Alcademics

Tag: tales of the cocktail

  • A Little Overkill at my Tales of the Cocktail Seminar on Bitter Flavors

    This year as usual I gave a seminar at Tales of the Cocktail (well this year I gave one myself and then was on a panel for another one; this post is about the one I gave solo). This one was called Bitter Flavors: Taste the Rainbow. 

     

    bitter samples

    The idea was to give everyone information and tasting on individual bitter flavors- particularly the major ones of quinine/cinchona, wormwood, gentian, and rhubarb- because so often they're mixed together in amari and bitters. I chose for my tasting spirits that I thought were most indicative of the bitter flavors:

    • Rhubarb: Zucca (they sponsored the seminar)
    • Wormwood: Amaro Alta Verde 
    • Gentian: Saler's Gentiane
    • Cinchona: Kina Aero d'Or

    Plus Zucca wanted to feature a couple of cocktails, so at just 1 sample of each type of bitters I was worried that I wouldn't be able to ensure everyone could really isolate each type of bitter flavor. 

    So, as is my way, I panicked and went way overboard on homemade samples. By the end, everyone at their seat had 2 cocktails, 4 bitter beverages, 10 microtubes of bitter tasting samples, and 5 bitter solids. 

     

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    37330947_10157530501435830_4166365589926838272_o

    The preparation took me (along with help from my pal Maria) dozens of hours. I made infusions of various bitter flavors in alcohol, then diluted those down with water so they were essentially non-alcoholic. Then we put them all in microtubes and the solids in little baggies (luckily I live near a bong store), labelled them all, and then made an index and assembled ziplocks of everything. 

     

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    Oh, and I also created a print-out of most popular vermouth and amaro brands, and what the known and suspected bittering agents are in each. That project took me another 20 hours or so. Sometimes I think I might go too far.

    So during the seminar we now had plenty to taste and in the case of those big four bitter flavors, a finished product to confirm that taste in a product they could find on the shelf. The seminar seemed to go really well (we'll see when I get the reviews back) and I certainly felt everyone got their money's worth- a big fear of mine when I'm presenting. 

    Camper English at Tales of the Cocktail

    (photo stolen from Maggie Campbell)

    Camper English at Tales of the Cocktail

    I'm not sure that I'll ever do this seminar again in this format, but I may put together an ebook of some sort with the information from the seminar in it. 

     

     

     

  • The ROI of TOTC

    TalesIn my latest piece for SevenFifty Daily, I asked a bunch of people about the return on investment of Tales of the Cocktail: How they measure it and how they maximize it. I also interviewed Tales' founder Ann Tuennerman to get her advice on how to maximize the event as an attendee or small brand sponsor, and addressing the question, "Is Tales too big?"

    I think there's some really good information and insight throughout the story, especially for people and brands experiencing some growing pains as Tales seems to grow ever larger. 

    Please check it out. 

     

  • Every Drink I Had at Tales of the Cocktail 2011

    Below are the tweets sent out as I was recording every drink I had at Tales of the Cocktail for the second year in a row. 

    The totals are: 

    Wednesday: 18

    Thursday: 41

    Friday: 28

    Saturnday: 19

     Compared to last year, this looks like a ton more drinks. But really I kept it to small sips and tastes for the most part. I came home feeling less poluted than usual, so don't let the numbers terrify you. Tales is for amateurs too!

    Thursday was the big day again, due to the Diageo happy hour event. I had the same number as last year, 25, but it looks like more drinks before and afterward. 

    Below are the individual drinks from my Twitter feed, many with pictures. Note they're in reverse order. 

    (more…)

  • Tales of the Cocktail Preview: The Chainsaw Shift

    This is a preview of a seminar that will be given at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, which takes place July 20-24, 2011.

    The Chainsaw Shift

    There are two seminars this year at Tales about setting up an ice program. I'm pretty sure this one will be the only one with chainsaws though. The other, How to Build a Cutting Edge Ice Program, is part of the professionals series, though both seem geared toward professionals.

    I was treated to a preview of sorts of this seminar in San Francisco, as Andrew Bohrer came down and gave bartenders a demo of cutting a huge block of ice into workable blocks at Heaven's Dog. 

    For those of you who saw this post on Alcademics in August 2010, the below is a repeat of that post, and hopefully a preview of what we'll witness at Tales. 

    Note: there is some NSFW language in the videos along with chainsaw noise.

    First they started with the giant block and shaved off slices. 

    Then they cut those slices into rectangles

    Then they cut those rectangles into cubes.

    Then Andrew Bohrer demonstrated cutting an ice cube into an ice sphere using the shaving method.

     

    Then he showed how he makes shaved ice by shaving ice.

     

    Then he showed how he takes a big chunk of ice and with a knife can reduce it down to cubes.

