Apéritif
Tales of the Cocktail is a festival to bring those passionate about cocktails together for seminars, tastings, networking and celebration. Distillers, bartenders, brand ambassadors and cocktails geeks come from all over the world for this industry event. .
Yours truly will be live-blogging the convention this year. Here we go.
DAY 1
Everything started anew today. Registration opened, with complimentary shots from Riazul Tequila.
I was able to sit down with beverage enthusiast Theodore Nathan and get his view of Tales as a consumer: "There's no better place to host Tales than here in New Orleans, and it's great way to experience what's happening around the world in cocktails." Indeed.
Tales 365, a national club which does seminars and special events year-round, had their members' lunch today with guest speaker Philip Duff. His business seminar drew back the curtain on the $264 billion global spirits industry. Mind-boggling.
Of course no Tales experience wouldn't be complete without running into Ann Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail, and her consort and co-founder, Paul Tuennerman. Lovely people and I have no clue how they run this show with such relaxed smiles on their faces.
The Hotel Monteleone's first floor is now overtaken by the Bitter Market, the Cocktail Pop-Up Shop, and the Octavia Book Pop-Up Shop, which all opened for business today. Speaking of bitters, I ran into local bitters-maker Scot Mattox in the elevator, His El Guapo Bitters are clearly good stuff because he did at least four events today and was still going strong.
When the elevator doors opened, I found myself on the roof of the Monteleone, where Mig Fuel was hosting a pool party. (Mig Fuel is new to me, but it's a 90-proof shooter. Proceed with caution.) Between the DJ, the fuel drinks, and the dancers wearing Mig Fighter hats, the crowd was bumping and ready to party.
After some sun and swim, I retreated next door to the penthouse suite, where Mezcal El Silencio was kind enough to gift me a hand tattoo and a massage to relax after a long day of "work." A nice Happy Ending (cocktail!) closed out the spa session, and it was a refreshing blend of their Espadin Mezcal, honeydew juice, coconut water, agave, and ginger.
Up Next:
Bacardi hosts The 4th Annual Ode to the Bowl tonight at Rock 'n' Bowl in Mid-City, and Kimberly Patton-Bragg kicks off her second Dynamic Duo shift of the evening at Three Muses.
____
Andrew Marin writes about cocktails and food for Where Y’at Magazine, and his liver is running the Tales gauntlet again this year. Follow him @ndrewmarin on Twitter and Instagram and add andrewmarin on Snapchat for live updates.
