TotC Day 2: Dissecting the Drink

Waking up yesterday morning was challenging. The bed just felt so good, and I really didn’t need to have anything else to drink for a few days. Then again, this is Tales of the Cocktail, and while it is clear that the exchange of information at this event is of primary importance, there also is a sort of drinking marathon afoot. The same people I saw at the bars last night are the same individuals who were at seminars at 10:30 this morning. They’re like freaking alcoholic Energizer Bunnies…with cocktail cotton candy.

Either way, the seminars yesterday were outstanding. I went to two that really made me consider cocktails on a whole new level by dissecting the drink into its most minimal parts. The first seminar I attended was the Molecular Mixology seminar. Among the presenters were Jamie Boudreau and Eben Freeman. In the middle of the seminar, I jokingly thought, “Wow! These guys really are as good as the internet makes them out to be.” The sazerac gummy bear I got is still the best sazerac I’ve had here yet. It’s such an opportunity to actually get to hear these people talk and watch them work instead of just reading descriptions of others’ outings to Tailor and reading Jamie’s blog, which while awesome, just isn’t the same.

Eben Freeman made some really great points about the value of molecular mixology in breaking down people’s barriers about drinks. He used a rum and coke as an example to point out that people have expectations for their cocktails which are generally based on some early experiences. When you take that very same combination or rum and coke, and through molecular mixology methods, make it solid, people react to the solid cocktail by mentally debating the status of the rum and coke itself. People then try the solid rum and coke and realize that it is definitely a rum and coke. Simple, yes, but what actually happens here is that people reevaluate their preconceptions of cocktails and begin defining drinks by taste, not brand or appearance. It can be very difficult to get people to overcome their opinions about cocktails, so I think that his points here were valuable for anyone that campaigns for a better global cocktail.

Audrey Saunders was equally eye-opening in the aromatics seminar. She is definitely a badass. I thought I had broken drinks down as much as possible and considered every element as a means for improving the cocktail, but her focus on the smallest details provides a way for every element to contribute to a cocktail being the best it can be. Her discussion of high and low notes of aroma was useful for understanding how to think about the levels in a drink. Our cocktails should have various aromatic depths, and through a conscious effort to create these dimensions in drinks, we can vastly improve our cocktails. Everything that is a part of the cocktail has the potential to enhance the drink. One example she gave was a wooden swizzle stick. She encouraged us to soak the swizzle stick in natural oils which would be aromatic and flavor the drink overtime.

I then went to the airport to pick up Morgan, and we had dinner at Cochon with fellow Texas cocktail bloggers, the Tipsy Texan duo. The food and service was outstanding, and for the price, we felt the meal was a bargain. I would highly recommend going to Cochon if you find yourself in New Orleans. While there, I had some Vintage 21-year rye. It was a good whiskey, but again, I found myself thinking that the extensive aging took away some of the rye characteristics that I appreciate in younger rye like the Thomas Handy. After sampling a few 20+ year ryes, I am definitely of the opinion that rye is best offered after aging for 12 years or so.

We then went to the Swizzle Stick, the bar at Café Adelaide, where we ran into Gabriel, the cocktail nerd. We were catching them towards the end of their night, so I only had one drink, a twentieth-century cocktail. It was my first, and I must say that the combination of Lillet and crème de cacao was very effective, despite its strangeness. We moved on again to a couple other bars, and I talked with several skilled bloggers and mixologists. I wanted to have a few more cocktails, but having remembered the night before, I held back. Finally, exhausted and hungry, Joe led us to a late-night diner, where we grabbed some breakfast prior to finding our way back to the hotel and crashing. New Orleans was starting to wear me out.