     

    Then Amanda Womack shows how she cuts ice spheres- by tapping at the outside with a knife rather than shaving.

     

     

    An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

    The Details:

    Time: 10 AM to 11:30 AM
    Date: Friday the 22nd of July, 2011
    Venue: La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom, Hotel Monteleone
    Moderators: Andrew Bohrer
    Panelists: Anu Apte

    The Chainsaw Shift is about offering to you a shift in thinking about the buzz phrase, “ice program.” The Chainsaw Shift is the lowest waste, highest quality way to have an, “ice program,” as well as being the simplest way to do so. This seminar is a shift in thinking on how bartenders treat their most essential and common ingredient: ice. Quality ice allows the bartender to reevaluate and reimagine every step of the drink making process and brings new joy and beauty to the simplest cocktails.

    This seminar will cover the basics of safely and efficiently processing 300 lb. blocks of crystal clear ice with the aid of carpenter’s tools and a trusty chainsaw. We will also discuss and demonstrate techniques for cutting ice to improve aesthetics and quality of every cocktail. Examples will include in-glass ice sculptures, crushed ice, shaved ice, cracked & cubed ice for mixing and carving spheres, diamonds and other shapes. The Chainsaw Shift will never replace the ice machine; rather it will make every bartender into an ice machine.

  • The Fourth Annual Tales of the Cocktail Swag Awards

    Another year, another Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans, another chance to rank the swag! I started giving the swag awards in 2007. 

    Once again this year they had a gifting suite rather than a swag bag, wherein you were able to fill up a sack with anything from the room. This is what made it home with me. 

    Swag piles

    I have a lot of swag around the house (and nearly all my jackets and t-shirts have a booze logo on them somewhere), so I try not to take stuff just to take it. I grabbed a bunch of Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon from the suite, as I knew you can drink that stuff without any mixers back in the hotel room. I saw writer Jason Wilson with a flask of a Dubonnet Cocktail (Dubonnet, gin, bitters) created from all swag items- nicely done. I recreated that in the room as well.

    I typically don't have time to make (or the inclination to fight the crowds for) the swag-rific tasting rooms at Tales, but I did receive a few items outside the gifting suite like the full bottles of Angostura rum and Geranium Gin. 

    Absinthe spoons 

    I was also handed this year's second place swag winner, an absinthe spoon from Tempus Fugit Spirits. They had the spoons custom made with the skull design, and as a joke kept the real spoon at the end. I will probably use this spoon for every meal and not just for absinthe. Alas, though, the spoon was not heavily-enough branded with the Tempus Fugit name, so it cannot win the award for Best Swag at Tales this year. 

    That honor goes to Aperol, for their orange sunglasses. 

    Aperol sunglassess
    Hip enough to be popular, using the color of the product and subtle branding of the name on the side of the sunglasses, inexpensive enough to give out tons of them, extending the brand beyond the bar, and keeping in line with the brand's image (a sunny summer spirit), Aperol knocked it out of the park for Best Item of Swag this year. 

    That said, there were tons of items of swag I'm sure I didn't see. For those who attended, what was your favorite item of swag? 

  • Every Drink I Had at Tales of the Cocktail

    I just returned from New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, a cocktail convention attended by many of the world's top bartenders, drink writers, PR representatives, and superenthusiasts. I think this was my favorite year of the convention to date. 

    I tweeted every cocktail I had over the week. Let's see how messy that looks added up!

    Tuesday July 20, starting at 5PM

    • Vieux Carre and an 
    • Abita beer @ Monteleone Bar
    • Another Abita beer at Carousel Bar at Monteleone
    • makers mark on the rocks out of a plastic cup at acme oyster house
    • Sazerac at Carousel Bar
    • Vieux Carre at Carousel Bar
    • Vieux Carre
    • Giant Bud Light with some awful Pizza somewhere on Bourbon Street.

    Wednesday July 21

    • Coffee with Kahlua to start the day!
    • Gold kiwifruit St Germain Splash
    • kiwifruit cucumber reviver
    • not sure what it's called but kiwi yummers
    • Shot of rum before my seminar begins
    • Three drinks at my seminar- rear admirals grog
    • perudriver
    • margarita
    • Firefly bourbon in hotel room
    • another sweet tea bourbon
    • a shot of dubonnet cocktail out of a flask
    • 3 glasses of Veuve Cliquot at dinner at Arnauds
    • Shot of bourbon 
    • bourbon cocktail
    • miller lite
    • orgeat drink
    • 2 shots of Stock Fernet
    • Ocho tequila
    • Miller lite
    • stock fernet

