“I wouldn’t know how to prepare a cocktail for you, but I assure you that I am good at tasting them.” These were the words that Nafsika Mouzakiti, founder of the International Barlady Competition (IBC), chose to introduce herself.
“Cocktails have to know how to amuse and entertain. When people sit at a bar, what they want is to leave their problems aside. And that is precisely the function of the bartender, who is also a bit of a psychologist: to make that person momentarily forget everything that worries them,” says Mouzakiti, who has been in the world of cocktail promotion for more than fifteen years and confessed to OnCuba, with a laugh, that her favorite drink is the daiquiri.
She was born in Corfu, a Greek island from which she dreamed of visiting another, quite distant one, due to the influence of her father. He was an Engineer on Cargo Ships, and since trips to Cuba were frequent, one day he returned home with the first bottle of Cuban rum that Nafsika saw and tasted.
“Since those times, Cuba became a dream for me,” says Mouzakiti, who in 2024 managed to set foot in that idealized place that her father told her so much about. She would do a reverse freight on that occasion that also had a lot to do with the spirit she fell in love with in Corfu.
Invited by the Cuban Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR), during the celebration of the 100 years of the Association of Bartenders of Cuba (ACC) in July 2024, she announced the venue for the second edition of the International Barlady Competition (IBC), an event that she created for women bartenders together with her partner Greta Grönholm, former president of the Finnish Bartenders Association.
From March 7 to 9, 2025, barladies from over 20 countries will compete in Havana for the crown of the competition, currently held by Cuban Kenia Borges.
Mirtha de las Mercedes González, from Matanzas, will be Cuba’s representative at the event, sponsored by Cuba Ron S.A, brand that will take the entire Classic category of the contest.
How and when did you decide to create the International Barlady Competition (IBC)?
It all started three years ago. I used to host an international cocktail competition for women in Italy and I realized that it was an event that didn’t move; the world didn’t “see” it. So it occurred to me that we could create a traveling competition just for women bartenders. We wanted to allow these barladies to show their work in other countries.
Why is an event dedicated only to women important for the cocktails universe?
Throughout my career as an event host, I saw a lot of exclusion. There are countries where the cocktail industry is practically reserved for men. Women don’t manage to conquer prestigious positions in that field. That made me sad because no matter how talented they were and how much magic they could do with their cocktail shakers, they weren’t allowed to show those skills in the big competitions or to improve them in training courses.
That’s how it all started. But it wasn’t easy. Ironically, many people told me that a competition just for women would be discriminatory towards male bartenders. So it occurred to me that the best way to put this project into the world was precisely to find a symbolic date to do it. What better day than March 8, International Women’s Day?
Our first edition, which was held this year, was on that day. In 2025, in Cuba, we will celebrate the IBC between March 7 and 9.
Why Cuba?
Last year I invited representatives of the Association of Bartenders of Cuba (ACC) to visit us in Athens to bring their barladies to the first edition of the competition. That they accepted was a very pleasant surprise. We gathered 16 countries from all over the world and Cuba was one of them. At that event, Kenia Borges was the winner with her cocktail “Perla del Norte.”
The proposal to hold the next edition of the IBC in Cuba came from the Association itself. We were thinking of holding it in northern Europe, but the proposal captivated us and we changed our plans. Why? Simply because Cuba is the country of cocktails. Cuban bartenders have taught the rest of the world what we know about cocktails.
Every self-respecting bartender wants to get to know Cuba. That’s why holding the event on the island is a dream come true for us, the opportunity to feel that incredible spirit and energy of the island, and to know first-hand what is happening there.
Is there still a gap in opportunities between men and women in the cocktail sector?
Yes, and not just any gap, but a huge one. If you go to any cocktail event, you will see it with your own eyes. Many women work as barladies these days, it’s true, but some never leave the bar. They have no prospect of becoming managers of the bar where they serve, for example, or of accessing training and courses to improve their work in the bar. It’s not that easy.
In Cuba things are different, generally, those who work in this field have access to education and specialization, but this is not the reality in many countries. Those who attend bartending academies or seminars around the world are still mostly men.
Despite the progress we have made, many women bartenders continue to approach me and thank me for helping them promote their work, which is a profession, not something they choose to do because they have no other choice. When they prepare cocktails, they are doing what they like, and it is important that they are given the opportunity to do so. An international competition like the International Barlady Competition is one of those opportunities.
What are your aspirations for the 2025 edition? Will there be anything new?
This edition will be the biggest one we have held so far. We will have five categories: classic cocktail, long drink, national cocktail, Latin style, and sparkling cocktail. The national category is one of the highlights. Each participating country will bring local ingredients to the event to create its cocktail.
We will also have exhibitions, masterclasses with teachers from La Bodeguita del Medio, Cuba Ron S.A, El Floridita, among others.
The event has grown thanks to the support of many institutions and people, including the Cuban Ministry of Tourism. I would like to take this opportunity to also thank Eddys Naranjo, president of the ACC, the Hotel Nacional, and Kenia Borges, our 2024 champion, who has been our right-hand woman in Cuba to make Barlady 2025 happen, along with Rhider Fuentes, member of the ACC and IBC 2025 representative in Cuba.
Author
Deborah Rodriguez Santos
