Thursday in Ybor City, Zoya hosted its third annual shot competition; one new shot out of 10 hopefuls battled it out on the bar in hopes of landing on the summer menu.
Zoya, sister lounge to club Czar, 1430 E. Seventh Ave., serves shisha, elixirs and hand crafted shots and cocktails Wednesday through Saturday. Behind the bar is Best of the Bay Mixologist Jaymes Ellis, a bartender who prides herself on hand crafting drinks.
“I come from a tiki background. I made tiki drinks in North Carolina and all of those are like, ‘how much booze can I put in one drink, and still make it taste like fruit punch?’ ” Ellis said, ”So we are doing that, but instead of all of them tasting like fruit punch, they taste like different stuff.”
Ellis mixed muddled strawberries, strawberry vodka, balsamic glaze and lime. The flavor part strawberry shortcake and part french toast leaving a bite of fruit to chew on.
Other worthy shot competitor mixed of sweet tea vodka, honey and fresh lime, condensing the classic southern iced tea into a smooth and refreshing shot for humid florida nights. Another entry mixed gin, ginger beer, creme de creases and fresh lime, an ode to the classic gin and ginger ale.
Only one shot was pure liquor, Zu Bison Grass vodka served in the traditional polish fashion with a shot of Maxwell’s Apple juice as a chaser. It’s delightfully smooth, with a touch of herbal and nutty flavor. The bison grass, used to make the vodka, is only grown in Poland and requires special permission to grow.
The bar is stacked with curious liquors, more than 450 bottles, with over 250 varieties of vodka. The bottle collection and menu changes three times a year, evolving with both the season and drink trends.
“For new liquors, I like finding something different, something that not every bar is carrying. We do a lot of organic stuff here, we have something like 25 organic vodkas and really just something different,” Ellis said.
Ellis suggested trying her personal drinking strategy of alternating between drinking water and shots all night. “I am moving into doing just shots. But when you add them all up it equals out to having about four drinks,” she said.
Zoya puts out a more laid back atmosphere than Czar, which complement each other well. People come to Zoya before Czar or stop by after to cool off, Ellis said.
“I like it here because there are too many beautiful faces to be serving bad tasting drinks” Zoya patron Stephanie Clark, “It’s classy but not so much that you feel like you have to hold back, you can just be yourself.”
Zoya's new summer menu, featuring the competitions winners, will be released soon.
