The first of seven cocktail competitions held at Westport, Connecticut’s Kawa Ni, designed to showcase craft cocktail programs, yielded a winner from New York on March 24, 2015. The series, organized by Jeff Marron, beverage manager for Kawa Ni, The Whelk, and leFarm, continues at Kawa Ni on May 12; June 23; Aug. 4; Sep. 15; Oct. 27 and the final is scheduled for Nov. 15, at The Whelk. Of the field competitors, Rhode Island’s Carlos Garcia took third place, Connecticut’s Carl Summa came in second, and Jon Kraus, a member of the United States Bartenders Guild New York (USBG NY) chapter and principal bartender at The Gilroy, New York, New York took first place. The sponsoring spirit was Appleton Estate Rum and the secret ingredient was Ancho Reyes Ancho Chile Liqueur.