{"id":167356,"date":"2026-03-18T16:16:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/167356\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:16:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:16:45","slug":"speed-rack-takes-over-the-melrose-ballroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/167356\/","title":{"rendered":"Speed Rack Takes Over The Melrose Ballroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"New<\/a><\/p>\n

New York City-based bartender Zoe Davide posed for the camera after winning Speed Rack on Mon\u00adday in Queens. Photo Courtesy of Kyle Stevens \/ @ thekylestevens<\/p>\n

The Melrose Ballroom (36-08 33rd St, Long Island City) got twisted for a good cause when the annual Speed Rack competition took place on Monday, March 9, 2026. Speed Rack is a speed-based cocktail competition for women+ bartenders that supports breast cancer research while putting an important spot\u00adlight on up-and-coming talent in the spirits industry.<\/p>\n

Competitors showed up and showed out for the event in Astoria, displaying their impressive bartend\u00ading skills for a variety of judges across the entertain\u00adment and beverage spaces. Speed Rack has raised over $2,000,000 since its inception, and the donations are continuing to pour in. Speed Rack was founded by Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix in February of 2011. Marrero and Mix have continued to put a spotlight on female mixologists around the country while raising funds for breast cancer research, education, and early prevention. This year, Zoe Davide emerged victorious as the top winner and champion of the New York re\u00adgion. Zoe shook and stirred her way to securing the grand prize. Other standout participants included Rachel Prucha, Yasmine Saberi, Lisa McGum, IIeana Hernandez, and Sam Smagala. Alcohol brands kept the drinks flowing throughout the festive evening and helped sponsor the event. Fan favorites included Jack Daniel\u2019s, Fords Gin, Heering, and Suntory.<\/p>\n

\"Rachel<\/a><\/p>\n

Rachel Prucha is seen making a delicious beverage during the competition.<\/p>\n

Speed Rack now has its sights on the National Fi\u00adnals this upcoming summer. The competition will con\u00adclude in New Orleans as part of \u2018Tales of the Cocktail 2026\u2019 on Sunday, July 19. To donate or volunteer, read\u00aders can visit speed-rack.com for more information. <\/p>\n

\"Katie<\/a><\/p>\n

Katie Kennedy and Kristen Carmel quenched the thirst of attendees at the Mel\u00adrose Ballroom at the Fords Gin booth.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A large crowd gathered in Astoria to cheer on their favorite partici\u00adpants in this year\u2019s Speed Rack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City-based bartender Zoe Davide posed for the camera after winning Speed Rack on Mon\u00adday in Queens.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-167356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}