Tales of the Cocktail Pt. 5
Friday July 26th. Day three of Tales. Another busy day at Tales for XO Hospitality. Took the morning off to wander around NOLA, visit the waterfront and check out the aquarium. The most impressive inhabitant was a 7 foot albino alligator, truly a beautiful specimen.
After a little culture, we headed back to the Royal Sonesta for the star-studded I love Vodka, I hate Vodka seminar sponsored by Belvedere. The room was packed to the rafters to hear the debate for/against Vodka.
On the white side (love) there was Anastasia Miller, Angus Winchester and Jeremy F. Thompson, and on the black side (hate) Ian Burrel, John Gakuru, and Henry Besant (respectively Rum, Cachaca, and Tequila), moderated by Claire Smith (Belvedere Vodka.) The debate was heated and lively, with wisecracks and barbed remarks flying back and forth between the participants. The ever so eloquent Angus Winchester kicked off the debate with a prepared statement which immediately set the bar for the rest of the debate.
Ultimately, it developed into a healthy discussion on the merits of the best selling spirit category in the world versus the over-hyped marketing programs of the uber-premium vodka brands on the market. Both sides could not ignore the fact that vodka as a spirit is a powerhouse within the industry and that there are very good vodkas on the market… even Mr. “rum ambassador”Burrel had to acknowledge this..much to his dismay!!
The crowd was definitely entertained during this lively debate, and frequently erupted into laughter at the witty barbs that punctuated almost every statement from the participants. A fun, the entertaining seminar, although not a lot of groundbreaking new information on either side.
The rest of the afternoon was spent networking, sipping on the many libations available around Tales, and just soaking up the atmosphere of Tales. The evening was a long series of drinks, cocktails and parties.. from sipping daiquiris on the terrace with Mr. Calebrese, Mr. Dorelli, and Mr. Nicholls at the Bacardi VIP lounge overlooking Bourbon Street to the Bar Room Brawl later at night.
Saturday July 26th, Day 4. A five-day bar-show is quite taxing on the body and spirit… it was a little harder to get up early this morning. Two seminars on the schedule for the 4th day of Tales, Mastery of Wisdom behind the bar by Dushan Zahric, and Subconscious drinks with Andrew Nicholls.
One of the highlights for XO today was the vintage cocktail book sale, held by Mud Puddle books and cocktailkingdom.com. A very impressive collection of old and rare books, from early Jerry Thomas to David Embury.. and everything in between. Some were in great shape and extremely expensive, and some a little worse for the wear. XO is now the proud owner of a 1st edition of “The Flowing Bowl” (1892), a Charles Baker “The Gentleman’s companion Vol I & II” , and several other rare books!!!
Mr Zaric, co-owner of the great Employees Only in NYC, and ultimate bartender, gentleman and host, shared his years of experience on how to remain zen and channel positive energy into your working environment. A very interesting and useful seminar,showing bartenders how their state of mind influences the experience of your guests, and how to change negative thoughts into positive ones. Also very interesting was the demonstration of Dushan on how the same drink with exactly the same ingredients made by 5 people tasted differently every time, and how if they made that drink a second time thinking happy thoughts, the drink tasted noticeably better… interesting!
The second seminar of the day… Subconscious drinks with Andrew Nicholls was also extremely interesting. Andrew walked us 
through the different aspects of body language and what they meant from the guest’s perspective as well as the bartender’s. He then went on to discuss the influence of colour, lighting, glassware and sound on the guest’s experience. Did you know that continued exposure to the color pink encourages aggressive behaviour and extreme exposure can even lead to cannibalism???? Andrew had a tough seminar, with a heckler, the sound system that kept going on and off and even the fire alarm going off repeatedly throughout his seminar., but carried it of well and gave us our money’s worth!!
Saturday night was the big Spirit Awards, which XO chose not to attend, with tables for 10 starting at 650$. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner with live jazz at Arnaud’s, and were planning on joining the funeral procession for the “worst cocktail” which this year was the Sex on the beach. Unfortunately, at his point Mother Nature decided to intervene, so after getting soaked by a torrential downpour, we decided to call it a night.