A COCKTAIL ENTHUSIAST’S DREAMS! Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Updated: April 1, 2011

Photo & Video by Josh Gates & Cesar Romero

It was that time of the year again and I was eagerly looking forward to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this year. This has to be one of the premier cocktail enthusiast events in America. Complete with seminars, cocktails contests, spirited dinners, plenty of side events and as much partying and copious cocktail consumption as you can handle!

Again this year Flairbar.com was a media partner for the event. With all of our loyal readers like you behind our online magazine each year, I wanted to showcase this event and as many facets of it as we could. So with the help of Cesar Romero and Josh Gates I booked our flights, hotel and seminars and it was off to New Orleans again.

When we landed in New Orleans (more pronounced “Naw Lorens”) we went straight to the Marriott hotel to check in and drop half our luggage off. Then we went back downstairs, hopped in a cab and headed to the “Monteleone Hotel” our second hotel. This was the main hotel where Tales of the Cocktail 2010 was taking place and the location of our second room. Once we got inside our room, we immediately proceeded to dismantle the bed and empty the contents of the room into the closet. Set up a green screen and the put together the set for the “Flairbar.com Show”. When we were down we stepped back and exchanged sooo many different ideas of the weeks coming events. Having our own studio inside the host hotel for Tales of the Cocktail 2010 was going to be a blast again.

Next we met up with Graham Kimura and some past “Absolut Top Bartender “On the Rocks” Season 2 competitors upstairs by the pool for some tasty cocktails and good conversation. Yeah, upstairs… the pool is on the top floor. Nice! Until beach balls were getting thrown off the balcony into the streets below, but that is a different story. Lol.

Next we headed down to the bottom floor to the “Carousel Bar” for what is quickly becoming a tradition for us…. Ramos Gin Fizzes. Possibly one of my favorite cocktails every time I visit Tales of the Cocktail. For those of you lucky enough to visit “Hotel Monteleone” and enjoy a Ramos Gin Fizz at the “Carousel Bar” you soon realize it is called the carousel bar because the bar top and immediate seats around the bar rotate in a counter-clockwise motion. Great if you actually have a seat at this busy bar, but if you were one of the unlucky patrons standing behind your friends sitting down at the bar… you will keep finding yourself doing the “Carousel Shuffle” in a counter-clockwise motion to keep in the conversation before you got left behind.

After some great drinks, we headed out for our first of many drink destinations that week with Brian Loukmas and Brenda Anderson. This one being a Bacardi USA party featuring Drambuie where we saw Duane Fernandez from “Absolut Top Bartender “On the Rocks” Season 2 at a portable bar knocking out an original cocktail entitled “New York Nail” which consisted of Drambuie, Dewars, Fresh squeezed lemon, Basil and a ginger syrup. Very nice and my favorite cocktail at the Drambuie party. Well done buddy! Shortly afterwards we met up with Ava Kopieczek (or unofficial tour guide of New Orleans) another great bartender in her own right who is opening her own bar in Atlanta, Georgia. After more cocktails, it was time for the next party sponsored by Grey Goose. After many drinks and hours later, it was back to the Carousel Bar for a nightcap and then it was off to bed to get up early for the next days many seminars.

As soon as the alarm clock on my iPhone went off we eagerly all got up, got dressed and headed over to the seminars. Being part of the press definitely had its advantages (Thank You again to the powers that be), as we headed back to Hotel Monteleone we headed straight our first seminar was “Liquid Disc Jockey: Controlling the Flow of Any Room” moderated by long time contributor to Flairbar.com… Tobin Ellis with panelists: Philip Duff, John Hogan, and Angela Laino. It was a good seminar early in the day that kept the attention of the crowd. Our next seminar was “Intellectual Property” moderated by Eben Freeman with panelists: Riley Lagesen and Sheila Morrison.

