cucumber cordial: Combine 600g white sugar, 50g citric acid and 10g malic acid with 600ml fresh cucumber juice. Stir until dissolved and homogeneous. 

To make the jalapeño tincture: Combine 200ml vodka and 100g fresh chopped jalapeños in a container with a lid. Seal and allow the mixture to steep for 48 hours, before straining and bottling.

Eventide No. 2

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

60ml Patron Reposado 

30ml melting pot cordial (see recipe below)

30ml grapefruit zest-infused bergamot liqueur (see recipe below)

25ml fresh lime juice 

200ml hibiscus soda (see recipe below)

Grapefruit and pink peppercorn leather, to garnish

Rose petal salt, to rim the glass

Method:

Build the cocktail in a glass rimed with rose petal salt, stir and serve garnished with grapefruit and pink peppercorn leather. 

To make the melting pot cordial: Combine 150g fresh grapefruit zest, 120g white sugar, 100g palm sugar, 15g kaffir lime leaf, 30g dried galangal, 40g num num berry, 10g hibiscus, 1g Madagascar vanilla bean, 5g timmut pepper, 450g cryo concentrated grapefruit juice in a bag and vacuum seal. Sous vide at 60ºC for 5 hours. Place in an ice bath before opening the bag. Strain syrup through a cheese cloth. Add 10g citric acid for every 250ml syrup. Bottle and store in the fridge.

To make the grapefruit zest-infused bergamot liqueur: combine 20g grapefruit zest and 200ml Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto in a container with a lid. Seal and allow the mixture to steep for 48 hours, before straining and bottling.

To make the hibiscus soda: combine 20g hibiscus tea with 1l of hot water. Steep for 15 minutes before straining. Allow the tea to cool in a refrigerator. Carbonate and bottle.

For more information about Patrón Perfectionists, visit the Academia Patron website.

This article was sponsored by Bacardi.
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