Cocktail Carnival

All things cocktail! Excellent event. Everything from the Guinness Perfect Pour to amazing cocktails from DIAGEO World Class. Plus the band rocked.

A very festive and fun night hanging out with other Unilocaler, Su-​shien C. and mingling with other attendees. So many cocktails to try in one night!
My favorite, VEEV, Acai spirit, located way in the back of the carnival. The cocktail came in a really cool logo’d jar. OR-​G, a French vodka with persimmon, papaya, mango and lime came in second as my favorite. This was really good as is and I was so tempted to have another. Many types of gin, whiskey, vodka and other spirits to taste. And familiar brands including Barcardi and Guinness were present at the carnival.
The cost of the ticket was $ 35 for Unilocalers and included 10 cocktails, food and playing the carnival games. Very surprised that the crowd was pretty small but it was great for those in attendance, no lines!
Besides cocktails, cotton candy, kettle corn, Fairy Tale Brownies and small entrees were available to absorb the alcohol. Chips and taquitos were available in the Unilocal VIP room, thank goodness!
One of the first gin cocktails, I tried was from Aviation for the Northwest. Of course it is a carnival, therefore who wouldn’t want a gin snow cone with a licorice straw. The guys at the table were friendly and knowledgeable about the gin and how it’s made.
The characters added to the carnival atmosphere and so did the silly games including darts and high striker (the one with the hammer). Prizes included key chains, shirts, hats, can opener necklaces and pens. all logo’d with various spirits.
Located on Valley Ho’s lawn area, those wearing heels did have a hard time walking around especially having some cocktails! The fun stopped around 10, the last cocktail was yummy and reminded me of something I would want to drink at the fair over and over. A Campari and SKYY wild strawberry vodka infusion carbonated. This tasted of strawberries but also cotton candy with bubbles. A great way to end the night.
Of course, make sure to hydrate before and after these cocktail events or just show up for the AZ Cocktail Bloody Mary event the next morning! Cheers to the organizers for a wonderful event! Can’t wait for next year!

This was a very well organized event. I can’t express how much I appreciate arriving to an event like this and there being no hassle to get in. I pulled out my phone with my EventBrite app and showed my ticket and boom, I was in the event. From the arrival to the departure, everything was very well organized and I’m sure that the rest of the week will be the same.
The mood of the event was lively and festive. Although, it could have had a little more carnival atmosphere to it, in my opinion, like add in some clowns or contortionists. I loved the folks that were right in the front as you walked in… the lady wearing the table and the lady on the stilts. Their costumes/​makeup were amazing. And they were a festive bunch to boot. I also took my turn with the «hula hoop lady». I didn’t think I would remember how to hula, but these hips don’t lie baby!
So, the entry ticket got you a raffle ticket, game tickets and 10 drink tickets. That ticket also gets you a pass (wristband) to all the other events that week. I spent 3 drink tickets, so I was very selective in the drinks I chose. I had my limitations because I was driving… Gotta be responsible when you party.
My favorite cocktail of the night was the St George Spirits (A craft Distillery) company’s cocktail in the pickle. I’m not sure of the name, but that was a great drink. I did get the recipe… The staff there was awesome as well. Actually every table had friendly folks pouring spirits.
I checked into this event and that got me access to visit the Unilocal/​Don Julio Suite. Great Cocktails there as well. I loved the Sangrita the best. I can see why it was a winner at the Elite event. I have to try that at other restaurants too. Or maybe make it for myself at home.
Instead of grass, the Valley Ho has a huge Pool area, I wish they would have used that, then I could have worn my 6 inch stunners to the event. ;-)
All in all, I had a fantastic time at this event. I am pretty sure the rest of the week will be just as well organized and just as much fun. I look forwa

Serious epic party. The moment I walked in, the atmosphere was fun, exciting, hopping. There was a band there playing the perfect tunes, beautiful models dressed in carnival attire, and of course cocktails, cocktails, and more cocktails! No plain Jane alcohol or cocktails here– all the alcohol served were premium, the «sample» cocktails were generous in portion and the creativity displayed in creating the cocktails themselves was a level of sophistication and tastiness that I think I will be spoiled forever.
I went with fellow elite Unilocaler Michele M. As elite Unilocalers we can strike up a conversation with anyone, any where so as we made our way around to the various stations we had the best time chatting with the brand ambassadors, bar tenders as we tasted Acai vodka (Veeve brand) where each serving is a mere 65 calories that was delicious to the palate and served in adorable miniature mason jars, caramel apple infused vodka, Asian pear infused vodka served in real Asian pear juice, ginger beer with ginger vodka, a liquid nitrogen created cocktail topped with pop rocks, a vodka infused snow cone served using Twizzlers as straw, best mojito ever, an organic vodka mixed with rose water that was very memorable as the taste and smell of the rose water lingered after the cocktail was consumed. Every cocktailian brought their A game. Wow, frankly I’m impressed with myself that I can recall so much detail from last night!
Of course, once again, Lindsey and Unilocal takes care of us Unilocalers. Michele M. and I after checked into Unilocal,we gained entrance to the Don Julio lounge where there was food to «balance out» the cocktail consumption. We also saw Sergio again from our elite Unilocaler event at Montelucia. He remembered us so we had a nice chat with him. We were also able to taste the winning cocktail of tequila paired with the delicious mix of juice that included pomegranate juice. I also tasted tequila that was $ 400 a bottle where the taste of tequila was rich in flavor, a little oaky. Amazing. (Thank you Lindsey and Unilocal!)
Unbelievably, on top of the A listers of cocktailians, there were also carnival games that we played and won prizes.
This was just the kickoff party. There are all day sample events taking place at the Hotel Valley Ho this weekend that with the purchase of a wristband gives you free entry and tasting so buying the wristband ($ 10 each) is totally worth it. There are also events all over the valley during this week (where the wristband will either get you in for free or give you a generous discount) that if the Carnival party is a tasting of what can be expected, all the events will simply be cocktailistically fantastic.
Kudos to the organizers of this week long event celebrating the craft of cocktail making. When I see all the events listed and the A list of restaurants that are participating, I know the organizers worked hard to pull all of this together.
If you missed out on this event, no fear, there are tons of events still to come this week for you. Go to
for the full schedule. It’s guaranteed to be cocktailistic!