(Long Overdue) Tales Recap
The week we spent in New Orleans last month was our first full week away from our distillery since we opened in 2005. Needless to say, there was tons of catchup to do once we got back from Tales of the Cocktail, and we were exhausted (in a good way). Now that I’m finally back in the groove, I’ve had some time to reflect on the experience.
Here’s a quick recap of my favorite moments, in no particular order. Hopefully this will add to Meade’s attempts to get you to feel bad for not attending this year!
The first session I attended, To Have and Have Another: The Hemingway Bartender’s Companion, was a fantastic way to start the conference. The session was led by Phil Greene, who is clearly a Hemingway scholar. We tasted five (yes five) cocktails that were Hemingway’s favorites at different points in his life, and heard many great stories and related passages from Hemingway’s works. I just might have to start reading Hemingway again, and I definitely have to go to Captain Tony’s Saloon when I’m in Key West early next year. So the count stood at five drinks before noon, in true Hemingway style.
- Perhaps the best cocktail tip I retained was from Audrey Saunders and Tony Conigliaro in the session entitled The Scented Trail: Techniques on How to Develop Aroma in Your Cocktails. We started the session with a tasting of aromatized waters and a discussion of top notes, mid notes and base notes in aroma, and strategies for developing and enhancing them. Audrey and Tony suggested that instead of infusing flavors into syrups, where the aromas are pulled to the bottom of the drink with the weight of the syrup (and masked by the sugar), consider infusing them into waters or low-alcohol spirits, and then misting your garnishes, glassware and/or drink with them right before serving. I’ve not tried this, but I really liked the sound of that idea and plan to try it very soon. Of course Tony had a vapor still so he could just whip up these things, but there are simpler ways to create what are, in essence, perfumes for your cocktails.
For those who haven’t heard, the Appletini is now dead & gone. We buried it, and held a proper funeral procession for it, including a band and a brief funeral service. This was fantastic - at midnight, the police stopped traffic so we could march down the street in our funeral procession, following the band and casket with our good cocktails in hand.
- One of my goals for Tales was to develop a better understanding and appreciation for rum, and to learn a bit more about Tiki and the world of Tiki drinks. I went to the Rum, Ron, Rhum session, which was great. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to attend any Tiki-focused sessions. On the Regional Trends panel, I learned that Tiki is coming back in a big way on the coasts, so I expect that someday soon we’ll have a good tiki bar in Chicago. Rumor has it that Trader Vic’s is reopening here in November. Lucky for me, I did get to attend a class taught by James Teitelbaum here in Chicago shortly after Tales, which was a great lesson on Tiki culture and tradition.
The French Quarter is fun, but five days in the heat & humidity might be a bit too much of a good thing. Nonetheless, we had some fantastic cocktails in the great bars found in the Quarter, including Napoleon House (try the Pimm’s Cup), French 75 Bar (try the French 75, or whatever Chris Hannah is making), and the Carousel Bar (try the Vieux Carré). We had great food, especially once we started following Chuck Taggart’s recommendations. We also met a very fun couple who live in NOLA who took us to some of the local hangouts, and we had perhaps the best hamburger ever at Yo Mama’s and had a great time going to places we might not have visited otherwise.
All in all, it was a great time and I’d highly recommend going next year!
