Last week, Tales of the Cocktail took place in NOLA, bringing together some of the top minds in mixology. The event featured spirit tastings, cocktail competitions and educational seminars — not to mention some outstanding parties (like the Beefeater Gin event pictured below).
Audrey Saunders pours jasmine cocktails at the Beefeater welcome reception.
A huge focus of the event was on bartending as a business — from copyrights and intellectual property to ROI and brand management. Click here for Publisher and Editorial Director Donna Hood Crecca’s take.
Another focus was on the importance of getting back to the fun side of bartending — don’t let the homemade tonics and history lessons get in the way of really focusing on getting to know the guests and enjoying your time behind the stick. Check out Managing Editor Emily Hanna Mayock’s take here.
Beyond the seminars, bartender competitions abounded, like the Cabana Cachaca Bartender Olympics (winner: the West Coast team, co-captained by Duggan McDonnell and Alex Straus: Jason Bran, Julian Cox, Josh Harris and Scott Baird), the USBG Milagro Margarita Competition (winner: Patricia Richards of Wynn/Encore Las Vegas), the Grand Marnier Bar Room Brawl (winner: Drink Boston) and many more. We’ll have more updates for you in the next issue of NCB Mix, so check back!