{"id":237947,"date":"2025-05-12T11:31:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alcohol\/best-new-bartenders-of-2025-introducing-the-finalists\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:31:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:31:54","slug":"best-new-bartenders-of-2025-introducing-the-finalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=237947","title":{"rendered":"Best New Bartenders of 2025: Introducing the Finalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the past seven years, Punch has been spotlighting rising talent in the bartending community through its Best New Bartenders (BNB) program, formerly known as Bartender in Residence. The mission of BNB is to promote and recognize the next generation of bartenders who are not only making thoughtful cocktails, but also moving the industry forward. This year, we\u2019re pleased to partner with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astraltequila.com\/?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAz6q-BhCfARIsAOezPxlExP_5zSEE-iZJfdcJeDESHqpxVIV8-7o59a0ZofSrMDz8qYh7ENIaAkIxEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Astral Tequila<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a brand that puts sustainability and social responsibility at the heart of its tequila-making process and whose values align with the BNB commitment to progress and positive impact. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The individuals listed below have been selected as this year\u2019s finalists. Each brings a distinctive point of view to their drinks, paired with a genuine desire to create a more sustainable industry on both sides of the bar. Check back in July, when we will name the 10 Best New Bartenders of 2025 from this talented group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p><b>Tone Arasa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | True Laurel, San Francisco, California<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Dan Bareswilt<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Alter Ego, Tampa, Florida<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Lou Bernard <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">| Mita, Washington, D.C.<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Molly Gajdosik<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Gigantic, Easthampton, Massachusetts<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Kenzo Han <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">| Firstborn, Los Angeles, California<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Ben Hopkins<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Pitt\u2019s and Agi\u2019s Counter, Brooklyn, New York<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Matthew Izaguirre<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Coral Club, Nashville, Tennessee<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Mak Kelly <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">| Lady Jane, Denver, Colorado<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Jakob McCabe-Johnston<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Kimball House, Decatur, Georgia<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Jillian Moore<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | My Loup, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Dominique Mu\u00f1oz<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Polite Provisions, San Diego, California<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Kevin Nguyen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Cam\u00e9lia, Los Angeles, California<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Kat Parsons<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Viridian, Oakland, California<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Becca Petersen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Daisies, Chicago, Illinois<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Cap Prager<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Bar Goto, New York, New York<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Sam Pritchard <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">| Kampar, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Logan Rodriguez<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Smithereens, New York, New York<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Ricardo Rodriguez <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">| Lita and La Otra, Aberdeen Township, New Jersey<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Mel Tate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | Dovetail Bar, New Orleans, Louisiana<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Benjamin Zapian <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">| Dear Irving on Broadway, New York, New York<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the past seven years, Punch has been spotlighting rising talent in the bartending community through its Best New Bartenders (BNB) program, formerly known as Bartender in Residence. The mission of BNB is to promote and recognize the next generation of bartenders who are not only making thoughtful cocktails, but also moving the industry forward. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":237948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12029],"tags":[14119,87793,3733,13354,13032],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-237947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alcohol","tag-bartenders","tag-best-new-bartenders-2025","tag-culture","tag-finalists","tag-introducing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Best New Bartenders of 2025: Introducing the Finalists - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=237947\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best New Bartenders of 2025: Introducing the Finalists - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the past seven years, Punch has been spotlighting rising talent in the bartending community through its Best New Bartenders (BNB) program, formerly known as Bartender in Residence. 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