The Cocktail Apprentice Program, a regular event at Tales of the Cocktail, takes bartenders from all across the country and recruits them into a sort of working vacation.  When not walking down Bourbon street or sampling New Orleans finest cuisine, these rising stars of the cocktail world are in the Monteleone kitchen squeezing juice, preparing garnishes, working with cocktail luminaries, or off somewhere having a shot of some rarely heard of Mezcal.

For 2009, it’s known as the Cointreau Apprentice Program, a perfect sponsor match for renaming.  I couldn’t imagine the Cocktail Apprentice Bacardi.  Recruitment started very early in the year, when a notice went out across the internet and news wires everywhere.  The best and brightest of rising star bartenders were called to apply, be judged, and eventually selected to help out during Tales of the Cocktail.

Former Apprentices Don Lee and John Deragon, and Jeff Grdinich led the charge this year, going through each of the applications and selecting the few that would make the apprentice program this year.  The competition for these slots is fierce, with hundreds of applications in, and only 30-something  slots available. On April 12th, the applicants were notified of their selection.  With only a few months to go until Tales, prep time had begun.

Weeks before the start of Tales, apprentices were called on to contact panel and event hosts to begin planning out the drinks, the cues, and other general session information.  Through pre-planning, apprentices can make sure that the sessions go as smooth as possible.  Sometimes this went according to plan, and other times, well, 5 minutes prep time is still prep time, eh?

Once all apprentices had settled into the Monteleone, a meeting was called late Tuesday afternoon.  Just like the rest of the week, the apprentices had to be there just a bit before everyone else.  Ann Tuennerman gave a brief speech, thanking the apprentices for being part of the overall Tales of the Cocktail experience, and as would happen at every meeting, a shot of something nice was passed around.  Over the days, Apprentices would share in Fernet Branca, Del Maguey Tobala, A George Stagg Sazerac, and other strong offerings to start the day.

After prep sheets and schedules were passed around, apprentices were taken on a tour of the hidden passageways and secret storage facilities of the Monteleone.  These pathways gave a nice reprieve from the crowds, as apprentices transported liquor, storage containers, and whatever else was needed for the seminars.

Later that day, Cointreau had a little something up their sleeves for the apprentices, and held a Cointreau tasting, including Cointreau Noir.  After the tasting, a few icebreaking games were played, and the apprentices were taken on a tour of the French Quarter, visiting Arnaud’s French 75, Tujacques, and ending at the Alibi.

10 am daily meetings were de riguer, whether there was any sleep to have been had the night before or not.  There were a few rare clashes between the meeting and the early morning panels.  The 10am meetings would have the aforementioned drinks, and often a speaker or presenter demonstrating some interesting knowledge or technique.

The daily mainstay of every apprentice was the Monteleone’s Pastry Kitchen.  Things were boiling and bubbling, or just being poured into buckets as cocktails were batched for each panel and event.  Shifting the balance of a 5 gallon drink is definitely a skill to learn, where changes are made in cups, not 1/4 ounces.

Over the days, the 10am meeting was held, and apprentices would meet with their presenters, go over drinks and their presentation, batch the drinks, attempt to figure out what was going on, and move forward.  Lather, rinse, and repeat this several times a day.  If you had a few moments, time was taken to help out others in their presentations.

Overall the program was plenty of work.  If you really sunk your teeth in, you’d be busy from 10am to 6pm (often later).  While everyone had their own assigned seminars, help was always welcomed and appreciated.  One of the expectations coming into it is that you would batch together some drinks, haul them to the seminar, shake, serve, and your job is done.  But there was so much more to it than that.  No matter how much preparation there was ahead of time, there was always something that wasn’t setup to go right, or the presenters thought would be provided, or someone would ask you to move tables or tables had to be moved to get the seminar right, or a trip to the grocery store to get some eggs… you get the drift.  For all the effort, it was a great chance for some damned good people to get that rare chance to work with one another, work with cocktail luminaries, share stories and experiences, and do it all for the joy of the drink.

