Tales of the Cocktail Seminar: SavourEase

It should come as no surprise that proper storage and handling are key to preserve the potency of your flavoring herbs and spices, and to help avoid wasting a lot of ingredients creating a flat cocktail.

Tales of the Cocktail’s West Coast Invasion

Where were the East Coasters last night? Snuggly tucked in their fluffy soft beds, for it was the bewitching hour of 8 p.m. Meanwhile, the West Coasters were out making history at Tales of the Cocktail.

Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver

Tales of the Cocktail is carefully packing up the martini glasses and heading north to Canada for a tasty mini-cocktail festival in Vancouver, March 13-15, 2011. Organizers said that they plan to make their Canadian trek an annual event.

Diageo’s ‘Cocktails Through the Decades’ Party

The Cabildo overflowed with mixologists and cocktail connoisseurs alike during Diageo’s “Cocktails Through the Decades” party in New Orleans.

Vieux Carré

In my purse, I keep our swizzle sticks from the original Vieux Carré cocktails we had at the Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar. When our Vieux Carrés arrive, I discretely slip them in when the bartender isn’t looking and we reminisce about our time at the historic hotel.

Tales of the Cocktail Small Batch Roundup

While big names like Diageo, Bacardi and Pernod seem to dominate Tales of the Cocktail, there are some small batch producers in the mix, too. Some nice stand-out spirits we tasted included the following.

Black Paloma

When I bounded down the Hotel Monteleone staircase to the Kahlúa Coffee Bar on my second morning at Tales of the Cocktail I thought, “Kahlúa in my coffee sounds like a delicious way to begin to the day!” Little did I know I was about to experience what would become one of my favorite brunch cocktails.

Sensory Analysis With an Absolut Scientist

One of the most fascinating seminars we attended at Tales of the Cocktail was Per Harmansson’s Sensory Analysis seminar. Harmansson is a leading sensory analyst from Sweden and Director of Sensory Analysis for Absolut vodka. He led attendees through an examination of sensory experience as well as an in-depth vodka tasting.

A Shot of the Black Stuff

The Tales of the Cocktail seminar A Shot of the Black Stuff: Amazing Amaros and Brilliant Bitters, was well worth being part of the standing-room-only overflow.

Top 10 Tips for Tasting Spirits Like a Professional

As spirits critic Paul Pacult so eloquently phrased it during the hands-on Spirit’s Critic seminar we attended at Tales of the Cocktail: “Gin is such a lovely invention. First, there was the wheel; then there was gin.” Pacult guided attendees not only through his favorite gin, Plymouth, but through a whole array of other classic spirits as well. Here are our critical takeaways from the hands-on event.

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