When Boleo bartender Mony Bunni competed in Speed Rack Midwest in 2015, she failed miserably. She was in the process of opening the bar Queen Mary at the time, and the annual all-female speed-bartending competition took place the day before the bar officially opened. “My head was all over the place, and I ended up forgetting citrus in two of my cocktails onstage, failing in front of everyone,” she says. “It just broke my soul a little.”
Judges for this year’s Speed Rack season seven finals include some of the biggest names in the cocktail world: Julie Reiner (a bartender who was a pioneer of the craft cocktail scene in New York City), David Wondrich (cocktail historian and author of the books Imbibe! and Punch), and Ryan Chetiyawardana (founder of the UK’s Dandelyan, named “World’s Best Bar” at last year’s Spirited Awards). Having such notable judges is common for Speed Rack events, Mix says, in part because all the proceeds go to fighting breast cancer. “We get a lot of fantastic talent donating their time to help us,” she says. The founders hope to hit the million-dollar mark this year in total donations Speed Rack has made to breast cancer research.
Bunni sees the same type of support for other women in Speed Rack, despite the fact that it’s a competition. “In the beginning, I felt it was a little more cutthroat,” she says. “Lately, it’s more like, high tides raise all ships. Of course we want to win, but if you’re not supportive of each other, what’s the point?” All the finalists from season six are friends, she says, and still talk at least once a week. According to Mix, that’s not unusual. “Many women have told us, ‘I wouldn’t have gotten that job if that bar director hadn’t been at Speed Rack,’” she says. “But what really strikes us is how many women are like, ‘I met these women I wouldn’t have otherwise known and now I have my best friends.’”
