Celebrating the Cocktail

Talk about a party shopping list: 13,884 mint leaves, 11,250 limes, 12,000 pounds of Kold-Draft ice. All those ingredients and a river of alcohol were used to make countless drinks during last year’s Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans. The stats from this year’s event, next week (from July 21 to 25), should be no less impressive. Plus, the world’s top bartenders and spirits experts will be in town to lead seminars, conduct tastings and, of course, mix cocktails. To help you decide which events to attend, here are some of our favorites.

Prohibition & Gin (Thursday, July 22):

Love gin? Join Liquor.com advisor and award-winning author David Wondrich and frequent Liquor.com contributor and mixologist Simon Ford for a talk about the evolution of gin cocktails from the 1890s to post-Prohibition.

Armagnac, France’s First Brandy (Friday, July 23):

Learn about France’s other great spirit: Armagnac. Liquor.com advisor and master mixologist Dale DeGroff moderates this panel of Armagnac producers and spirits experts.

The Mastery of Wisdom Behind the Bar (Saturday, July 24):

Liquor.com advisors Dushan Zaric and Aisha Sharpe share their hard-earned wisdom from years behind the bar. This master class focuses on the psychology of making and selling drinks.

Rum Running – Contraband, Customs and Taxes (Saturday, July 24):

Hear three of the world’s foremost rum experts, Ed Hamilton, Jeff Berry and Wayne Curtis, discuss the history of rum running and how it changed our country and the world.

Religious Spirits (Sunday, July 25):

Some of the world’s earliest distillers and brewers were pioneering European monks. Explore alcohol’s religious roots with Liquor.com advisor Allen Katz and Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery.