This November, Rincón mixologist José "Joselo" Valentín Carrero is looking to win the World Cocktail Championship (WCC) in Cartagena, Colombia, competing against the top bartenders from 66 countries in one of the most demanding competitions in the cocktail industry.
Valentín Carrero arrives in Colombia after finishing second in Rome in 2023, the best result Puerto Rico has ever achieved at the world competition.
"I don't consider myself one of the top 20 bartenders in Puerto Rico," he says candidly, "but I consider myself the most disciplined bartender when there's a competition. When there's a goal, I work toward that goal."
Runner-up in Rome
At the 2023 WCC in Rome, Valentín Carrero finished second, surpassed only by Hong Kong.
That runner-up finish is the best result the Asociación de Bartenders de Puerto Rico (PRBA) has ever achieved at the world championship. "I played plena as background music," he recalls of his final presentation, in which he paid tribute to the piña colada using Italian liqueurs. "It was my way of saying: Puerto Rico is here," he said.
That same year he also won the Pan-American Cocktail Championship in the Dominican Republic, establishing himself as one of the more promising emerging figures in Latin American mixology.
The road to Cartagena
The WCC is one of the most demanding competitions in the cocktail industry, with multiple elimination rounds that test different skills. Each year, member countries hold national competitions to select their champions, who then compete at the world event.
Valentín Carrero competes in the Clásico category, which evaluates technique, flavor and professional knowledge in cocktail creation.
🥇How does the competition work?
The process begins with all 66 participants, and only 18 advance from the first round. In the second round, those 18 finalists face three tests: a written exam on the history of the International Bartender Association (IBA), an aroma sensory test and a blind tasting. Only 15 continue.
In the third phase, the 15 semifinalists create a cocktail with a limited budget and limited time in what they call an "improvised market."
The final three mixologists reach the "super final," where they have 10 minutes to create an original recipe and tell the story behind their cocktail.
The advantage
For this edition, Valentín Carrero identified a strategic advantage: Colombia and Puerto Rico share a tropical culinary identity.
"Our countries are similar, and that allows me to be more authentic with my creations," says the owner of One Two, a casual bar located at Puerto Rico Premium Outlets in Barceloneta, where he serves creative cocktails and a selection of mocktails.
The mixologist studies the host country's market, researching which local ingredients he can incorporate into his competition recipe.
But what is the Puerto Rican ingredient he always uses as a base? Local rum.
"Our blessing of being in a Caribbean place at this latitude and longitude means we have the best rum in the world."
José "Joselo" Valentín Carrero, Puerto Rican mixologist
32 years of world presence
Since 1992, Puerto Rico has participated in 32 world championships, missing only 2019 due to complications with the visa process at the embassy in Texas.
And now, with Valentín Carrero's second-place finish in Rome in 2023, Puerto Rico has reached its best historical result in the competition.
José Raúl Aponte Mercado, president of the PRBA since 2018, says the island has never been better prepared to compete internationally.
Puerto Rico has one of the highest numbers of IBA-certified mixologists in Latin America, including 9 judges and 28 instructors recognized by the 66 competing countries.
According to Aponte Mercado, the PRBA has developed a training system that is more demanding than the world competition itself.
Carrero at a cocktail event in Ambato, Ecuador. (Provided)
"If I require you to make 6 cocktails in 7 minutes, when we go to a World Championship where they ask for 5 in 7 minutes, it'll be a walk in the park," Aponte Mercado explains.
After Roma 2023, Valentín Carrero also turned his runner-up finish into an opportunity. He now travels the world giving classes and seminars in countries such as Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
"We have a beautiful country, we all have to do our part so that this country continues to be a cultural powerhouse," Valentín Carrero concludes.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
