bringing drinks to life

I know that July seems like it is a long way off, especially when it is cold and rainy here in the UK, but trust me it is worth thinking about where you are going to be from the 21^st – 25^th… Me? I’m going to be in New Orleans of course.

 

 

Last year I made my first trip out to Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans’ annual cocktail and spirits event, and there is no way I am going to miss it this year! For those of you who don’t already know about Tales, it is the biggest drinks industry event of the year and you really don’t want to miss it.

 

 

The TotC website www.talesofthecocktail.com/ is already full of info including a list of the seminars and events that are already planned, so I thought now might be the right time to give you a little recap on 2009 and give you a heads up about 2010. When you are travelling that far it pays to plan ahead!

 

 

So last year was an eye opening experience for me. To be honest I tried to pack too much into my brief stay in New Orleans but that’s easy to do when there are so many seminars, events, places to see and people to catch up with. So here’s what happened in 2009:

 

 

Almost 11,500 people who are interested in cocktails and spirits gathered in New Orleans for five days of seminars, tastings, meetings, parties and competitions. While it centered around The Hotel Monteleone events were held in bars all over the French Quarter, including ‘Spirited Dinners’ in some of New Orleans’ best restaurants, brand sponsored parties in bars and hotels and of course impromptu gatherings in bars across the city.

 

 

There was a good balance to be had between serious learning and serious playing and for me days were a mixture of attending seminars, catching up with friends and exploring the city via it’s best watering holes, while the evenings were for drinking, sampling the local cuisine and then drinking some more.

 

 

The event is amazingly well organised with all the seminars being ticketed (tickets go on sale March 1^st so check the website for more info) so even with so many people descending on the French Quarter there isn’t too much chaos to deal with. The organisers even take the pain out of trying to find a place to stay by arranging special deals with several hotels in the area. I have to say that for such a huge event it ran really smoothly last year and they seem to be just as organized this year.

 

 

On the seminar side of things there were some great talks by leading lights in the drinks industry and for me particular pleasure was found in attending talks hosted by experienced speakers such as Phill Duff and Angus Winchester. A session about the ‘science of shaking’ got a real debate going amongst bartenders, The fine art of banging out drinks was also a huge crowd pleaser. I think that’s one of the things I liked best about Tales, there was something for everyone. If you wanted to spend all day every day sitting in seminars you could, as there were plenty to choose from, but if you wanted to chill out with friends, there was always the pool on the rooftop and a cold beer or two!

 

 

The best bit though was meeting new people and catching up with old friends. I left New Orleans with a heap of new contacts who have now become good friends. I had drinking experiences and got to know some great bartenders. I befriended chefs and brand owners, met wholesalers and suppliers as well as getting to drink beers with people like Robert Hess and Dale de Groff… it doesn’t get better than that!

 

 

So will I be going back there this year? Hell yes! There’s no way I’d miss it. In fact this time I am bringing along a load of bartenders from London who missed out last year. I’ve checked out the list of seminars and events, lined up my flights even had a quick look at which ‘spirited dinner’ I might want to check out.

 

 

This year I plan on checking out the follow up to the shaking seminar, ‘the science of stirring’ as well as attending any seminar where Duff, Winchester, Brown, Miller, Hess or Vadrna are talking. I will be learning about Armagnacs, Aperatifs and overproof spirits and the history of gin. I will be hearing about what the French and the Australians have contributed to the world of cocktails. I will be sipping drinks made lovingly by Chris Hannah at the French 75 bar and drinking beer with my breakfast at the Jager Haus. I will be introducing friends to the ritual of the café broulot and eating jambalaya at Coop’s. I will be catching up with people from New York, Kentucky and Alabama and hopefully making new friends from all around the world.

 

 

I hope to see you there… if you need me anytime between the 21st and 25th of July, I’ll be by the pool on the rooftop of the Monteleone drinking a cold one and making new friends!