Great shakes: Tales of the Cocktail turns 20 years old
Preview: Tales of the Cocktail
Tales of the Cocktail - the annual convention for the global alcohol industry - is almost old enough to drink in bars. This year sees the 20th anniversary of the festival, which started out as a walking tour of the city’s best watering holes in the balmy heat of the NOLA summer. It grew into a huge comercial affair, but a couple of years ago it pivoted to re-focus on community and education, a welcome re-aligning of its (pardon the pun) spirit. The convention rolls into town next week, and from the 25th-29th July, it takes over many of the city’s most celebrated bars. Although much of the program is slanted towards industry networking and brand parties, there are several events that the wider, cocktail-appreciating public can attend. Here’s our pick of the cocktail menu:
The host hotel this year is the Ritz-Carlton, and all of the marquee events for Tales are happening on site, including the Spirited Awards, Dame Hall of Fame and all of the educational programming. For seminars, see the full Tale of the Cocktail agenda.
In keeping with the festival’s origins, there are multiple cocktail-focused walking tours throughout NOLA on the schedule, led by industry experts like Wayne Curtis. The history of gay gars, bars beyond the French Quarter, hunting down the sazerac and a deep dive into Bourbon Street are among the tour options (filter your search by 'Culture').
One of the most popular aspects of Tales is the spirited dinners that happen, where brands work with local chefs to create special tasting menus. World-renowned bartenders pop-up to do takeovers at bars and collaborative dinners at restaurants - for sentence, George Dickel take over Toup’s Meatery, Death & Co rock up at Sylvain, and Dos Hombres mescal lean into the menu at Felipe’s. Search the program, and filter by “Spirited Dining’ to see the full selection.
One event that always draws a crowd is Speed Rack, the all-women, high-speed bartending competition that raises money for breast cancer research and charities. See the best women in the business show off their skills - the finals take place on the Sunday before Tales (July 24th) at Republic. More info and tickets.
One new addition to the program is the in-person Career Fair. This is really timely given the ongoing labor shortages and hiring challenges that the industry is facing. More details.
Tales of the Cocktail - the annual convention for the global alcohol industry - is almost old enough to drink in bars. This year sees the 20th anniversary of the festival, which started out as a walking tour of the city’s best watering holes in the balmy heat of the NOLA summer. It grew into a huge comercial affair, but a couple of years ago it pivoted to re-focus on community and education, a welcome re-aligning of its (pardon the pun) spirit. The convention rolls into town next week, and from the 25th-29th July, it takes over many of the city’s most celebrated bars. Although much of the program is slanted towards industry networking and brand parties, there are several events that the wider, cocktail-appreciating public can attend. Here’s our pick of the cocktail menu:
The host hotel this year is the Ritz-Carlton, and all of the marquee events for Tales are happening on site, including the Spirited Awards, Dame Hall of Fame and all of the educational programming. For seminars, see the full Tale of the Cocktail agenda.
In keeping with the festival’s origins, there are multiple cocktail-focused walking tours throughout NOLA on the schedule, led by industry experts like Wayne Curtis. The history of gay gars, bars beyond the French Quarter, hunting down the sazerac and a deep dive into Bourbon Street are among the tour options (filter your search by 'Culture').
One of the most popular aspects of Tales is the spirited dinners that happen, where brands work with local chefs to create special tasting menus. World-renowned bartenders pop-up to do takeovers at bars and collaborative dinners at restaurants - for sentence, George Dickel take over Toup’s Meatery, Death & Co rock up at Sylvain, and Dos Hombres mescal lean into the menu at Felipe’s. Search the program, and filter by “Spirited Dining’ to see the full selection.
One event that always draws a crowd is Speed Rack, the all-women, high-speed bartending competition that raises money for breast cancer research and charities. See the best women in the business show off their skills - the finals take place on the Sunday before Tales (July 24th) at Republic. More info and tickets.
One new addition to the program is the in-person Career Fair. This is really timely given the ongoing labor shortages and hiring challenges that the industry is facing. More details.
