SIP-tember: A Celebration of the Cocktail returns to Pasadena in August, at restaurants and lounges throughout the greater Pasadena area.Once again, cocktails will be matched in a bracket challenge pitting drink against drink. Voting in the first rounds of the SIP-tember Cocktail bracket Challenge is online. The four finalist cocktails square off in a head-to-head competition at the Taste of Pasadena at the Rose Bowl on September 21, 2016.

SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge contestants will be unveiled on Wednesday, August 8, 2016, on the Pasadena Restaurant Week website. Visit www.pasadenarestaurantweek.com for all the information. You be the judge starting August 10th when you vote for your favorites.

For 2016, SIP-tember returns August 10th for six weeks, culminating in the Taste of Pasadena and SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge Finale on September 21st at the Rose Bowl.

Pasadena celebrates the cocktail during SIP-tember, with some of our favorite Pasadena Chamber member restaurants offering some of their favorite cocktails. The Taproom at the Langham Huntington Hotel, Central Park Restaurant, a|k|a Bistro, Alondra Hot Wings, POP Champagne and Dessert Bar, California Pizza Kitchen and Bistro 45 take on Clearman's Galley, newcomer Pitfire Pizza and the bluRoom at the dusit D2 hotel constance pasadena.

Drinks being offered for the SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge include special margaritas, new interpretations of traditional cocktail and some specially created drinks from some of Pasadena’s premiere mixologists.

Look for great interpretations of traditional cocktails. Try drinks created especially for the SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge. Previous drinks named Pasadena’s Favorite Cocktail include the Broad Street Hurricane from Ruth’s Chris Steak House, the Cucumber Skinny-tini from Toro Sushi, the Vin de Pomplemousse from Green Street Restaurant and the forbidden from White Horse Lounge. Will one of these be  our first repeat winner or will another Pasadena venue take home the engraved cocktail shaker this year?

Once again, SIP-tember: A Celebration of the Cocktail culminates in a grand taste-off at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Everyone (21 years of age or older) attending the Taste of Pasadena that evening will be able to taste the four finalist cocktails and vote for your favorite.

In 2015, more than four hundred people were on hand for the finale of the SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge at the Taste of Pasadena at the Rose Bowl.

The Sip-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge Grand Finale is presented by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce as a Pasadena Restaurant Week event sponsored by The City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl.

The SIP-tember cocktail bracket challenge is a six week long competition among Pasadena Chamber of Commerce member restaurants and lounges. Competitors served drinks that were paired against each other in a competition.

Venues offering cocktails for the 2016 SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket Challenge include:

SIP-tember again hosts the informal citywide cocktail party to celebrate the 102nd anniversary of the birth of America’s first culinary celebrity -  Pasadena’s own Julia Child. The Julia Child Pasadena Cocktail Party on August 15th takes place in restaurants all over Pasadena, culminating in a citywide happy birthday toast at 7:00pm. Patrons are encouraged to dress for a 1950s, 1960s or 1970s era cocktail party.

Many of Pasadena’s restaurants and lounges take part in the friendly bracket competition. SIP-tember: A Celebration of the Cocktail and the Taste of Pasadena provide a terrific opportunity for patrons to visit new places, remember old favorites and see the breadth of excellent offerings found in the Pasadena area.

Gold Sponsors of SIP-tember and the Taste of Pasadena are The City of Pasadena and Wells Fargo.

The Rose Bowl Stadium generously hosts the Taste of Pasadena on September 21st in the Court of Champions under the iconic Rose Bowl sign.

SIP-tember is a Pasadena Restaurant Week event presented by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and our restaurant and lounge members.