TASTE OF THE MARIANAS ARC’s Marmito tops Saipanda cocktail competition

His hands were shaking when he was putting the final touch on his entry at the Saipanda Cocktail competition Sunday night at the Taste of the Marianas.

Who wouldn’t be? Aside from the panel of judges, a considerable number of people were intently looking at all the 12 contestants, rooting for their favorite hotel.

When his turn was over, Robert Marmito, a bartender at the Aqua Resort Club, was confident he has created the winning entry. Amid the rain shower at around 9:00 p.m.., Mr. Marmito was declared the winner in all three categories: cocktail, nonalcoholic drink and one shot drink

“I was very happy of course because I got all the prizes,” he said. Aside from a certificate, he went home $600 richer.

The Saipanda Cocktail Competition was an idea created by David Li Sang, Dede McKinney and Jim Soback for the 2nd Taste of the Marianas.
“We wanted Saipan to have a signature drink just like Hawaii which has the famous Blue Hawaii,” said Ms. McKinney.

The winning entry will become the island’s signature drink and used by all hotels and restaurants. Pacific Trading sponsored all the ingredients and alcoholic drinks during the contest.

Each of the 12 contestants who joined the competition each made three types of drinks. After almost four hours, 36 drinks were on display concocted by bartenders from the different hotels and restaurants.

“The idea here is to produce a drink which is something tropical, fruity and fun for tourists,” said Ms. McKinney.

And this year’s Saipanda Cocktail is a mixture of coconut milk, pineapple juice, whipping cream , a dash of sugar, Bacardi light — blend all in crushed ice. A small amount of blue caracao was added which made the drink really attractive.

Just how long did it take him to prepare his entry? You may not believe it but he only thought of how he was going to make the soon to be famous Saipanda Cocktail right at that moment.

“I already have an idea of what I want but I just thought of everything right at that moment,” Mr. Marmito said. Well, it is quite understandable because the guy is no stranger to competitions. In 1992, while working as a bartender in Ramada, Bahrain, he joined the beverage contest sponsored by Hiram Walker Allied Bintnars Corp., held in all Ramada Hotels worldwide.

Out of the 800 cocktails submitted, the judges chose the 10 best which was later on reduced to eight. Mr. Marmito’s brownish cocktail clinched fourth place.

Despite the rain, many people stayed until 10:00 p.m. and waited for the Chuuk band to finish its performance which brought the house down as some people danced ignoring the shower.

Four booths were empty as the participating hotels, which included Nikko and Aqua, backed out as their areas were flooded, making it difficult for them to prepare their food.