It's the battle of bartenders.

Two bartenders from Brownsville are mixing more than just cocktails. They're stirring up international attention and will be competing in Chile next month.

Inside The Laboratory, the sound of shaking cocktails is more than just background noise, it's a rhythm of passion and discipline.

For bartender and bar owner Mariano Gil Jr., it's a beat that's carried him from family restaurants in Brownsville to the U.S. National Bartending Championship.

"I was waiting tables, then I saw the movie Cocktail with Tom Cruise and it kind of inspired me. I was like, I want to do that," Gil said.

After more than a decade competing, Gil became the U.S. National Champion in 2024 and again in 2025. That title earned him a spot at the Pan American Cocktail Championship in Santiago, Chile.

"When I started going to these competitions, it was always somebody from Las Vegas or New York or Miami winning these competitions, and I just figured, why not me? Why not somebody from the Valley?" Gil said.

Gil won't be going alone.

Working beside him at The Laboratory is Héctor Rangel, a two-time national champion of Mexico.

"I'm preparing quite hard, I'm training, I'm also practicing my cocktail making. It's basically that, practicing and training and repeating it again and again until I'm 100 percent," Rangel said.

The pair will compete against bartenders from more than 20 countries and be judged on both flair and flavor.

"These competitions are 60 percent flair and then 40 percent cocktail. So once we're done with our flair and getting scored in our technical parts, our cocktails get taken to a secret room with blind tasting judges, and we get judged on aroma, flavor, presentation, garnish and all that good stuff," Gil said.

For Gil, it's not just about the drinks, it's about creating an experience.

"It's how you make people feel. Here at The Laboratory, we're all about creating an experience," Gil said.

And for Rangel, the competition is as much about connection as it is about winning.

"I love competing, but I also love the feeling of being able to travel, meet people, everything that comes with the competition, I love," Rangel said.

The Pan American Cocktail Championship runs September 8 through September 14 in Chile, bringing together bartenders from across the Americas, Europe and Asia.

For these Rio Grande Valley mixologists, the biggest victory may already be theirs, proving Brownsville belongs on the global cocktail map.

Watch the video above for the full story.