Must be 21 in the United States and 18 in the Caribbean islands.

• The wild card round, bartenders located in the US may submit an original recipe on-line as long as they are not located in one of the competition cities for 2010.

• Must be employed as a bartender, bar chef or mixologist in one of the following US cities or Caribbean islands: CHICAGO, LOS ANGELES, MIAMI, ARUBA and PUERTO RICO.

• When submitting recipe online, must include name, address, phone, email and employer name with location. All submissions must follow the rules or be disqualified.

• Recipe must be original and contain no more than 7 ingredients (total)with two of the ingredients being Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut and at least one rum from the BACARDI portfolio. Garnishes are NOT counted as an ingredient. No competing spirits or mixes may be used in the original recipe.

• Recipes must be submitted online between May 15, 2010 – August 17, 2010 at www.tastethetropicschallenge.com for all participants competing in Chicago, Los Angeles and Aruba.  For Miami and Puerto Rico, along with the wild card round, submissions will be taken until September 10, 2010.

• The submitted recipes will be narrowed down to 12 finalists. The finalists will be announced on the Taste the Tropics website for each city on August 5,2010. They will also be introduced following the training/educational session. The 12 finalists will prepare their submission for the judging panel and present their drinks. The field of twelve will be narrowed down to three who will compete in the second round of the mix-off with a secret ingredient! The winner of each participating city in the US and the Caribbean will compete in the grand finale in Miami, Florida.

• Judging will be based on the following: Taste, Creativity, Method, Garnish and Overall presentation.