+
+
PAVE THE WAY
Seven bartenders. Seven stories. Seven cocktails that made it to New Orleans.
Paving the Way for the Next Generation of Bartenders
For a career in bartending, sometimes the concept of sustainability holds meaning above the usual environmental connotations of what goes in the glass and how it gets there. It can also pertain to career longevity and stability. Pave the Way is a first-of-its-kind cocktail competition created by the nonprofit hospitality initiative Another Round Another Rally supported by storied cognac brand Hennessy to help build and strengthen bartending communities, provide education about cognac and its environmental impact, and mentor bar professionals.
Read more about the competition →
One Brand Story,
Seven Different Mixologists,
Seven Unique Takes on
Hennessy and Sustainability.
Meet the Class ↓
pave the way
class of 2026
DJ ballard
joshua bender
michael mcgee
lauren pellecchia
l. scott
tiffany trotter
victor uceda-vereau
/
/
/
/
Click On A Name To Discover Their Cocktail Recipe
DJ Ballard
Region: Northeast
cocktail:
LEMONADE
Follow the Recipe +
"I think we should just find easy and seamless ways to incorporate sustainability into our lives."
Ingredients:
1.75 oz Hennessy V.S.O.P.
0.75 oz Lemon-Pepper Cordial
0.25 oz Lacto-Lemon
2 oz Apricot Liqueur
Soda Water
Garnish: Beef Jerky with Repurposed Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Method:
Stir Hennessy V.S.O.P., cordial, lacto-lemon, and apricot liqueur over ice in a collins glass. Add a large ice spear, top with soda water, stir gently to protect carbonation, and rim with seasoned jerky.
Ballard's bright, juicy highball lacto-ferments its lemon juice for a longer shelf life, then turns every leftover peel and pepper into a savory, jerky-topped garnish.
x
Joshua Bender
Region: southwest
cocktail:
Follow the Recipe +
skin contact
"Fragrances are layered blends of aroma, and I immediately drew the parallel between layering aroma and blending eaux de vies to produce cognac."
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Hennessy V.S.O.P.
0.75 oz Sauternes
0.5 oz Fermented Plum & Hojicha Cordial
0.5 oz Fresh Plum Liqueur
1 tsp Hojicha Hydrosol
Method:
Adhere a plum leather disc to a champagne flute. Stir all ingredients with ice, strain over fresh ice into the glass, and finish with two spritzes of plum-skin perfume across the rim.
Bender builds his cocktail like a fragrance — layering fresh and fermented plum, roasted hojicha tea, and a spritzed plum-skin perfume to echo the oak and stone-fruit he tastes in Hennessy VSOP.
x
5 dashes 10% Acid Solution (7% Citric, 3% Malic)
Garnish: Atomized Plum-Skin & Cardamom Perfume, Fermented Plum Leather Disc
Michael McGee
Region: northwest
cocktail:
Follow the Recipe +
sidekick
"Hennessy has a brand legacy of luxury and aspiration. It also has a wide appeal and has created lots of opportunities for access. To demonstrate commitment across those areas at the same time is difficult, and it's noteworthy that Hennessy has been doing it for some time."
Ingredients:
3 oz Batch Cocktail:
1 part Lemon-Orange Cordial
1 part Ferrand Dry Curaçao
2 parts Hennessy V.S.O.P.
Agar Agar Clarified
Garnish: Lemon Twist Expression (Discard) & Sugar Crusted Orange Peel
Method:
Stir the clarified batch with ice, strain into a coupe, and express a lemon twist. Build the highball over ice, top with sparkling water, and finish with drops of infused oil and tincture.
A clarified riff on the Sidecar served alongside a boilermaker-style highball, Sidekick pairs a silky, V.S.O.P.-forward sipper with a bright, umami-edged chaser — McGee's case for perfecting a classic over chasing something new.
x
Lauren Pellecchia
Region: northcentral
cocktail:
Follow the Recipe +
full circle
"While my day may come full circle, I hope that circle never stops expanding."
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Hennessy V.S.
0.25 oz New Riff Balboa Rye infused with Maverick 65% Madagascar Dark Chocolate
1 oz Spent Coffee-Banana Peel Honey Syrup
0.5 oz Acidified Orange Juice
3 dashes Toasted Almond Bitters
3 drops 20% Saline Solution
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with one large ice cube. Shake to chill for about 14 seconds, then double strain into a coupe. No garnish needed beyond good company.
A glimpse into Pellecchia's actual day — morning coffee grounds and banana peels reborn as syrup, balanced against Hennessy VS's berry and vanilla notes for the pour that closes it out.
x
Tiffany Trotter
Region: southern
cocktail:
Follow the Recipe +
driftwood provision
"Saving a bottle of cognac for a “special occasion” may not be promised, so create your own reason to celebrate!"
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Toasted Coconut-Infused Hennessy V.S.
0.75 oz Hoodoo Chicory Liqueur
1.5 oz Lacto Pineapple Juice
1 oz Lime Husk Cordial
Garnish: Lacto Pineapple "Chamoy" Stick/Straw
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with a small amount of pebble ice. Shake, strain into a collins glass filled with pebble ice, and garnish with the pineapple chamoy stick.
Built entirely from kitchen scraps — pepper ends, citrus husks, coconut trim — Driftwood Provision turns what never made it to a plate into something worth celebrating.
x
L. Scott
Region: southcentral
cocktail:
Follow the Recipe +
flesh & spirit
"It's not just about making a drink, it's about creating something complete and memorable."
Ingredients:
1.75 oz Hennessy V.S.O.P.
0.50 oz Mango Skin Shrub
0.25 oz Mango Kernel Orgeat
0.25 oz Lemon Oleo
3 drops Mango Kernel Spice Tincture
Garnish: Skins of the Mango Shaped into a Rose, Mango Coconut Sugar Dusting on the Side of the Glass, Expressed Twice with Lemon Oil Aromatizer
Method:
Shake all ingredients with ice and double strain into a stemmed glass dusted with mango-coconut sugar. Garnish with a mango rose and finish with two expressions of lemon oil over the top.
A Brandy Crusta rework built on gratitude, Flesh & Spirit uses the mango's skin, kernel, and flesh in turn — three parts of one fruit, standing in for skin, flesh, and heart.
x
Victor Uceda-Vereau
Region: southeast
cocktail:
Follow the Recipe +
Burbujas en Été
"It is meant to transport the drinker to a moment — warm, relaxed, and full of life."
Ingredients:
1.25 oz Fig/Fig Leaf Infused Hennessy V.S.
Bar Spoon Pedro Ximenez Sherry
3 oz Peach Oolong Tea Soda
2 drops Acid Water Tincture
1 dash Orange Bitters
Garnish: A Brush of Fig Paint
Method:
Streak fig paint inside a highball glass. Add bitters, tincture, sherry, and the fig-infused Hennessy V.S. Add a large ice spear and stir to chill, then top slowly with peach oolong soda to protect the carbonation.
Miami meets the south of France in Uceda-Vereau's summer highball — fig and fif leaf-infused Hennessy V.S. balances against a homemade peach oolong soda, with nothing going to waste.
x
2 oz Highball Base:
1 part Ginger-Honey Syrup
2.5 parts Lemon-Orange Cordial
Miso Washed
6 oz Sparkling Water
Garnish: 4-6 Drops Lemon-Infused Olive Oil, 6-8 Drops Orange Vanilla Cardamom Tincture
+
Hear more from the winners themselves.
Content captured at the Pave the Way Showcase at Tales of the Cocktail
Read more about the winners →
Read more about
the Winners
Read more about
the competition
+