This seminar was informative and stirred the pot with ideas and the rights of Bartenders and their original cocktail recipes. We learned the differences between a Trade Secret, Trademark, Copyright, Patent and Moral Rights and how to relate them to our cocktails. We are highly looking forward to the second part of this seminar at Tales of the Cocktail 2011. Get your tickets for this one early as it will most likely sell out! Our next seminar for the day was “The Fine Art of Negotiating a Deal” moderated by Christy Pope and Chad Solomon with panelists: Riley Lagesen and Audrey Saunders. It was great seeing old friends and learning a lot from the many, many, many diverse seminars throughout the day.

Then we headed out to support or own Cesar Romero in the “Amarula Experiment Throwdown” cocktail competition judged by three experienced judges.. one being long time friend Junior Merino. After some good drinks and swag we headed back to Hotel Monteleone where we met up with Rudy Aguero from Pernod Ricard and Cheryl Charming for more cocktails and photos. This was the first place where we saw the overuse of cilantro and jalapeno in the weeks cocktails to come.

Then it was off to the Milagro Party that night where long time friend and contributor to Flairbar.com Anthony Alba was making quality cocktails with Milagro. Anthony filled up Ava’s martini ring courtesy of Cheryl Charming and “misscharming.com” with some Milagro goodness and the partying began. We also met up with Finest Call’s new Director of Beverage Applications… Mr. Dean Serneels and USBG member Freddy Diaz. Always a great time with Dean, combined with fantastic cocktails, some slight of hand magic and good conversation it made for good memories that night. Later on we met up with Philip Duff and Ryan Magarian for even more cocktails and some funny photos in the Milagro photo booth. Good Times!

The next morning came a little earlier then the first. We got dressed, grabbed the camera equipment and headed down to cover the seminars. Our first seminar was “Bartending Fun-da-mentals” moderated by Angus Winchester with panelist: Jacob Briars. Followed by or next seminar “Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Attend This Seminar & Grow Your Brand” moderated by Ted Wright with panelist: Carter Reum. Followed by “The Fine Art of Crafting Your Own Charm, Magic, and Flair Behind the Bar” moderated by Cheryl Charming, Doc Eason and Dean Serneels.

It was nice to hear some history of magic and it being utilized behind the bar from Doc Eason, Dean Serneels showed the crowd some easy Flair they could utilize behind the bar today and Cheryl Charming just let loose and showed the crowd it was ok to have fun behind the bar again. Then it was off to an Absolut Vodka tasting where we indulged in some Absolut Brooklyn cocktails.

Then it was off to our Spirited Dinner at “Iris” located at 321 N Peters St, New Orleans, LA 70130 (504) 299-3944 (really hard to find with a GPS so hear is the full info… Lol) with Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chef 2007″ Chef Ian Schnoebelen with paired cocktails by Chris Patino, Jamie Gordon and Simon Ford. An amazing dinner and cocktails which made for a nice relaxing break from our constant coverage of Tales of the Cocktail. Spirited dinners are showing up more and more lately and I think they are a tremendous way to promote a brand while educating in a memorable atmosphere. I look forward to this part of Tales of the Cocktail every year and happy to see the options growing.

After an amazing dinner, great cocktails and even better conversation and company, We hit up some industry parties and ended up at the impromptu Leblon Cachaca head up by Tobin Ellis and his crew where they were running around in green guerilla uniforms throughout the different spirited dinners to promote their event. We enjoyed some cocktails and downed some “Miller High Life” beer to promote relaxing, letting loose your tie and vest and just enjoying a beer. the highlight of the night was seeing Beam Global Mater Mixologist Phil Raimondo playing the piano to a packed house. Good times! Afterwards we went back to the “Carousel Bar” for some more Ramos Gin Fizzes and then back to the Flairbar.com studio and captured some fun and interesting interviews which can you view at the end of this article below.

As if that wasn’t enough, we headed back out to the “Old Absinthe House” to meet everybody where most people met up after everything else is closed for even more cocktails and debauchery. I if remember right I think that is where we saw Trevor from “Absolut Top Bartender “On the Rocks” Season 2 wearing only his bath robe from his hotel room. Yeah, things just got weird after that? Lol. Towards the end of the night (or the beginning of the morning, however you look at it) myself, Ava Kopieczek and Ryan Magarian had an interesting conversation about the difference between a Bartender and a Mixologist. Lots of opinions on his one. This is where Ryan also committed to coming to “Mixology Matters” (Still going to hold you to that one buddy ). After being kicked out of the bar because they were closing… it was off to bed we went.

