Drinking The World

While I was at Tales of the Cocktail I managed to miss one of the seminars I most wanted to attend, The Science of Shaking. I blame it on the extreme loss of brain cells. But thankfully one of the presenters wrote up the details. The seminar was about how ice and liquids react when being shaken in a cocktail, and the results were very different from what most of us in the industry had come to accept as fact. I won't try tore-phrase the post, instead you can read it here at Cooking Issues, the French Culinary Institutes Tech'n Stuff Blog. http://cookingissues.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/tales-of-the-cocktail-science-of-shaking-ii/

Friday morning started off with a whimper. I woke up at 8am and realized I had an 8:30am media breakfast at Brennan's. I stumbled into the shower after gulping down three Tylenol. They weren't for a hangover or anything like that, but for all the muscle aches and joint pains that are a normal part of my existence, exacerbated by all the contortions I have managed as I made my way through crowds, toting a briefcase filled with sample bottles of my prototypes each day.

I grabbed a cab to the restaurant, only to find that there was scheduling error and the event didn't start until 9am. This was the last time I would rush at Tales I promised. I'm in the Big Easy, and I'm going to take it easy myself. I attended this event last year, but I had forgotten that it was one best left to others and left before the breakfast dessert of Bannanas Foster.

Another day of wasting my time at sessions where I knew more than the presenters. Except for my friend Melkon's one on Sugar: The Science of Sweet. This was highly technical information of the chemical breakdowns of dozens of different types of sugars, their interactions with acids, and how they relate to food and cocktails. This session had some real sweet meat to it and I finally felt like I had learned something new and worthwhile.

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On Thursday I dined at Bayona Restaurant as Junior Merino, The Liquid Chef, worked his liquid magic upon us all. The meal itself was fine, but the star of the evening wasn't the food at Bayona or chef Susan Spicer, who wasn't to be seen or even heard of all night, but Junior and his cocktails. I was lucky enough to sit at the table with Junior and his lovely wife Heidi. Also with us was David Suro-Pinera, restaurateur, tequila aficionado, and creator of Siembra Azul - a small batch, artisanally crafted tequila of the highest quality. I met David briefly at the airport as we got off the plane on our way to Tales, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him again at the dinner. It was the perfect time to have a nice conversation and enjoy his charming company. Interestingly enough half of the conversation at the table was in Spanish because one of David's friends didn't speak any English. This didn't bother me much because while I can only speak a few words of Spanish, after growing up in NYC I can get the gist of a conversation, especially when the topic is food and drinks. Also at the table was Andrew Toplack, a psychotherapist from Toronto, Canada. This made the conversation around the table even more interesting since I used to be a psychotherapist myself, before switching to the Spirit World.

Dinner started off with a small appetizer of Ashley's Pickled Shrimp with Deviled Eggs, the finest rendition of potted shrimp I have had, with a so, so, sweet and briny flavor, fresh from the sea; with just a hint of mild herbs. I thought that out of the hundreds of shrimp dishes I have had in my life, all over the world, that this was one of the nicest. The excellent deviled egg and lemon basil aioli complemented the shrimp perfectly. I enjoyed it so much that I actually slowed down, cut the shrimp into small bites, and savored every morsel, saving the tasty heads and tails for last.

Paired with the potted shrimp was the La Condesa cocktail, which was sweet and sour, and perfectly matched the dish.

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Tales has been hard on me this year, but that's nothing new. This year I blame it on superstition. I'm staying in a hotel that tries unsuccessfully not to have an unlucky floor. To avoid bad luck they went from floor 12, skipped over 13, and straight to 14. The thing is, the 14th is in fact the 13th, and I bet you can guess which one I am on. Yup, you're right, the "14th" floor. Of course they also skip room 13, want to guess which room I am in?

Thursday I realized I had over-scheduled myself. Four sessions, several events, and a Spirited Dinner. I started the day with a session that actually bored me and I left. This meant I had enough time to stop by the Cointreau relaxation room. Beautifully set up for media and presenters to de-stress, this room was tantalizingly scented with the dozens and dozens of oranges artfully displayed with candles, their flames warming them and releasing the citrus oils. Soft and relaxing music, so quiet as to be barely noticeable, and two massage therapists giving free back-rubs. I took full advantage of this and had my first massage in months, Aaaaah.

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Wednesday at Tales was especially for the professional bartender, manager, and owner. The Pro-Series seminars were all focused on trends, what it's actually like to run a bar and how, consulting from both sides of the story, bartending techniques, ingredients, efficiency and speed, etc.

I started out the day early. I went to bed relatively early the night before, but as I mentioned yesterday, for some reason slept very poorly and was up at 4am. For a few days I had felt a need to go shopping for a seersucker suit and hat, so bright and early I was out and about. Of course I forgot I was in the Big Easy, a perfect description for a city where the stores open at 10am, if they even open on Mondays and Tuesdays. As I was hanging out waiting for the shops to open, John Pomeroy came along striding briskly past shooting off a quick "Hi Jon." He too was on a search for a hat. I followed him around the corner to the hat shop and we looked at all the ones on display in the windows, talking about the pro's and con's of each as we waited for opening time. We then decided to take a walk down by the French market figuring that by the time we got there the other hat store would be open. So off we trotted in the heat and humidity, feeling great as we sweated out all the toxins from the night before. It was like being at a spa, on a treadmill, in the sauna. Just delightful if I must say.

