Axia Spirit has announced the launch of its first cocktail competition, Journey to Athens 2023.

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The semi-finalists will be announced on 14th August ahead of the UK semi-final which will take place in London in early September. The top three bartenders from the semi-final will complete their journey to Athens and compete in the Grand Final, taking place late in September at The Bar in Front of the Bar in Athens, the unconventional, streetside cocktail bar in the heart of the city launched by cocktail veterans Alexandros Tselepis, Konstantinos Theodorakopoulos and Simeon Papanikolaou.

After the final, the top three finalists will have the chance to showcase their cocktail creations to the public during a takeover at Bar in Front of the Bar.

The Winner will receive £500 prize money together with an exclusive interview to be published as an advertorial in the winter edition of CLASS magazine.

Mike Goncalves, Axia Spirit UK Brand Ambassador, said: "We are thrilled to be announcing our first ever cocktail competition in the UK. I have been looking forward to this since we launched Axia. We are excited to see what delicious cocktails bartenders create and how they decide to utilise Axia’s versatility.

Holding the final at Bar in Front of the Bar in Athens makes this an extra special experience to be a part of, as we return to Axia’s Greek roots."

TO ENTER Axia’s Journey to Athens Cocktail Competition: Create a cocktail using a minimum of 35ml of Axia Spirit. Post a photo of your creation next to a bottle of Axia on Instagram and tag @axiaspirit and @mikethedrinksguy and include the competition hashtags #AxiaSpirit #TwistTheRules #JourneyToAthens23.

Be sure to include the ingredients, measurements, and method of your recipe in your entry post. Axia’s Journey to Athens cocktail competition entries close on 25th July. For full details, judging criteria and T&C’s click here.

About AXIA Spirit

Axia Spirit has created the first of its kind, an extra dry and unsweetened mastiha spirit at 40% ABV. Axia has essentially brought a brand-new spirit category to life with its innovation.

‘Axia’ comes from the word value in Greek and represents the importance of the mastiha tree. For centuries, mastic resin has been extracted from the mastiha tree and traded for its sweet floral scent and antioxidant healing qualities.

Axia brings an abundance of aromas, brightened by more delicate scents of fresh cut grass, rose water, and dried orange peel. On the palate are notes of earth pine, cedar, velvety bergamot, cypress, and citrus. Enjoy this versatile spirit as a base in your all your favourite cocktails.

For generations, the resin from the mastic tree has been harvested just once a year. One mastic tree produces resin for over 70 years. The sap is milked and left to dry in the wind, forming crystals which are then blended with alcohol and twice distilled in a process that fuses traditional distillation in hand-crafted copper stills with Master Distiller Maroussa Tschaki’s cutting-edge science. The result is a premium, extra dry and unsweetened white spirit.

The Axia team comprises, Tony Chvala, who is at the forefront of bringing Axia to the world as the CEO. Hailing from Miami, Tony has managed and launched consumer products for Amazon, Groupon and various start-ups. Tony now brings his 20 years of experience of consumer marketing to the Axia family. Co-Founder Adrian Clarke, who, with seven generations of spirit-making running through his DNA, brings an innate understanding of the industry, alongside an enthusiasm for product innovation and consumer behaviour. Co-Founder Nikos Kalogiannis, a fifth-generation distiller of Greek ouzo, instinctively knows how to cultivate Grecian spirit. He came together with Adrian through their shared desire to create the highest quality product from modern consumption patterns.

To learn more about Axia’s Journey To Athens Cocktail Competition, follow @axiaspirit and #AxiaSpirit #TwistTheRules #JourneyToAthens23 across Instagram. To learn more about Axia Spirit visit the Axia website.