The next morning we happen to all sleep in and met up at the seminar “The Science of Stirring” moderated by Eben Klemm with panelists: Dave Arnold and Thomas Waugh. This seminar was packed, mainly due to the success and controversy of their seminar last year “The Science of Shaking”. This seminar gave us hard cold facts of the different procedures of stirring cocktails. Things they observed: Surface area has the biggest effect on temperature dilution, at room temperature… metal tins are more efficient, Ice temperature… colder is not better, stirring rate has an effect, plus much more. Good stuff!

Our next seminar was something near and dear to my heart “The F Word: Flair of Mixology” moderated by Tobin Ellis with panelists: Joe Brooke, Philip Duff, John Hogan and Danny Valdez. It was an attempt to touch on one of the more taboo concepts in the Mixology world: Flair bartending, it was great to see different opinions on Flair behind the bar and look forward to more seminars next year incorporating and embracing Flair.

After heading back to the Flairbar.com studios to knock out some more interviews with some amazing guests who prepared some equally amazing cocktails on camera we took a quick nap, had a quick bite of food and off to more industry parties. One being the “Bar Room Brawl” sponsored in part by Grand Marnier where this throwdown pitted six hometown teams representing America’s finest bars in head-to-head competition. The illustrious panel will judge each team and the people will choose their favorite as well. Featuring Cajun-inspired food, live music by Papa Grows Funk, and Grand Marnier cocktails for all.Yum! Of course I was cheering for our local boys at “The Florida Room” headed up by John Lermayer and his talented crew… who in the end, if memory serves me correct, Steve Olsen ended up announcing them as winning the contest. Again, if I’m wrong please let me know… there was allot of Grand Marnier drinking going on that night. Lol.

Afterwards it was off to one of the oldest bars in America… “Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop and Bar” although I didn’t see anywhere to fit a horse for horseshoes? But we enjoyed some good beer and good memories with some incredible friends. A long night of events finally brought us back to “Hotel Monteleone” for some more antics and much needed sleep

The next morning we headed to our first seminar “Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Rookies” moderated by Michael Dietsch with panelists: Robert Hess and Adam Lantheaume. Then it was “The Mastery of Wisdom Behind the Bar” moderated by Dushan Zaric with panelist: Aisha Sharpe. The main focus on this seminar was how psychology and the bartender’s level of awareness influences the taste of cocktails. Our reporter Cesar Romero volunteered to go through their demonstration… and according to him, he said when he made the first drink thinking angry and bitter thoughts his drink tasted worse then if he made that same exact drink using the same measurements, glassware, ice and procedure as before but with happy and pleasant thoughts. Basically if your happy you will make happy cocktails. He was literally blown away and kept talking about this seminar all day. Try it out for yourself and see what you think? Email us and let us know if you get the same result? I guess that’s why when Amanda Ashcraft and myself went to “Employees Only” in New York the cocktails tasted sooooo good. I mean since Dushan works there and its good to see him practice what he preaches. Lol.

Afterwards we ran into Michael Silvers from Uberbar Tools. Where he showed us some new prototypes he was getting ready to unveil. Cool stuff! Then we met up again with our long time friend Rudy Aguero from Pernod Ricard for some Absinthe cocktails. After chasing the green fairy it was off to the Flairbar.com studios for more interviews and more cocktails being made on camera… all for you our loyal readers.

Next we headed off to “Worldwide Cocktail Excursion presented by Beam Global Spirits & Wine” sponsored by Beam Global where the past, present, and future collide to present an expedition through time, with stops at cocktail destinations from around the world: Scotland, France, St. Croix, Holland, Mexico, Canada and beyond. We met up with Phil Raimondo again as he gave us the VIP Tour of the event. Ohhh how I enjoyed the Laphroaig! Click on the picture to the left to watch the quick video of the event. Thanks again Phil and Happy Birthday!

