Seattle, WA— Stirling Gourmet Flavors is sponsoring, in conjunction with Coffee Fest, the first-ever “Stirling Signature Beverage Open” at Coffee Fest Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center, June 3-5. The competition will be designed to shine a spotlight on and encourage quality and creativity in beverage making. Open to baristi, bartenders, chefs, and anyone who has a creative beverage recipe to share, this competition will allow a maximum of 12 contestants at each show. Competition hours will be from 12:30 until 4:30 p.m. on the Friday and Saturday of each show. Stirling Gourmet Flavors will award two cash prizes of $500 each—one for best-tasting beverage and one for most creative beverage.

Here are the rules: Each contestant will be given twenty minutes to prepare his or her innovative beverage for each of three judges. Competitors may only compete with one recipe per show. Beverages featured may include lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, hot or iced teas, Italian sodas, smoothies, non-alcoholic beverages and more. Potential contestants must apply, submit a recipe, and be accepted to compete in the Stirling Signature Beverage Open. The only requirement is if a flavoring syrup(s) is used in a recipe, it must be Stirling. Coffee Fest and Stirling hope this competition will help foster creativity and the exchange of ideas to improve beverage quality and innovation in the specialty beverage industry.

Coffee Fest is dedicated to the growth and proliferation of the specialty coffee, gourmet tea and alternative beverage industries. Coffee Fest’s remaining 2005 show schedule is as follows: Coffee Fest Las Vegas (co-locating with The Great American Dessert Expo), June 3-5, at the Las Vegas Convention Center; and Coffee Fest Seattle, October 28-30, at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. More information can be obtained at www.coffeefest.com or by calling 425.283.5058.

Stirling Gourmet Flavors, recipient of multiple gold medal awards for product excellence, offers syrups with higher concentration, less sticky sweetness, truer flavor and lower cost-per-pour. Stirling’s full line of products includes more than fifty flavors of gourmet flavoring syrups, new, highly concentrated sugar-free syrups, mocha mixes, display items and more. Stirling Gourmet Flavors are extremely versatile and are used in coffee beverages, Italian sodas, smoothies and iced beverages, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages, baking, culinary arts and more.


For information on Stirling’s new website or on its line of gourmet flavorings and sugar-free gourmet flavorings, please contact Kate LaPoint via phone at 800.332.1714 or 206.418.9962 or via e-mail at katelapoint@stirlingfoods.com.