Three more bartenders have been announced as UK finalists in Patrón tequila’s search for perfectionists in cocktail making.

They are Mike McGinty (pictured top) from Big Red Teapot’s soon-to-open Edinburgh bar The Voyage of Buck, Matyáš Bušek from Mr Fogg’s Residence in London and Raffaele Di Monaco from Park Chinois in London.

They impressed judges in the Scottish, east London and west London heats of this year’s Patrón Perfectionist’s Cocktail Competition and will go on to the UK final for a chance to win a trip to the Hacienda Patrón – Patrón Tequila’s distillery in the highlands of Jalisco in Mexico.

The competition challenged bartenders to invent and present a Patrón Tequila cocktail “worthy of a perfectionist”, inspired by the idea of bartenders putting the same passion and care into crafting their cocktails as Patrón does when creating its ultra-premium tequilas.

In the Scotland heat, Mike created The Bell of Jalisco cocktail which combines Patrón Reposado, a dry vermouth infused with camomile, a grapefruit IPA and lemon juice.

In the west London heat, Matyáš (pictured above) presented Sight of Baobab, an intriguing, complex concoction combining Patrón Silver with strawberry verbena oleo, pink peppercorn rubarbaro and “ant juice”, complete with a spray of tonka.

In the east London heat, Raffaele created Sense of the Place, a deep and citrusy mix of Patrón Silver, Amontillado Sherry and citrus juices. He is pictured below with his cocktail.

The three will join Steve Young from Pier64 in Penarth near Cardiff, winner of the southern heat, and Joe Wild from El Bandito in Liverpool, who won the northern heat, at the UK final in London on Wednesday November 16.

The Patrón Perfectionist’s Cocktail Competition launched in the UK last year and has expanded to an international level for 2016, involving bartenders in Mexico, Australia, UAE, France, Spain and Italy. All the winners will meet at the Hacienda in January where they will then compete in the grand final.

The Bell of Jalisco by Mike McGinty

30ml Patrón Reposado

12.5ml Camomile-infused dry vermouth

25ml Grapefruit IPA

20ml Lemon juice

20ml Yellow bell pepper shrub

Combine all ingredients and shake. Pour into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with dehydrated lime, camomile flowers and yellow pepper leather.

Sight of Baobab by Matyáš Bušek

45ml Patrón Silver

15ml Strawberry verbena oleo

10ml Ant juice

20ml Pink peppercorn rubarbaro

Spray of tonka

Combine all ingredients. Pour into a vintage coupette glass. Garnish with orange strips with roasted ants plus a spray of tonka.

Sense of the Place by Raffaele Di Monaco

50ml Patrón Silver

10ml Amontillado sherry

15ml Lime juice

30ml Mandarin juice

10ml Tarragon-infused syrup

5 drops Naga chilli bitter

Combine all ingredients and shake. Pour into a ceramic cup on a wood coaster. Garnish with tarragon and roasted baby corn, season with El Guano salt.