~ Tonya Hopkins aka “The Food (& Drink!) Griot” reporting …
As the Cultural Attaché for Eléctrico USA, I’m delighted to share here even MORE exciting news on Eléctrico Mezcal’s continued top award-winning streak, along with a wonderful way for beverage industry professionals to experience each winner in real life at Bar Convent Brooklyn (BCB) 2026:
BCB At A Glance:
MAIN DATES Tuesday, June 9, 2026: 11 AM – 7 PM Wednesday, June 10, 2026: 11 AM – 7 PM
+ Pre-Event Sessions: Monday, June 8, 2026 (Exclusively for exhibitors and Premium VIP badge holders).
HOURS & LOCATION:
Hours: 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM each day. Additional times for official programming run for two packed days (three for VIPs) of tastings, education, and networking.
Location: Industry City, Brooklyn, NY: 2nd Ave between 33rd & 34th St, Buildings 5, 7 & 8 Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY 11232
ABOUT BAR CONVENT BROOKLYN (BCB)
At BCB Brooklyn, bar and beverage professionals are invited to network with peers and learn about new trends, techniques and taste amazing products in the domestic and international markets. Attendees can also attend demonstrations, keynote addresses, and panel discussions with leading industry experts. Exhibitors at BCB Brooklyn will be carefully curated to feature primarily premium craft spirit brands and mixers
WHO ATTENDS:
🔷 Bartenders | 🔷 Bar Owners | 🔷Bar Managers | 🔷Beverage Directors | 🔷 Distributors | 🔷F&B 🔷Managers | 🔷Importers | 🔷Restaurant Owners | 🔷Restaurant Managers
⬇️ A FEW HIGHLIGHT PICS 📸 FROM BCB 2025 ⬇️:
EXCITING UPDATES: Eléctrico’s 2026 TOP AWARD WINS! 🏆🥇🥈🥈….
OUR REMOTE OAXACAN FAMILY DISTILLERY, ELÉCTRICO MEZCAL, WON BIG — AGAIN— in the L.A. SPIRITS AWARDS!!!
⚡️ Eléctrico Mezcal’s triumphed AGAIN! Winning Best Agave Spirit! + THREE More Medals at The 2026 L.A. Spirits Awards! For the second year in a row, blind tasting tests from a panel of true agave spirits aficionados crowned all submitted Eléctrico Mezcal expressions including TWO TOP HONORS (Platinum Awards!!🏅🏅) for our Eléctrico Tobalá Joven expression:🌟 🏆BEST Mezcal AND 🏆BEST Agave Spirit🌟 in the ENTIRE competition! Plus medals awarded for our most recently released newest expressions too:
🟤 Eléctrico Mezcal Distilled with Coffee (🥉Bronze)
🟢 Eléctrico Espadín Mezcal 7 Years Matured in Glass (🥈Silver)
…For a total of seven (Lucky 7!) medals in just two years! We’re deeply honored that the esteemed judges have re-affirmed their endorsements of our Certified Artesanal Mezcal and thank them for the accolades!
See for yourself why this small, privately-owned, artisanal mezcal distillery hidden in the mountains of southern Mexico keeps sweeping up top medals at the the most meaningful levels — overall agave spirits and mezcal categories. Via rigorous blind tasting sessions, the prestigious 2026 Los Angeles Spirits Tasting Awards team of expert judges assigned highest recognitions to EACH of the submitted Eléctrico expressions including — 🔅AGAIN 🔅— the prized top-tier Platinum Medal that was just awarded to our Tobalá Joven this year (Also awarded to it’s older sibling: Eléctrico’s ‘3-Years matured in glass’Tobalá in 2025 !)…
And in 2025 Four expressions of Eléctrico were entered and ALL FOUR WON the highest level of awards! Platinum, Gold, Silver…
EXPERIENCE AWARD-WINNING ELÉCTRICO MEZCAL ARTESANAL AT BCB! …BOOTH: #8B-757…
Thanks to our collaboration with Uncle Waithley’s Ginger Beer again this year, we’re delighted to be featuring samples of NYC’s Best Two Ingredient Drink(s) you won’t want to miss!
Spirits industry leaders, influencers and buyers attending BCB are more than welcome to visit us at booth #8B-757 to experience Eléctrico Mezcal’s heartwarming story and try every single one of our award-winning expressions at Bar Convent Brooklyn aka BCB.
You’ll find Eléctrico Mezcal at Booth 8B-757 in BCB’s Main Exhibition Hall and meet the amazing Eléctrico team — including yours truly!