After having some difficulties trying to cover the “Spirited Award Ceremony” this year (as well as many others we heard) we then were off to one of the BIGGEST parties each year at Tales of the Cocktail… “The Bartenders Breakfast” sponsored by Plymouth Gin. As we walked into the venue… who do we see but an old friend to the Flairbar.com Show… Tony Abou’ Ganim making cocktails with Plymouth Gin and ice cream. Very Nice! As we moved on upstairs to the rest of the venue, it was basically a who’s who of Mixology. We stopped next at Audrey Saunders and Kenta Goto for some more Plymouth Gin cocktails where we ran back into Robert Hess and Jamie Boudreau from Drinkboy. Then we had cocktails from Jason Bran, Joe Brooke, Tim Cooper, Dushan Zaric, Dave Wondrich, John Lermayer, Aisha Sharpe, Tobin Ellis, Erick Castro, Leo Degroff and many more talented bartenders where they were actually bartending and making drinks to order. Joe Brooke showed us a cool two martini split pour from the same tin. Nice! We spent allot of time at this bar.

Then we headed over to Gioseppe Gonzalez, Richie Boccato and Max Warner’s bar where they had the tenacity to core out whole pineapples to serve their frozen cocktails in. After waiting in line which seemed like forever, we ran back into Cheryl Charming as they were taking pictures in the Plymouth Photo booth complete props, people and more. Lets just say… some of the pictures we took and saw were funny as hell! Lol. Shortly afterwards we ran back into Trevor from “Absolut Top Bartender “On the Rocks” Season 2 where… yes… he was still wearing his bathrobe from his hotel. Glad to see he had it cleaned. Next we spent quality time with Anthony Alba and ran into the party man himself Rudy Aguero showing us how to have a good time with great spirits. Then we had a nice conversation with Eben Freeman about his inspiring seminar from earlier “Intellectual Property”. Again, I’m really looking forward to his follow up at Tales of the Cocktail 2011. We pretty much stayed indulging in Plymouth cocktails until they turned up the lights and they were out of booze. Talk about a well balanced breakfast! Lol. Shortly after, my bed was calling my name.

In the morning, Josh, Cesar, Ava and myself packed up the Flairbar.com studios. Cesar and Ava hopped on a plane back home and Josh and myself made the beast of our last remaining hours and headed over to “The Museum of the American Cocktail” sponsored by Southern Wine and Spirits. It was cool to see their ever growing display and rich history of the American cocktail culture throughout the years. I was pretty impressed with their file cabinets full of recipes. Good stuff and worth the find if you have some time to kill before your flight home.

All in all another great time with all expectations blown away again. I couldn’t have done it without our solid Flairbar.com team covering the event Cesar Romero, Josh Gates and Ava Kopieczek … THANK YOU! I have to say Thank you Ann and Paul Tuennerman for being incredible hosts to us and all the media from Tales of the Cocktail 2010 (You really organize a one of a kind event each year), Brian Loukmas and Brenda Anderson, Rudy Aguero, Tobin Ellis, Phil Raimondo, Simon Ford and all of our guests from the Flairbar.com Show and all of our old and new friends we met at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. You better believe we will be back next year… as so should you! Feel free to check out some of the video interviews from the Flairbar.com Show from Tales of the Cocktail 2010 below.

Cheers!

Dean Serneels on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com’s very own Rob Husted sat down with Finest Call’s Director of Beverage Applications Dean Serneels at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Dean shares with us his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on Finest Call.

To learn more you can check out Finestcall.com & Flairbar.com…

Dean Serneels on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com’s very own Rob Husted sat down with Finest Call Director of Beverage Applications Dean Serneels at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Dean shares with us a creative Finest Call cocktail entitled “Mango Lillea” for those of you that want something fun and festive.

To learn more you can check out Finestcall.com & Flairbar.com…

Brian Loukmas on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Team Enterprises Portfolio Mixologist for Bacardi USA Brian Loukmas at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Brian shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on Mixology.

To learn more you can check out bacardiusa.com & Flairbar.com…

Brain Loukmas on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

To learn more you can check out bacardiusa.com & Flairbar.com…

Simon Ford on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Plymouth Gin’s Brand Ambassador Simon Ford at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Simon shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on being a successful Brand Ambassador.

