Eboni Page opened her business, Bubblee Mixologist, while she was working as a bartender at the historic Capital City Club in downtown Columbia. After the club closed in February, Page wanted to continue her work, including the cocktail competition she had hosted there.
This year, the Capital City Cocktail Competition was held on a rooftop on Lady Street, on June 9. Over a hundred people came to shop from local vendors and watch local bartenders whip up refreshing drinks with ingredients from South Carolina and all over the world.Page wanted to highlight the style and creativity of local mixologists.
Bubblee Mixologist also hosts other themed events, including caroling and karaoke around Christmas. The business is co-owned by Deepak Bhere, an assistant professor at USC’s medical school, and James Agens, an organizer for the South Carolina Pride Movement.
Page met Bhere while she was working behind the bar, and the two quickly became close friends. Bhere said he loves mixology and watching cocktail competitions, so when he and Page saw the opportunity to organize one in Columbia, they took the leap.
“I've seen the scene grow, and now I know a lot of mixologists as friends,” Bhere said. “All of them want to make Columbia a big point for our cocktail business and craft cocktails and bring them into the Southeast map and also the country as a whole.”
Fresh produce and local elements are key for Page, who said she inherited an appreciation for fresh fruit from her parents, who grew up on farms. Page had bartended before she started taking on clients in 2022, but she didn’t consider herself a full-blown mixologist.
“Mixologists, what we do, we actually do start a lot of our process in the kitchen. We have to figure out what flavor profile that we're pulling together,” Page said. “I like walking around in the kitchen and kind of just looking at my herbs, just kind of doing that, and just having a really well-balanced cocktail and just something that people, well, you know, most people will enjoy.”
The team at Bubblee Mixologist wanted to make sure it brought in local vendors to the competition this year, many of whom sell alcohol-related products, such as customized gift bottles and flavored syrups.
Publico bartender and competitor Dylan Lane finishing up his second round of cocktails for the judges on June 9, 2024. In the second round of the cocktail competition, all competitors were given specific ingredients to work with.
Stacy Cruz, the owner of Sharpervibes, came to sell her custom t-shirts with sayings such as “You had me at day drinking.” She said that she was excited to work with Page.
“She likes everything to be fresh and new and different,” Cruz said. “She always is really creative with where she gets her ideas.”
The event also raised money for The Agape Table, a local nonprofit dedicated to creating safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ people and bridging gaps through media partnerships and open dialogue.
“They are really trying to change the narrative about the queer community and people in the deep south,” Agens said. “If we can build an event that can shine light and bring visibility to people who are doing that work, that's what we are trying to do.”
This year, eleven bartenders from various Columbia restaurants, including The Dragon Room and Publico, competed in the competition.
“Last year was heavily South Carolina focused. This year it's an ode to the world themed, where we're trying to bring global inspirations and then ask our contestants to add their South Carolinian flair,” Bhere said.
Each round of the contest presented bartenders with a unique cocktail-construction challenge.
In the first round, the mixologists made classic cocktails, like the Manhattan and the margarita. During the second round, they were given a bag of locally sourced ingredients to work with, including peppers and berries. In the final round, each competitor had to combine South Carolinian elements with classic flavors of other countries, including Singapore and Brazil.
The competition was judged by Page, as well as Angel Simpson and Shalini Kanuganti. Simpson won last year’s competition and currently owns the restaurant Yokai in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“Moving away has proven to me that there's such a scene of craft cocktails and a mix of different cultures here in Columbia, South Carolina. I think it's beautiful,” Simpson said.
The first-place winner of the competition this year was Grant McCloskey of The Hollow, a new Columbia restaurant that focuses on wild game and seasonal vegetables. The second-place winner was Brooklyn McCloskey (no relation) of Prohibition, the newly-opened second location of a popular Charleston cocktail bar.
“This was the biggest small town for forever and a day,” Grant McCloskey said. “We finally got the talent to grow what we're doing and it's stuff like this that is how we're able to push our city to the next level to be competitive with a Charlotte or a Charleston.”
Editor’s Note: Nickolas Hill contributed to the reporting in this story.