It all culminated at the Spirits Awards, where the apprentices were thanked with a certificate of appreciation, and a dram of whiskey or cup of punch.  Totally worth it.

Some of my personal highlights:

• Starting each day with a shot of Fernet Branca, and ending the night with the same
• The generous pastry kitchen cooks cheese biscuits!
• Filling 150 balloons with absinthe
• Best Swag: Plymouth leather bartender kit
• Tasting the Tobala with Steve Olson (after 30 minutes of attempting to wrangle Steve Olson)
• 250 Gin and Tonics?  Why not 300?
• An Army of Sugar Hedgehogs
• Pitching Beefeater 24 to Desmond Payne
• only 20 minutes to go and we need Tom and Jerrys for 150?  Let’s do this.
• Riding in vans with booze
• Splitting a bottle of Champagne with Tony Abou-Ganim backstage
• Working with some great people I am really hoping to see again soon

Will I be applying for the 2010 Apprentice Program?  We’ll see.  I’d definitely recommend it though.

But molasses is just a byproduct of the sugar industry.  What happens when you take some fresh sugarcane juice and use it to make booze?  That’s where the experts are stepping in this summer at Tales of the Cocktail, for the Sugarcane Spirits around the World seminar.  A panel of experts will be discussing the history, process, and distinct development and characteristics of each of the sugarcane-based spirits.  Spirits such as Cachaça and Rhum Agricole certainly have held their place in the cocktail world, but which will prove the next big name in sugarcane spirits?

The panel is led by the dynamic Angus Winchester, the “gin genius” and mix master behind Alconomics.com.  Angus also happens to be a man with access to a cache of 17 yr. Old J.Wray and Nephew, used in the original Mai Tai, and is certain to bring a staunch defense of molasses-based rum, should things turn ugly.

Next on the panel is the Canne Pimp himself, Benjamin Mélin-Jones, whose family tree may very well be a stalk of sugarcane.  Benjamin represents Rhum Clemént, a fantastic line of Martinique Rhum Agricole.  Rhum Agricole is a sugarcane spirit based on fresh sugarcane juice and made primarily in Martinique, one of the only places outside of France that holds an Appellation d’Origine which governs its process and place of origin.  When the Ti’Punch gets flowing, you can expect to understand what is meant by “chacun prépare sa propre mort.”

Not going down without a fight is Duggan McDonnell, owner of Cantina in San Francisco and self-described sugarcane whore.  Duggan will be representing Cachaça, a Brazilian sugarcane juice-based spirit.  Bringing a muddler and some Capoeira skills to the match, the street-tough Caiprinha will be making its way around the table in a head-on-head battle versus Ti’Punch.

Rounding out the panel is rum nut Lynette Marrero, representing Ron Zacapa.  This rich Guatemalan rum is based on sugarcane syrup, which is its own product, and not fresh cane juice or molasses.  Lynette will be bringing her knowledge fresh from the fields of Guatemala, where she studied rum from crop to bottle.

Which sugarcane spirit will reign supreme?  How many muddlers will be broken making Caiprinhas for 80?  How much fun will people have saying “TI POOOOOONSCH!“.  The answers to these questions and much more during Tales of the Cocktail, Thursday, July 10th from 12:30pm-2pm CST, in the scenic Riverview Room at the Hotel Monteleone.  Buy your tickets through ClicknPrint to secure your seat today.

See you there!

NEW ORLEANS – April 1, 2009 – Tales of the Cocktail, the annual culinary and cocktail festival, announces the winning bartender and recipe of their annual Cocktail Competition to determine the “official cocktail” of the event. Maksym Pazuniak. a mixologist at Rambla and Cure won over the judges with his balanced and well layered julep featuring Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum, Rhum Clement Creole Shrubb, Captain Morgan 100 Proof, Peach Fee Brothers Bitters, Angostura Bitters, fresh mint and Demerara sugar.

“The Mint Julep was the drink that put American mixology on the map, the thing that foreigners pointed to when they wanted to say something nice about the rough-and-tumble new nation on the western shore of the Atlantic. And originally, like most American inventions, it allowed for plenty of individuality and improvisation. With this contest, the Julep is back,” said author and cocktail historian David Wondrich.

