Recently in Tales of the Cocktail Category

Tales of the Cocktail has come to a conclusion for another year. This time around the event was bigger than ever and the organization of events was a magnitude better than last year. Obviously, as the event grows bigger, there are growing pains, but this year I found it very easy to get around. That’s impressive for an event this big, and continuous improvement is all anyone can ever ask for, and we got it. The number of new attendee’s seemed pretty high and most of the veterans were pushed out of the Carousel Bar to other bars around the city. That’s a good thing, sometimes the Carousel Bar can be too easy and you spend the evening spinning around it circles, literally.

The day started out rainy, which delayed my attempt for Beignets, but eventually the rain paused and I made it out. After that I managed to sort out some technical things, pick up my 35lbs of different sugars for Friday’s session and then prepare for the Drink.Write photography session and so much more.

As we approach the peek temperatures of summer, thousands of people are boarding planes destine for New Orleans, and its insanely hot temperatures. With humidex factored in, it will feel like 107°F (42°C). To get that many people to go to New Orleans, in July, it must be time for Tales of the Cocktail. The annual event where the best bartenders and mixologists, from around the world, gather to celebrate the cocktail. Every year it gets bigger and by all accounts, this one is looking to be an impressive display of drink making talent. Or is that just drinking talent?

It's almost time for Tales of the Cocktail 2009, and this year I'll be presenting two sessions. The first session is Drinks from the 1600's, a historical look at what, where and why people drank. Not many people have an idea of what people drank 400 years ago. Did they drink anything similar to a cocktail? What kinds of spirits were popular? Where did they drink, and what did those places look like? This session will give you an interesting and entertaining glimpse into the past. Anyone truly interested in drink history must attend.

All good things must come to an end and it is time to conclude my Tales posts, so here's the wrap up. Tales of the Cocktail has become one of the coolest events around, and those who participated would probably agree. I don't know anyone who had a bad time, and even if things don't go as planned, you really don't care because it seems everything works out anyway. The reason for this is the people who show up. All great events are dependent on the personalities involved. Let me explain.

As soon as Tales of the Cocktail gets started, it seems it is over. As a friend said, too many drinks makes the nights go by fast. But, most people used their time very well and made the most of the sessions, parties, bars and the city. There are hundreds of posts and comments about the event showing up on the Blogosphere and this is my small contribution to such a big event. This is how it went down for me.

It looks like this is going to be a Tales to remember. So far this year seems to have more of a party atmosphere and there are a lot of people. This is my first post from New Orleans and there is a fair amount to cover. Hopefully I can keep the posts coming but eventually lack of sleep will catch up with me. So here is what's happening.

I’ve just put the finishing touches on my 50 slide presentation for Tales of the Cocktail. I’ve gathered up all my gadgets and packed them away. The luggage is set to go and now I just have to wait until 1AM (July 16^th) to catch my airport shuttle to Detroit. My flight leaves at 7:15AM so I should be checking into the hotel around 1PM tomorrow. I think tomorrow will be a long day because there are a lot of people to meet, things to see, events to attend and drinks to drink. Looks like it is going to be a 24 hour day without sleep. Pretty much like last year. To all those attending see you shortly, and to those who can’t make it, stay tuned I’m entering full blogger mode for the week.

One of the more recent editions to Tales of the Cocktail has been the Spirited Dinners. Basically, local restaurants are paired up with bartenders from around the world, in an effort to create a unique dining experience. The restaurants chef creates a unique menu for the evening and then the paired up bartender (aka the bar chef) creates a matching menu of cocktails. The goal is to try to compliment the courses with a cocktail and really experience how cocktails can be integrated into dining, not just aperitif's and digestif's. This year I'm pairing up with La Cote Brasserie.

There is now less than one month to go before Tales of the Cocktail. I'm looking forward to going, again, this year and I've started assembling my presentation, Sensory Perception and Mixology (What Your Taste Buds are Telling You). If you are a bartender, chef, enthusiastic mixologist or just anyone who likes to know what they are drinking, then this session is a must. Sure, I like my presentation, but let me explain why you will really enjoy it.

Why do certain people recoil in horror at the taste of Italian bitters and why do others gag on super sweet drinks? Then of course we've all know the guy who can't get enough suicide sauce in his Caesar (Bloody Mary) or the Dirty Martini addict. Maybe you are one of them. Have you ever wanted to understand how people taste and why there is such diversity.  If you are an aspiring mixologist or a professional who wants an edge, then knowing how people perceive flavours is a very important thing. Luckily, I'll be discussing this very stuff at Tales of the Cocktail in July and in this session we'll be doing a genetically specific taste test to help figure out who you are plus a whole lot more. Read on for more details.

Well, about Tales of the Cocktail anyway. You can only beat a dead horse for so long before you need to move on. This post will summarize all of the other great things and events that happened while I was in New Orleans. There is a lot to cover, including the Spirited Dinner at the Delachaise, the Rum Tasting, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s “Best of Show” presentation on all things Tiki, and the Absinthe session which has peaked my interest in this otherwise forgotten spirit. There were some other things in there as well, such as the VIP dinner, breakfast and the Cocktail Hour. I’ll touch on those briefly, but all the other cocktail bloggers have written about the same thing so I’ll try not to bore you. After this we will return to our regularly scheduled programming.

While at Tales of the Cocktail I participated in the Cocktails and the Blogosphere session. Paul did a great job of rounding things up and doing all the prep work, while the rest of us just blathered on about our blogs. Being bloggers, we are naturally long-winded, and love when people listen to us. Really, blogging is a cry for attention, well that’s what my wife says anyway. I believe that information should be free and opinions matter, so I share what little I know and give you my opinion on all things drink related. But when four people share a stage and only have 75 minutes to divulge everything they know about cocktail blogs, we inevitably ran out of time. So here is a summary of some things we discussed and some things I would have liked to discuss. ;

Usually it’s my computer that crashes, not me, but yesterday my body ordered me to sleep more. It seems my body can’t do the living on four hours of sleep a night, for a week, anymore. But the resting was good and I did go to work so it wasn’t a complete crash. As I promised, here’s what happened on the Friday in New Orleans. You can also check out Cocktail Chronicles, Kaiser Penguin, Liquid Muse and On the House for other Tales of the Cocktail summary posts and comments.

I have returned from New Orleans with so much to write about that it will probably take a few days to cover everything. Also, I’ve used up every energy reserve I have, so I’m sleepy and my mind seems to be having a hard time recalling everything I’ve done in the past five days. That’s what happens when you only get four to five hours of sleep per night and then spend 14+ hours getting home. I think I’ll tackle this in reverse chronological order since the most recent memories are the easiest to remember.

Day 1 of Tales of the Cocktail has been great. I've met almost everyone in the first 12 hours og being here. New Orleans is a very interesting city, and I definately like it. Lots of character in the old buildings and many historical sites to see. But, my agenda is quiet busy so we'll see how much I can do outside of that. Excuse the abundant errors, I'm writing this on a PDA.

Well it is official, the 5th edition of Tales of the Cocktail will be taking place in New Orleans from July 18 to 22. For those that don’t know, Tales of the Cocktail is an annual event that brings together the top bartenders, mixologists, chefs, spirit producers and authors to learn, exchange information and share a few drinks. This years event will be taking place at the, six hundred room, Hotel Monteleone and there will be a good number of events, many free, that everyone can participate in. One of the events is Cocktails and the Blogosphere which will feature myself, Paul of Cocktail Chronicles, Rick of Kaiser Penguin and Chuck of The Gumbo Pages. If you love cocktails and bartending, you owe it to yourself to attend.