MIDLAND When Mason Askins found out his own brand of bloody mary mix had been named the best in the world, he was out of the country.
The CEO and founder of Barts Bar Beverages was on vacation in Tokyo when he checked his email and learned of his company’s award.
“Oddly enough, I was on my honeymoon in Japan,” Askins said. “I was checking emails and I had one that said ‘congratulations, you are one of the winners’ … I was really excited that our company was named the top bloody mary mix.”
Barts Bar Beverages, which has been around since 2018, earned the Platinum Medal-Best of Class at the SIP Awards International Spirits Competition in the Bloody Mary Mixer category.
According to the SIP Awards, The Best of Class medal is the “most exclusive award reserved for premium spirits receiving scores in the pinnacle of their respective categories.
In addition, the mix also won a Double Gold Medal in the Michelada Mixer category.
The competition attracted over 1,300 entries from 56 countries, covering a wide variety of categories.
“The competition was established in 2009,” Askins said. “They use over 300 consumer judges to test the product and you go on a point system. They award medals from bronze, gold, platinum and best of class. Ours was awarded best of class. We were the top-rated bloody mary in the world, according to this competition.”
It’s not the first time Askins’ company has come away with awards.
Previous SIP awards for Barts Bar Beverages include the 2023 gold in the Bloody Mary Mixer category and platinum in the Michelada Mixer category.
Askins said they will enter the U.S. Spirit Award which takes place next month.
“The competitions we like to submit to have no brand bias,” Askins said. “You’ll send those competitions your product and they will transfer the product itself into a non-descriptive tasting container and the people will taste it and make notes and vote and generally, you vote first, second and third and there’s a point system and they’ll add it all up.”