Maksym’s cocktail will be served throughout Tales of the Cocktail, July 8-12 and will be featured in the summer issue of Culinary Concierge Magazine and on CocktailTimes.com.

Seeing as Maxym is the new king of swing in New Orleans, working his magic at Rambla and the new mixological hotspot Cure, I thought I’d give his award winning drink a go at the home bar, and boy howdy is it worth it!

Creole Julep
Created by Maksym Pazuniak, Cure/Rambla

• 2 1/4 oz. Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum
• 1/2 oz. Clement Creole Shrubb
• 1/4 oz. Captain Morgan 100
• 2 dashes Fee Bros. Peach bitters
• 2 dashes angostura bitters
• 8-10 mint leaves
• 1 Demerara Sugar Cube

Muddle sugar, Creole Shrubb and bitters until sugar is dissolved in a 10 oz. tall glass. Add mint and press to express oils. Add cracked ice. Add Cruzan and Captain Morgan 100 and stir until frost appears on outside of glass. Garnish with mint sprig.

The drink definitely pays homage to the classic julep, with a strong liquor augmented with just a nice amount of sweetness and mint.  Maxym’s creation is extremely complex, with flavors coming at all angles, but compiling nicely into a little bundle of slightly fruity, slightly spicy, and very slightly sweet joy.  Then again, I may just be partial to the Cruzan Single Barrel used, but it’s highlighted with the citrus from the Creole Shrubb and Peach Bitters, and spice and heat from the Cpt. Morgan’s 100 and Angostura Bitters.

Kudos to Maxym.  I look forward to a few more of these at Tales of the Cocktail 2009!

Blair Reynolds is a Portland-based tiki fiend and proprietor of Reynoles Galley. He documents these obsessions at Trader Tiki.

A bittersweet irony holds its head aloft during Tales of the Cocktail, as the city so well known for its inspiration in the development of classic cocktails, and the “meeting of the modern cocktail minds” that Tales of the Cocktail is, are so close to Bourbon Street, home to some of the worst drinks known to mankind. These drinks I have chosen to cover for Mixology Monday: New Orleans.

As a brave and thirsty traveler, of stout liver and not quite so stout mind, I set off on a quest to try these beverages and report to you, dear viewer, on these offenses to the senses.

Please note, I try my best to keep my nose out of the high-falutin’ area, and remind myself I float no higher from terra firma than last week’s bathwater, but damned if I’m not being snotty in the next few paragraphs. Snark ahoy!

The Hurricane

Developed by Pat O’Brien sometime in the 1940s, the Hurricane was New Orleans top contribution to the rum and tropical flavor tiki drinks of the time. Initially used as a way to get rid of the rum that bar owners were forced to buy (see this video), today it’s become a bright red, flavorless concoction that comes in a souvenir glass. Nary a drop of rum to be found, the modern recipe at the bar consists of crushed ice, neutral distilled spirit, and “the red stuff” in the packet above.

Pat was recently written up in the book, In Pursuit of Pat O’Brien, which I have not yet had the opportunity to read. I did get a chance to look at the original recipe in the back (three ingredients, is it REALLY that damned hard?), and it coincides with the recipe in Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log. It’s delicious when made true to the original recipe of rum, passion fruit syrup and lemon juice. Made from the packet… there’s no discernable flavor to be found for miles, and as I learned on one horrible birthday many years ago, that red color doesn’t fade, guzzling down or gushing back up.

The Daiquiri

A sweet supple mixture of two of the best friends in the world, rum and lime, along with sugar to tone down some of the bitter, and you’ve got a world class combination. Take all of those, throw them out the window, toss some industrial alcohol, food coloring, and bottom-shelf booze into a slushee machine and you’ve got yourself a Bourbon street favorite. There are two locations of Mango Mango Daiquiri (you can’t miss the sign), but the bright neon seems to give it a bit of omnipresence in the French Quarter.

