THE BILTMORE’S TARANTINI Nik Blaskovich/News-Press Photos
TONIC’S LEADING LADYELEMENTS’ RISING STARWe heard that there was a group of people going around Santa Barbara sampling cocktails and selecting their favorites. And we were shocked to discover that it wasn’t us. Turns out the Santa Barbara International Film Festival peeps were out for a second year in a row choosing cocktails for their Chopin Vodka Mixologist Master Award. The winners (it was a tie) are now available to be sipped at their respective bars during the fest and “select VIP events,” which our own team may attempt to sneak into.
In the meantime, we wondered, what are these cocktails? What do they taste like? And who didn’t make the cut? What do our own tastebuds think? The tie went to drinks from Elements and the Biltmore, but the second runner-up came from Tonic. We set out to discover.
