Batini (drink)

Lore & Background

In August 2004, the Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau hosted a contest to designate the official drink of Austin. Five Austin-area hotels submitted recipes, and the Four Seasons Austin recipe won, subsequently appearing on the menu at the Lobby Lounge. In 2006, the Four Seasons won again with their 'Batini Black' entrant, a variation that included Tito's Vodka, Blue Curacao, simple syrup, grapefruit juice, champagne, and fresh blackberries.

Reader's Guide

The Batini is significant as the official drink of the Austin Bat Fest, an annual event that also hosts a Batini contest for local bartenders. Its creation by the Four Seasons Hotel Austin and its victory in a citywide contest in 2004 established it as a local symbol. The Batini Black variation, which won again in 2006, demonstrates the cocktail's adaptability and ongoing relevance. The drink's ingredients—Tito's Vodka, Chambord, Blue Curacao, Sangria, red wine, and a cherry garnish—reflect a blend of flavors that has become associated with Austin's festive culture. The annual contest ensures the Batini remains a dynamic part of the Bat Fest tradition.

Did You Know?

• The Batini was created by bartenders from the Four Seasons Hotel Austin.
• The Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau hosted the contest to designate the official drink of Austin in August 2004.
• The Batini Black variation includes Tito's Vodka, Blue Curacao, simple syrup, grapefruit juice, fresh blackberries, and is topped with champagne.
• The original Batini recipe uses Tito's Vodka, Chambord, Blue Curacao, and sour mix or citrus, not Sangria or red wine.

Birth of Austin's Signature Cocktail

In the summer of 2004, the city of Austin set out to claim a drink of its own. The Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau organized a competition inviting local hospitality establishments to propose a recipe that would represent the city's spirit in liquid form. Five hotels in the Austin area each crafted their own submission, hoping their creation would earn the coveted title of the city's official cocktail. The recipe that ultimately triumphated belonged to the bartenders at the Four Seasons Hotel Austin, and it was immediately placed on the menu at the hotel's Lobby Lounge for guests to enjoy. That winning formula, built around Tito's Vodka and a blend of colorful liqueurs and wine, went on to become the official drink of the Austin Bat Fest, cementing its place in the city's cultural identity. The Batini thus emerged not as a barroom afterthought but as a deliberately chosen symbol of Austin's creative and competitive spirit, born from a single summer contest that pitted the city's finest hotel kitchens against one another.

The Classic Recipe and Its Method

The original Batini is a layered, vodka-based cocktail that draws on a distinctive combination of spirits, liqueurs, and wine. Its core ingredients include Tito's Vodka as the base spirit, Chambord for a rich raspberry liqueur note, Blue Curacao to add a citrusy blue hue, Sangria for a fruity wine character, and Red wine to round out the profile. A cherry garnish completes the presentation. The preparation method is straightforward: all of the liquid components are shaken together in a cocktail shaker, and the finished drink is served with a cherry perched on top. This combination of five distinct liquid ingredients plus the garnish gives the Batini a complex, fruity, and slightly wine-forward character that sets it apart from more straightforward vodka cocktails. The use of both Sangria and Red wine alongside the liqueurs creates a layered sweetness and depth that reflects the drink's origins in a hotel lounge setting, where a more elaborate, multi-ingredient profile would be expected.

Batini Black: A Darker Iteration

Two years after the original recipe claimed the city's title, the Four Seasons Austin returned to the Batini competition in 2006 with a new entrant they called the Batini Black. While it shared foundational elements with the 2004 winner—most notably Tito's Vodka and Blue Curacao—the Batini Black introduced several new components that shifted the drink's character. A splash of simple syrup added a touch of sweetness, grapefruit juice brought a bright citrus edge, and fresh blackberries contributed a tart, fruity depth. The preparation called for shaking the vodka, Blue Curacao, simple syrup, grapefruit juice, and blackberries together, then straining the mixture into a cocktail glass. The final touch was a pour of champagne to top off the drink, lending effervescence and a celebratory finish. The Four Seasons' victory with this darker, more complex variation demonstrated that the Batini was not a static recipe but a living concept that could evolve while retaining its Austin identity.

The Annual Batini Contest Tradition

What began as a one-time competition in 2004 has grown into a recurring tradition at the Austin Bat Fest. Each year, local bartenders gather to compete in the Batini contest, crafting their own interpretations of the city's signature cocktail. The original 2004 event was organized by the Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau, which invited five hotels in the Austin area to submit recipes for the title of official city drink. The Four Seasons Austin took home the win that year, and then repeated their success in 2006 with the Batini Black. The fact that the contest has continued as an annual fixture of the Bat Fest speaks to the drink's cultural resonance in the city. It transforms a simple cocktail recipe into a community event where local talent is showcased, creativity is celebrated, and the identity of Austin as a place of competition and collaboration is reinforced through the shared act of mixing drinks.

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