Guest Blogger: Robert Hess

Posted on May 23, 2008
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Known around the cocktail community as Drinkboy, Robert Hess is a leading figure in mixology and a fixture at Tales of the Cocktail. Here, Robert shares his perspective on the history of this event and on the development of the Museum of the American Cocktail.

Six years ago (2003) Stephen Visakay contacted me because he needed some help. It seemed there was this little event in New Orleans he had been invited to, and they needed him to come up with some cocktails to pair with the foods being served at some dinner. While Mr. Visakay might be the Cocktail Shaker King, when it comes to cocktails themselves he is all about enjoying them best when somebody else is making them. So he was a little out of his element when asked to actually create some drinks for this event. I was more than happy to help out an old friend, and jumped at the chance to work up some drinks.

I got the menu from the restaurant, and carefully prepared the dinner at home and started experimenting with a few different drink ideas. Soon after sending them to Stephen, I was contacted by one of the event coordinators to see if I could help out with some drinks for another dinner, where they were also having trouble getting some drinks selected, as well as review the recipes for two other dinners where they had some questions.

The event of course, was the very first Tales of the Cocktail, and I’ve been part of this event ever since.

In 2004, at the second Tales of the Cocktail, a number of us were talking about the various old cocktail books and paraphernalia we had in our collection, and we realized that we had the startings of a museum. A cocktail museum is something that various folks had bantered about in the past, but here we finally had a critical mass of individuals who could do something about it. Over the course of the next few days, one discussion led to another, and before we left New Orleans, we had made arrangements with the Pharmacy Museum to install an exhibit on their second floor by the end of the year.

This then, was the birth of the Museum of the American Cocktail, and in January of 2005, our exhibit was up and running.

We of course were all back again in New Orleans in August 2005 for another Tales of the Cocktail. Each year, the event gets bigger and more involved. Some of the authors and speakers change from year to year, but many of us keep coming back. That, plus Ann Tuennerman’s tireless dedication to organizing this event, have resulted in an important and unique event for bartenders, authors, brands, as well as mixology hobbiests and just interested individuals. It was flying back from this year’s event that the weather news started talking about some storm coming up from the gulf. They named it Katrina.

In 2006, with a certain amount of somber respect, we were back in New Orleans again. The event had been moved from August, to July. For many of us, this was our first trip back since the storm, while evidence of the storm was still visible, the French Quarter for the most part was untouched. There were fewer people/tourists waundering about the streets, and a few businesses were closed down due to lack of business, but it was clear that New Orleans was anxious to move on and fire the celebrations back up again. And we were there to do our part. All in all, Tales of the Cocktail was as strong as ever. With a great turnout and wonderful support from all across the city.

2007 marked the fifth year of Tales of the Cocktail, a very special anniversary and grand celebrations to match. Ann cranked things up a notch, and we saw two new regular events added to the schedule. The first “Spirit Awards”, a series of specially selected awards to recognize various individuals, businesses, and products, which have made a significant impact in the industry, as well as the first “Bar Chef Challenge”, a special bartender competition which pits bartender against bartender as they strive to create a cocktail on the spot using a specially selected “secret ingredient”. (Details about the winners of both the Spirited Awards and the Bar Chef Challenge, can be found here.)

In 2007 there was also a special “private” event which took place at Café Adelaide. The “Wormwood Society” held a small Absinthe Dinner, where we sampled a few different authentic Absinthes, which were once popularly served in New Orleans, but had been banned since 1912 in the US. Each of us toasted to a future when Absinthe would once again be legal, little did we know then, that such would come to pass in just a few short months.

Which brings us up to 2008, and the sixth annual gathering of cocktail aficionados in New Orleans for yet another “Tales of the Cocktail”. Each year I’ve seen this event get more and more involved, with thousands of man-hours (or should we call that ann-hours?) of preparation going into selecting, organizing, and scheduling all of the sessions, panels, dinners, parties, and other events which have become so common to all of us.

I know that I’ll be there. Will you?