Photography by Austin Marc Graf.
Every Monday in June, female bartenders from across Dallas gather inside the muralized walls of Ruins in Deep Ellum.
Among them are seasoned professionals who’ve been swinging drinks for years along with others who have only been bartending for six months. Regardless of experience, they each have one thing in common: the drive to compete for $1,000 and bragging rights as the best among award-winning bartenders.
Founded in 2018 by Rosey Sullivan, The Shake Up is an all-female cocktail competition created to promote talented up-and-coming bartenders and strengthen ties within the female cocktail community.
“Dallas is actually understanding that bartending is about making beautiful drinks, but also about connecting with the guests… that’s a big part of Southern hospitality,” Sullivan says. “Dallas is kind of an underrated scene that has a lot of amazing things going on and a lot of really good cocktail bars.”
Female bartenders have continuously made up more than half of the bar industry, with over 56% of bartenders identifying as female, according to U.S. Census data from 2022. But six years ago, when Sullivan was one of 14 invited to a cocktail competition, she was surprised to see just one other woman competing alongside her.
After talking to other female bartenders she heard others follow the same cry: where were the competition spaces for women?
This was her chance, Sullivan recalls. She reached out to every female bartender she knew, each of whom recommended others to participate in The Shake Up’s inaugural competition.
“It was a pretty rough start, but it’s been wildly successful, wildly popular since the first year,” she says. “People [were] excited about it and they still are.”
Applications for female contestants open a month before the competition begins. Sixteen craft bartenders are selected and put into teams of two, many of whom didn’t previously know each other. Those with a stronger background are partnered with newer faces. Each week, for four weeks a pair is eliminated.
The competition started with the heart-racing speed round where bartenders race to make 30 shots as quickly as possible.
The next rounds are bespoke (bartender’s choice), and the judges rate the drinks based on creativity, flavor and presentation.
Rachel Geene of Hoot & Annie and Lexy Batalla of LadyLove Lounge and Sound, Caira Hazey of Mike’s Gemini Twin and Micah Bernard of Goodwins, Keyla Lucero of The Woolworth/La Reunion and MJ Freeman of Goodfriend Beer Garden & Burger House and, finally, Maddie Alcocer of Tina’s Continental and Sydney Coleman of Bowen House made it to the final week.
Last is the classic cocktails round, where bartenders face off in a timed challenge, preparing three random cocktails. One team member acts as a barback, setting up while the other prepares drinks, and then the two switch.
Judges are accompanied by a noisy conglomeration of family, friends and other mixologists cheering on the bartenders onstage.
This year’s winner was a unique case. The week two winners, Hazey and Lemus, were set for the finals when Lemus informed the judges that she would not be in town for the competition. The faster competitor from their opposing team stepped in, and Micah Bernard of Goodwins and Hazey won the whole event. In the collaborative spirit of the competition, Bernard split her winnings with Lemus.
In addition to highlighting female bartenders, The Shake Up has continued to donate a portion of proceeds towards Genesis Women’s Shelter. Over the past six years, Sullivan estimates that the competition has raised around $25,000.
“I was debating on doing it this year. And so I met up with my friend Libby and I was talking with her and just saying, ‘I’m thinking about not doing it this year … Do you think it has a purpose? … Do you think it matters?’”
A nearby bartender who formerly participated in the competition stepped in.
“I think it matters. It mattered to me,” she says. “I feel like that was the first time I ever felt like I was part of a community when I competed in that.”
“Whether or not you’re new or you’ve been in the industry for a while, [The Shake Up] is a great place to build confidence. It’s a great place to learn something new, and it’s the best place to make friends in the industry,” bartender Libby Flood says. “I’ve never seen anybody walk off the stage without a smile like they had the best time.”
