About 200 people gathered at Bacardi Ltd headquarters for a night of craft cocktails and lively entertainment.

Members of the public dressed in their best Caribbean styles last night for the Art of the Pour Competition, which pitted mixologists from ten bars and restaurants to create their best signature drink.

The craft cocktails were paired with buffets, live music, dancing and even a hand-rolled cigar station, all at Bacardi’s Pitts Bay Road location in Hamilton.

Jahkai Smith, 28, said he appreciated the chance to let bartenders demonstrate their creativity.

He said: “This is a way for different bartenders to show their skills when they can’t do it at their normal restaurants.

“They get full creative licence to do what they want and show they’re talents.”

Mr Smith said he heard about the event last year, but “took too long” to buy tickets.

Having attended with friends, he said he was surprised by the cigar station.

“I think that’s crazy,” Mr Smith said. “He’s building cigars from scratch and making them in front of you. That’s pretty cool.”

He added: “We should do more events like this, not just once a year.”

Art of the Pour was the first event in the City of Hamilton’s Taste of Bermuda food festival, an annual weekend-long event that showcases the food and talent of the island.

Yukio Swan, 34, said this was the first time she’d gone to Art of the Pour and had been looking forward to it for weeks.

She said: “I’ve always been interested in the Taste events and I didn’t get an opportunity to go last year.

“I just thought it would be a really nice event to come to, considering that I’ve been dying to come to the Bacardi Bar.”

Ms Swan said she was impressed by the execution of the event and how well they incorporated its “Havana Nights” theme.

She added: “The decor is thoughtful, it’s not too hot and it’s very aesthetically pleasing.

“They’ve taken a lot of time to really curate the experience for us.”

Meanwhile, Cervio Cox said the event was “well put-together” and had good vibes, which made it appealing.

The 41-year-old added: “This is just one of those awesome events where you can look forward to dressing up, putting something good together and just letting your hair down for a few hours one small shot at a time.”

Oneka Thomas, 28, who attended with several friends, said she was amazed by the vibrant colours and overall atmosphere.

She added that, despite the night’s cocktail focus, she loved the food that was offered — particularly the Filipino food station.

Ms Thomas said: “I feel events like this bring everyone together.

“In Bermuda, everyone’s always saying ‘there’s nothing to do,’ but there are things to do, you’re just not searching outside the box.

“I feel like a lot of people complain that there’s nothing to do, but there really are things to do and things to look forward to, it’s just out of the norm of the space you put yourself in.

“I feel like if you’re more open-minded and more willing to put yourself into different spaces, you’ll realise that Bermuda does have a lot of fun things to get yourself into.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Mattis-Robinson, a mixologist with Rosedon Hotel, said such events were great for helping to nurture and evolve Bermudian talent.

He noted: “Competitions like this are an opportunity to force innovation.

“There are so many people competing, it makes you ask ‘what are you doing, what can you do and how can you make it better?’”

The three-time competitor added: “I think the cocktail revolution is happening now and he’ll look back on the start of this competition and say ‘it started here’.”

Israel “Izzie” Bennett, of Rosewood Hotel, won the competition with her drink, La Reina del Bat.

Taste of Bermuda will continue tonight with the Tabletop Theatre showcase at Pier Six tonight and an edible movie experience tomorrow at Fort Hamilton.