    Thursday, July 22

    • Cat Daddy Moonshine coffee drink at breakfast
    • Drinks of Asia seminar cocktail: unkown cocktail with some herb that tastes like fuzzy lemon dandelion leaves
    • cognac old fashioned
    • Self Publishing seminar- an amaretto and gin cocktail
    • Ron Abuelo juicy drink at Carousel Bar
    • nutmeg drink at Consulting seminar 
    • firefly bourbon
    • Diageo Happy Hour drinks:
    1. Joaquin riff on seelbach cocktail
    2. Wayne Curtis drink with Oronoco rum and fernet
    3. Singapore sling punch
    4. Aviation from Simon Difford
    5. Daiquiri from bill Norris
    6. rosy sinclair by Jason Bram
    7. Valentinos Denise by Jim rondall
    8. Bryan Dayton serves a Mary Pickford
    9. Phillip Duff makes a Clubland
    10. Tequila negroni from Ricky gomez
    11. Brian miller makes drink with tanqueray dolin chartreuse cocchi
    12. Misty Kalkoffen drink 
    13. John Lermayer drink
    14. Lynette Manero makes a drink
    15. Tommy klus Serves a Mexican firing squad
    16. Pisco drink from Aisha Sharpe
    17. Ed Hamilton actually makes a cocktail!! With Zacapa
    18. Jim meehan with a Cuervo drink
    19. Spicy drink from Wondrich
    20. Sean Muldoon serves a trader Vic drink
    21. Andrew Friedman serving a sagatiba drink
    22. Cable Car from Tony Abou Ganim
    23. Chad and Christie drink
    24. Francesco Lafranconi drink
    25. Josh Durr drink
    • Cure bar daiquiri
    • Another daiquiri at Cure
    • Dubonnet cocktail In hotel room

    Friday, July 23

    • a sip of Ron Abuelo rum at breakfast
    • 2 Disarono cocktails at my Social Media seminar
    • A Glenfiddich drink from Jon Santer
    • Bourbon carbonated grapes that taste like a Mint Julep at the Bax vs. Clift seminar
    • Sazerac with absinthe fog
    • Molecular michelada
    • apple sous vide infused calvados. 
    • Dehydrated fruit cereal with champagne
    • Old fashioned with orange peel smoke served in a jar
    • Quick bourbon in the room before a meeting
    • 2 Abita Amber and a veggie mufalatta at Cage Maspero
    • Pimms Cup at Napoleon House
    • Abita Amber at Napoleon House
    • glass of bourbon
    • Hilo Hai cocktail with Teader Tiki Syrups!
    • Stella Artois.
    • nip of Ron Abuelo

    Saturday, July 24

    • a spicy Hendricks cocktail 
    • Mount Gay Rum punch.
    • Wet Grave cocktail in Darcy Oneils fascinating Soda seminar- bourbon, acid phosphate, bitters, vermouth, claret syrup
    • Soda seminar drink with Root beer, gentian, bourbon, acid phosphate
    • 10cane rum drink in the Subconscious Drinks seminar
    • a sip of Geranium Gin
    • Brandy Milk Punch in the Caousel Bar
    • 2 rum drinks in hotel room followed 
    • 2 martinis at Tales of the Cocktail awards
    • Glenlivet Nadurra 16 
    • Another gin martini at Tales awards 
    • Many swigs of Jameson 18
    • a beer with my slice of awful but sobering pizza on bourbon street

    Sunday, July 25th

    • A morning Akvinta vodka cocktail.
    • Stella Artois at breakast
    • A Dalmore cocktail at the Keeping Ahead in an Online World seminar
    • second Dalmore cocktail
    • A final vieux carre at carousel bar.
    • One last beer at the airport 

    Apparently I had 35 drinks on Thursday. That would be terrifying but do keep in mind that for the vast majority of these drinks I had only a sip out of a glass that only held an ounce or so at maximum. 

    Still, my liver will be getting a much-earned rest for a while now that I'm home. 

  • Latin, Packing, Pisco: A Few Articles I’ve Written Lately

    I've had several stories come out recently, so I thought I'd share them here. This blog is also my resume, after all. 

    Friday I wrote about my recent piece in the daily email Tasting Table San Francisco. This one is about Encanto Pisco, brought to us by a bartender, a sommelier, and a distiller. 

    Attention people attending Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July: My story about what to pack for the week (for media, speakers, bartenders, PR, and brand reps) in the June issue of Tasting Panel Magazine is now online. 

    Executivetravelmaycover  In the July issue of Executive Travel Magazine I have a story on the Latin libations that are hot and the ones that soon will be. 

    I have recently become a regular contributor to SilverKris, the in-flight magazine for Singapore Airlines. Unfortunately the magazine is not online. Recent stories have focused on new classic cocktails, the return of absinthe, and where to drink in Wellington, New Zealand.