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COURTESY BRIAN POWER
Former Hawaii-based mixologist Christina Maffei won the Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai Festival’s World’s Best Mai Tai contest for the second time last weekend. She first won the $10,000 first-place prize in 2011.
Former Hawaii-based mixologist Christina Maffei won the Don the Beachcomber Man Tai Festival’s World’s Best Mai Tai contest for the second time last weekend.
Maffei, who now works as a liquor consultant in Pittsburgh, beat out more than 20 other bartenders from around the country to win the $10,000 first place prize. She also won the competition, now in its 11th year at the Royal Kona Resort on Hawaii island, in 2011.
Judges for the contest included TV personalities Chef Aron Sanchez and Shawn Ford, tiki cocktail expert Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and liquor ambassadors Manny Hinojosa and Juan Coronado.
Along with the World’s Best Mai Tai contest, the festival also included a Battle of the BBQ and pool party featuring music by Henry Kapono.
Pick up a copy of the Aug. 28 edition of Crave in the Star-Advertiser and look for “Spirited Conversations” for Maffei’s winning recipe, along with those of the second- and third-place finishers.
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