To learn more you can check out plymouthgin.com & Flairbar.com…

Simon Ford on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Plymouth Gin’s Brand Ambassador Simon Ford at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Simon shares with us a creative cocktail entitled “Tommy’s Margarita” for those of you that want that cocktail that hits every taste bud and makes them sing.

To learn more you can check out plymouthgin.com & Flairbar.com…

Phil Raimondo on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Beam Global’s Master Mixologist Philip Raimondo at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Philip shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on some new products being launched from Beam Global.

To learn more you can check out beamglobal.com & Flairbar.com…

Phil Raimondo on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Beam Global’s Master Mixologist Philip Raimondo at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Philip shares with us some insight on Bourbon as well as prepares a “Markers Mark Sour”.

To learn more you can check out beamglobal.com & Flairbar.com…

Graham Kimura on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with 360 Vodka’s Brand Ambassador Graham Kimura at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Graham shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some new products from 360 vodka.

To learn more you can check out vodka360.com & Flairbar.com…

Graham Kimura on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with 360 Vodka’s Brand Ambassador Graham Kimura at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Graham shares with us some insight on 360 Vodka as well as prepares a “A Spilled Happy Accident 360 Coming Back Around”.

To learn more you can check out vodka360.com & Flairbar.com…

Waiting for the elevator @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Josh Gates on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com’s very own Cesar Romero sat down with Bartenders Bash Series 2010 Mixology Champion Josh Gates at Tales of the Cocktail 2010 while Rob Husted was stuck in the Monteleon Elevator. Josh shares with us his perspective on visiting tales of the Cocktail for the first time.

To learn more you can check out barwars.info & Flairbar.com…

Josh Gates on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Bartenders Bash Series 2010 Mixology Champion Josh Gates at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Josh shares with us a creative Absolut Berri Acai & Finest Call cocktail entitled “Acai Dream” for those of you that want something fun and interesting.

To learn more you can check out barwars.info & Flairbar.com…

Ava Kopieczek on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Hustedsat down with Cafe Circa Beverage Director Ava Kopieczek at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Ava shares with us a her thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on her new position in Atlanta.

To learn more you can check out Finestcall.com & Flairbar.com…

Ava Kopieczek on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

To learn more you can check out usbg.org & Flairbar.com…

Ava Kopieczek on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 3

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Cafe Circa Beverage Director Ava Kopieczek at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Ava shares with us a creative cocktail from her upcoming Specialty Drink menu at Cafe Circa.

To learn more you can check out usbg.org & Flairbar.com…

Cesar Romero on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Absolut Top Bartender “On the Rocks” Season 2 3rd place winner Cesar Romero at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Cesar shares with us a creative Absolut Berri Acai & Finest Call cocktail entitled “The Amerosa” for those of you that want something well balanced and with Flair.

To learn more you can check out Finestcall.com & Flairbar.com…

Emile Chaillot on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted at down with Emile Chaillot at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Emile shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as promoting his bar school in France.

To learn more you can check out ugoandspirits.com & Flairbar.com…

Emile Chaillot on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with Emile Chaillot at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Emile shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as promoting his bar school in France.

To learn more you can check out ugoandspirits.com & Flairbar.com…

Junior Merino on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with “The Liquid Chef” Junior Merino at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Junior shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on his award winning cocktail “Coming up Roses”.

To learn more you can check out theliquidchefinc.com & Flairbar.com…

Junior Merino on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 2

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Husted sat down with “The Liquid Chef” Junior Merino at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Junior shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on his award winning cocktail “Coming up Roses”.

To learn more you can check out theliquidchefinc.com & Flairbar.com…

Junior Merino on the Flairbar.com Show @ Tales of the Cocktail 2010 Part 3

Flairbar.com ‘s very own Rob Hustedsat down with “The Liquid Chef” Junior Merino at Tales of the Cocktail 2010. Junior shares with us a his thoughts on Tales of the Cocktail 2010 as well as some insights on his award winning cocktail “Coming up Roses”.

To learn more you can check out theliquidchefinc.com & Flairbar.com…