The Midwest regionals were hosted this week in Las Vegas for the USBG World Class bartender competition. Michigan had a strong showing by sending not one but two bartenders out of the 12 slots. That there is news alone. Casey Miller, of The Last Word, and Shelby Minnix, of Sugar House Detroit both gave it their all at the event.

In the end, Casey Miller was selected with two others in the regional competition and is heading to finals in Louisville, KY June 4th-6th. He will compete to head to the world competition in Berlin. This is the 4th time in 5 years that The Last Word has been represented in Nationals. That bar certainly has the secret sauce when it comes to training amazing talent.

I spoke to Casey as he was flying home from the competition to get his take on the event. The challenge was grueling consisting of 3 challenges over 6 hours.

For the Speed Round he created The Harajuku consisting of Ciroc French Vanilia Vodka, Black Pepper, Pear Liqueur, Lemon, Honey and Egg White. This was inspired by a recent trip he took to Toyko and he tried a locally made infused aquavit.

For the Culinary Pairing Round he made a drink that paid tribute to one of the judges. The Meltzer’s Skye Seltzer (based on famed bartender & judge Andrew Meltzer) was a play on Andrew’s Scottish heritage and of course the rhyme. It included; Talisker Single Malt Whisky, Poblano pepper, lemon peel, sea salt, basil, brown sugar, honey and seltzer water. “It was clever of him to incorporate those personal details into a unique and flavorful drink.” said Andrew Meltzer when I reached out to him for comment. “My favorite thing about the cocktail was the element of surprise: I’ve never had a Scotch cocktail that was so damn refreshing.”

Finally for the Story Round (this is the big one), Casey made the Positivitea. You can actually go sample it now as they are bottling it at The Last Word to celebrate Casey’s win. The cocktail has the following ingredients; Bulleit Rye Whiskey, Cynar, Cold-Brewed Oolong Tea and Demerara Syrup.

It’s challenging to prepare for these events. “Honestly, since this competition tests all aspects of a well-rounded bartender, preparation started last year.” comments Casey. “I’d attend USBG knowledge and training seminars, browse articles from PUNCH, Liquor.com, and Imbibe, and worked on my application for over a month. Specifically, in the weeks leading up to competition day, I’d test my cocktails with our talented staff and some of our more adventurous patrons, and run through my speed round a couple times a night at the end of the shift or on my days off.” Now he gets to do it all over again for the Nationals. Wish him luck.

This is not the first time he tried to get into this competition and he tried last year. While he didn’t get to go to Nationals initially, he did get asked to compete as an alternate and ended up attending when someone couldn’t make it. “It was my first competition, and I was nervous as hell. Where I once had a stomach, I now had a bag of ill-tempered eels.” he said. Great practice indeed.

I also asked if he got to see Las Vegas at all. Unfortunately not much. However, he did get to go to a well-known West Coast institution for some grub. “Smashing on some In-N-Out animal style fries for the first time in over a decade.” he said is one of the many highlights in the trip.

Please join me in congratulating him and cheering him on for his National trip. You can find him on Facebook @caseymiller, on Instagram @caseyquicksilver and working at The Last Word in Ann Arbor.

Budmo!