The Spirit World

Very soon, cocktail geeks from around the world are convening in New Orleans for the sixth annual Tales of the Cocktail. As mentioned in earlier posts, July means its time for the annual celebration of all things cocktail and spirit, held in the birthplace of American cocktails. I’m so excited to be attending this year!

If you’re in the area, it’s not too late to make plans to attend Tales (July 16 - 20). You can get a full schedule of the events, and purchase tickets, on their website here. If you can’t attend, you can stay up on the latest from Tales by checking in at the official Tales of the Cocktail Blog, where I and many of my fellow cocktail bloggers will be posting daily about our adventures. I’ll also post some updates here too, of course!

Just to tempt you, here are a few of the sessions I am planning to attend. There are so many great ones to choose from, its tough to pick:

Wednesday, July 16th

• Tales Revives the Green Hour - word on the street is that Pernod will be pouring their new (old) absinthe formulation

Thursday, July 17th

• Artisan Spirits - exploring the growth of small-batch, handmade unique spirits around the world, with a distinguished panel including Lance Winters, distiller at St. George Spirits, Neyah White, well-known mixologist from Nopa in San Francisco,Eric Seed, proprietor of Haus Alpenz, and Bill Yorks, Spirits Manager at Quality Wine & Spirits
• The Scented Trail - exploring the role of aroma in cocktails, and optimal uses for essences, hydrosols, and tinctures, among other things - led by Audrey Saunders (looking forward to meeting her especially!) and Tony Conigliaro

Friday, July 18th

• Amore Amari - Exploring the role and history of bitters and bitter spirits, including their impact on the palate and role in cocktails. We’ll get to taste a range of amer/amaro/bitters traditional to regions across Europe.
• Rum, Rhon and Rhum - Overview of rum across the centuries, looking at the varieties of styles and what makes them unique. I must confess that I don’t know that much about rum, so I’m looking forward to learning more.

Saturday, July 19th

• Spice & Ice - Spicy Cocktails - “For adventurous drinkers only!” (sounds like me), looking at how to excite the palate with hot, spicy, and savory cocktails using a range of spicy flavors and ingredients
• New Orleans Original Cocktail Tour - This one’s a must for anyone who hasn’t spent a lot of time in New Orleans -popular historian Joe Gendusa takes you on a walk through history, exploring famous bars in the French Quarter and the stories and spirits that made them famous.

And that’s just a small taste of what’s going on - there are lots of cocktail parties, cocktail-food pairing dinners, many more sessions on all types of spirits & cocktails, and even a Grand Soiree d’Absinthe on Sunday evening. So hurry up and get your tickets, or at least make plans to live vicariously through your intrepid cocktail blogging friends!