Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Highball 2023 at Nova 535 in St. Petersburg, Florida oN Dec. 7, 2023. Credit: Photo by Nick Cardello

The new year just kicked off, and you’re already thinking about having a drink.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay can help with that next month when its Highball cocktail competition returns to St. Petersburg.

The event at FloridaRama stylized (“FloridaRAMA”) finds some of the Bay area’s best bartenders presenting their take on the classic, two-ingredient cocktail served on the rocks.

Featured liquors at Highball 2025, according to a press release, include Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Herradura Tequila, Ford’s Gin, Diplomatico Rum, and Chambord Liqueur.
More than a dozen different highball cocktails will be available for sampling, along with bites to help you soak up the booze, plus live music, tarot and other entertainment. Attendees will also vote for their favorite cocktail from each spirit category.

Bartenders from American Social, Sonder Social Club, Bar Tiki, Highland House, and The Living Room are some of the first confirmed competitors.

A portion of the proceeds from Highball 2025 benefit Current Initiatives of Tampa Bay, a nonprofit whose Laundry Project and Affordable Christmas efforts help families throughout the Bay area.

Tickets to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s Highball 2025 cocktail competition and tasting happening Friday, Feb. 21 at FloridaRama in St. Petersburg are available now and start at $25.

VIP tickets ($50) include early-entry, free parking, passed appetizers, a VIP gift and more. Designated driver tickets ($20) get ticket holders in and access to all the food and non-alcoholic beverages they can stomach.