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Tuesday was a long day at the beginning of Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. I was up at 4am, taxi picked me up at 5am, at the airport by 5:30, and in the air soon after. I won't discuss the flights except to say that I hate flying. I am too tall for the seats and my shoulders too wide.

Thankfully I was at my hotel, the Renaissance Pere Marquette by 1pm Central Time, and at the Carousel bar at the Hotel Monteleone by 2pm. I started running into friends and acquaintances as soon as I stepped on the shuttle bus at the airport. Then at the Monteleone the first folks I ran into were Ann Tuennerman and Jenny Adams. Ann and I met last year, Jenny I know through Facebook. It's fun meeting in person folks who you only know through the internet.

For the next few hours I sat at the Carousel Bar or walked around re-connecting with old friends and chatting with the new. Somewhere in there I ran into Jason Kosmas of Macao Trading Co. in NYC and his friend and consulting partner, Danae Richardson Cereceres. We grabbed lunch at Acme Oyster House with them having the "Peacemaker" poboy sandwiches (fried oysters and crawfish), and I had the Seafood gumbo (crab and crawfish.) Jason had told me a few months ago that he was moving to Texas, and so he is. His wife has already moved there and he follows Aug. 1st. I'll miss seeing him at Macao and Employees Only in NYC, since I always stop by to sample his fantastic south-east Asian influenced cocktails.

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As I ramp up for Nawlins I start thinking about the food. It's one of the top ten food cities in the world. The amalgam of cultures has created a cuisine unique and exciting. So when I read Chuck Taggert of The Gumbo Pages post on the Tales Blog, So where ya'll wanna eat? I just about drooled all over my keyboard.

If you want to know about just some of the tasty treats and exciting eats to be had when in NoLa, just read the post.

And if you want to know where to get a drink afterwards, read his follow-up, Where ya'll wanna drink?

Remember to stay tuned to Drinking the World and the Tales Blog to hear about the next exciting week as we cover the adventures of Tales of the Cocktail 2009.

Every year during Tales of the Cocktail there are "Spirited Dinners." These are special events at dozens of restaurants around New Orleans, held on the Thursday night of Tales, from 8-11pm. Each restaurant prepares a special multi-course, pre-fix dinner and one or more guest mixologists create cocktails paired with each course. The menus are fantastic, and the cocktails even more so. Last year I had a wonderful time at the dinner. My friend Jonathan Pogash, The Cocktail Guru, created the drinks. He asked me to arrive early and I sat at the bar chatting while he finished the prep work. Brian Rea was also there and I had a chance to chat with him for a half hour as well. Then I was invited to join Jonathan's family at their table, which was very nice.

This year I am going to be going to Bayona Restaurant where my friend Junior Merino, The Liquid Chef, will be making some of his fantastic, Latin influenced, cocktail creations. Not only that, but he will be joined by David Suro-Pinera, restaurateur, tequila aficionado, and owner of Siembra Azul - a small batch, artisinally crafted super-premium tequila and Ron Cooper founder of Del Maguey, Single Village Mezcal. I am sure that means that mezcal and tequila will be featured in the cocktails. I can hardly wait!

This year the restaurants participating in the spirited dinners has grown to 25. Click to see all the restaurants involved.

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It's just around the corner, that dizzying week in New Orleans focused on all things cocktail. Yes, that's right it's Tales of the Cocktail 2009. We'll be celebrating like lunatics from July 8th through the 12th in New Orleans and the Monteleone Hotel will be a seething mass of carousing cocktailians.

Almost three dozen cocktail writers, including myself, are blogging about the upcoming events and seminars. You can read all about it by following this link to Blogging Tales of the Cocktail 2009. Not only will we be writing about the sessions and events, but also everything else that happens. Late night parties, sumptuous meals, epic adventures, assorted mayhem, and some juicy gossip too. Some I will cover here, but to read, hear, see everything that's going on, tune into the Tales Blog. Stories, videos, live posts, you name it. It's sure to be a hot time in ole New Orleans next week! Where else do thousands of people get together to live, drink, eat, talk, make, and dream about cocktails for a whole week? Tales of the Cocktail!

Drinks in the 1600’s? I saw this seminar title on the list for Tales of the Cocktail 2009 and said to myself, what the heck were they drinking back then? It sure wasn’t whiskey, when was gin invented? Rum? Brandy? More probably wine or beer was the drink of choice because this was centuries before cocktails came about. Modern stills hadn’t been invented yet and liquor was more likely medicine or tonics… than libations. Spirits were hard to make, hard to get your hands on, and much was unknown about them.

I had to know more, so I got in touch with the presenter, Darcy O’Neil, and asked him what it was all about.

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