And you won’t want to miss Eléctrico in BCB’s Product Showcase area displaying Eléctrico Mezcal’s recent top wins at the 2026 AND 2025 L.A. Spirits Awards…
Maestro Mezcalero, Manuel Antonio Cirino based in San Baltazar Guelavila, Oaxaca, Mexico has earned a reputation for perfecting the art of crafting high-end mezcal. For him the medals validate years of dedication to his art…
Austin-based Eléctrico Mezcal Partner: Musician and Entrepreneur, Kathleen Blackwell: Founder/President Eléctrico Spirits Importers, Inc. shown here with Platinum Award -Winning Eléctrico Mezcal Tobalá Matured 3 Years ,
Eléctrico Mezcal is a single distillery company operated by three generations in the mountains of San Baltazar Guelavila, Oaxaca, Mexico. The company is a Minority-Owned and Woman-Owned Business Under the leadership of its two main partners: Maestro Mezcalero, Manuel Antonio Cirino and his Austin-based partner, Kathleen Blackwell, the company has earned a reputation for perfecting the art of making high-end mezcal.
While much mezcal production has industrialized, Eléctrico is committed to making mezcal that can hold its head up among the greatest sipping spirits of the world. "Great mezcal is as special as the finest sipping alcohols. I’ve always believed I could prove that. These awards from the L.A. Spirits Awards confirm it," said Maestro Cirino.
"Since we met while I was recording in Oaxaca some years ago, I’ve known that Cirino’s mezcal was something special. I am so glad our three families have stuck to our principles of traditional artisanship," said Kathleen Blackwell, who has carried the flag for Eléctrico Mezcal in the USA since she, Cirino and her husband Arthur Edstrom founded the company while she was recording music in Oaxaca with Ronan Chris Murphy, Producer. "We want to share with the world that our Eléctrico Mezcal is a true and sophisticated expression of Oaxacan culture”,
ABOUT ELÉCTRICO
The Eléctrico Mezcal Palenque in San Baltazar Guelavila, Oaxaca, Mexico is where this amazing medal-winning mezcal is made…
Every drop from Eléctrico’s pure copper alembics is distilled from a single variety of agave (maguey), locally-grown without chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. Gently infused with the natural oak smoke of the three-day roast and the mineral-rich water from Eléctrico’s own spring, it is fermented in pine tinas without chemical accelerants or imported yeasts. The twice-distilled results are then matured in glass to allow the flavor to evolve gently. Even the lemongrass in its ‘distilled with’ range, is home-grown on Eléctrico’s smallholdings and further expressions with locally roasted coffee and mandarin are currently maturing. The result is a range of mezcal expressions, each one a pure distillation of the Oaxacan highlands, clean, clear and complex…
For More Info Contact: publicity@electricomezcal.comOr call: +1 310 770 9464 (voicemail)
Cultural Attaché for Eléctrico USA, Tonya Hopkins, aka The Food (& Drink!) Griot shown here with Platinum Award -Winning Eléctrico Mezcal Tobalá Matured 3 Years , Silver Award-Winning Mezcal Espadín Distilled with Lemongrass and all Eléctrico expressions at various tastings.
⚡️EXCITING UPDATE⚡️ on the special‘EXTRA’ EVENT I’d been hinting at — you know, the one where we expand opportunities to experience these amazing expressions of Eléctrico beyond BCB. DRUMROLL 🥁....
🍸 AFTER BCB: JOIN US AS WE KEEP THE ‘EXPERIENCE ELÉCTRICO’ ⚡️ FLOW GOING....
When daytime events at BCB wrap up on Wednesday, June 10th, join us afterwards at the acclaimed, craft-driven Runner & Stone from 6:30 PM onward for an informal post-Industry City gathering in nearby Gowanus featuring a chance to try EACH of Eléctrico Mezcal's Award-Winning expressions + complimentary small bites and 'tini cocktails along with immersive storytelling centering the heartwarming, three-family history behind this beautiful brand—While connecting, conversing, and experiencing Eléctrico up close—in real time, in real life.
Located just a little further north at 285 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215 — on the same main thoroughfare as Industry City — it's an easy straight shot from BCB. Known for its thoughtfully sourced ingredients, seasonal menus, chef-driven approach to food and beverage pairings, aesthetic yet communal vibe, and house-made grain-diverse breads and pastas (including gluten-free options! 🙌🏾🙌🏾), Runner & Stone is the perfect place to convene, keep the conversations flowing, and—most importantly—experience Eléctrico in its natural habitat: gathered around a table with good people, good food, and something amazing in your glass.
This event is FREE, but hungry attendees are welcome to stay for — or order dinner — on their own from the restaurant's acclaimed kitchen (serving until 9 PM), with the gathering continuing afterward on a relaxed, soft-close basis.
Open to all: industry insiders, culinary colleagues, fellow agave enthusiasts, and all-around appreciators of great food, great drink, great company, and great conversation. Questions? DM me @thefoodgriot.
🍸⚡️RSVP HERE (Appreciated but not required) 🙏 RSVP 😚⚡️🍸
RUNNER & STONE
285 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-576-3360 | info@runnerandstone.com
Check Out 👉🏽 MORE Exciting Upcoming TFG-Related Events HERE 👈🏾