Mixology Maven

Watching her confidently prepare two visually stunning drinks while explaining their components to a panel of distinguished judges, you’d never know that Natalie Takacs has been working as a mixologist for little more than a year.

Takacs, who represented End of Days Distillery in the first round of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s (NCRLA) Chef Showdown Mixology Competition on Monday, April 28, started as a barback with EOD in the spring of 2023. Less than a year later she began training behind the bar and now creates all of the house-made liquors, syrups and other concoctions used to prepare the ever-expanding list of EOD cocktails.

EOD hosted eight other mixology teams on Monday for the Eastern NC preliminary round of competition. The Western NC round was held on April 7 in Ronda, NC. Each mixologist must partner with a distillery and work as a team throughout the competition, preparing a cocktail and a mocktail for each round.

The panel of judges for Monday’s round included Stephanie Elliott of Piccione, a 2023 NCRLA Mixologist of the Year from Piccione Vineyards, Amy Waas, a 2025 James Beard Semifinalist from Bar Beej at Cheeni in Durham, and Esteban McMahan of Top of the Hill and TOPO Organic Spirits in Chapel Hill.

Each mixologist must partner with a distillery representative to work with as a team throughout the competition. While preparing their cocktail and a mocktail, the mixologists have the opportunity to explain the ingredients they’ve selected, as well as where they sourced them from and the inspiration behind the recipe. The representative from the distillery must also address the judges and provide an explanation of the spirits used and is judged on their knowledge, organization and presentation.

Ryan Spencer, research and development project manager for End of Days, spoke highly of Takacs in his presentation to the judges and playfully praised her intuition when it comes to creating recipes.

“Not only is she kind of our wizard behind the bar, making the liquors and syrups for us, she is also known for making some pretty killer cocktails,” Spencer said. “One we can’t even figure out a name for, so we simply call it The Enigma. Where precisely she comes up with these things, we’re not entirely sure.”

For her cocktail, Takacs created Sundays in Salem, an homage to Winston-Salem, the city where she grew up. The cocktail was crafted from a brown butter and pecan fat-washed Castillo 1815 Reposado, house-made strawberry and white chocolate liqueurs, freshly squeezed lemon juice, house-made Moravian cookie syrup, Appalachian Fernet, and a whole egg. It was garnished with brûléed sugar, strawberry dust made from Lewis Farms berries, and a Moravian cookie from Apple Annie’s Bake Shop. North Carolina vendors provided the butter, pecans, strawberries, honey, molasses, egg, Fernet, and the cookie.

For her mocktail, Takacs served Primrose of the Pines, a delicate combination of rose rooibos tea from Queen Ester Teas, house-made honey, clove, and cacao nib syrup, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a house-made strawberry and rhubarb jelly. It was topped with a foam crafted from Boombalatti’s lemon elderflower ice cream, rose water, house-made primrose water, hibiscus sea salt from Sea Love Sea Salt, strawberry dust, and an edible primrose flower grown at Shelton Herb Farm.

Takacs credits her knowledge of herbs and spices and how to combine flavors to time spent cooking with her dad, who she said is a great cook. And she is grateful for the staff at EOD who have taught her the tips and tricks of the trade and for owners Beth and Shane Faulkner, who have encouraged her to experiment and take risks.

“They give us a lot of creative freedom which is really unique,” Takacs said.

The judges used the following guidelines to rate each presentation for a maximum score of 160 points:

Style: Up to 20 points

– The judges’ impression of each mixologist’s craftsmanship, style, and successful use of mixology techniques.

Creativity: Up to 20 points

– Creative, out-of-the-box thinking; successful and innovative use of ingredients.

Originality of the recipe: Up to 20 points

– Consideration of the best use of spirits, creative name of the cocktail or mocktail, most creative homemade ingredients

The “Got to be NC” factor, best use of locally sourced NC ingredients: Up to 20 points

Presentation: Up to 20 points

Overall taste and balance of each drink: Up to 40 points

Kitchen Score: Each team comes in with 10 points for keeping a clean, organized workspace and a courteous cleanup of the space. Teams only lose points if there is a mishap along the way.

The NCRLA has yet to announce the teams that will be advancing to the semi-final rounds of competition taking place on July 7 in Asheville and July 14 in Greenville. The grand finale will take place alongside the culinary finale at Bay 7 at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham on August 4.

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