In one of these establishments, there are as many drinks available as there are slushee machines on the back counter. The drinks are $9 a pop, and each drink comes with a free shot, and some sort of discount off of a second drink. This coupon went quickly into the trash. Having to choose between roughly 15 machines, I decided to go with the interestingly named “Blue Crack“, and a shot of “Jet Fuel“. The Blue Crack was one of the few machines with labeled liquor on it, noting the presence of Tequila and Blue Curacao. I might not have chosen this had I seen it sooner, but oh well, life goes on (or I would hope after drinking this). The shot of Jet Fuel contained Peppermint Schnapps, Neutral Grain Spirit, and Blue Curacao… a straight shot down the hatch gleefully destroyed my tastebuds, preparing me quite aptly for the drink at hand. The flavor was a bit as expected, blue and artificial sour citrus, that tasted not too far from what Bourbon Street itself might taste like, were one so brave as to do so . Despite the thorough mixing, pockets of liquid seemed to have developed in the drink, giving every third sip a bit more bite… and not in a good way. Imagine giving a baby their first taste of Cynar, and that’s about the reaction I had to these little pockets of nasty. But, being brave as I could, I finished the drink and headed out for something more…

The Hand Grenade

This exceedingly potent potable is sold at Tropical Isle and Funky Pirate, two places owned by the same folks, named different because seeing 4 Tropical Isles as you went down Bourbon Street might be a few too many. You’ll see the namesake plastic container dangling from the hands of many a college student, the other hand filled with beads, and a lot of hope. Seeing how prolific these were, I had to try one, and pretty much got what I expected.

Imagine, if you will, a watermelon jolly rancher, dragged along Bourbon street, infused into some everclear, placed into a slushee machine, and the result squirted into what is surely later to be used as a bong. There’s your Hand Grenade. One melon note, with a whole lot of nasty spirit in it. Of course, as I was leaving the establishment, a fellow imbiber on the Vieux Carré explained to me “Dude, aren’t those so good? Twelve of those and you’re totally bombed!”. At $8 a pop, those $96 could go a hell of a lot further in a liquor store… oh well, perhaps he hadn’t passed Economics 101 just yet.

I’d like to point out though, that while these drinks may be bad, they sell like solid-gold pancakes and are likely one of the biggest contributors to keeping Bourbon Street afloat and the whole damned city alive. You can’t ignore that there are probably more Hand Grenades sold then French 75s or Brandy Milk Punches. Hell, I’m even half-tempted to purchase the Ceramic Hand Grenade next time I hit the French Quarter. Perhaps someday they’ll end up in a cocktail database as some lost legend preserved only in fond memory. We can only hope that day is soon.

I’ve put up a few pictures from Tales of the Cocktail in my Tales 2008 Gallery on Tradertiki.com. Strangely, I found myself distracted by the good food, booze, and conversation and was more apt to whip out my VISA rather than my camera.

Oh well. The memories live on! Enjoy my good times!

When in New Orleans, it’s hard to turn one way or the other without seeing a Hawaiian shirted tourist headed towards the Cafe du Monde or Pat O’ Brien’s. But the most prominent placement of the brightly colored vestments this week has been inside the Hotel Monteleone elevators, as Tiki fans and aficianados make their way through the various panels and presentations with a big emphasis on Tiki.

It seems there’s not a panel this week where Donn Beach or Trader Vic hasn’t been mentioned in some way shape or form. Hell, these guys ruled the roost for 40 years of the American restaurant and drinking scene, their influence on modern mixology should be (and really is now) well recognized. For awhile, Tiki seemed to be the illegitimate stepchild of the up and coming cocktail renaissance, until the likes of Jeff Berry and Martin Cate (The books and the bar) made the scene. The resurgence of fresh ingredients, a wide selection of rums, and an emphasis on making them as they would have been originally has brought the Tiki cocktail culture back into the spotlight, though there is still a lot of work to be done. A Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane served at Pat O’Brien’s today is, sadly, horrific. A Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane made according to the original recipe is a wonder of nature.

During the Jerry’s Kids panel, led by Ted Haigh, David Wondrich, and Brian Rea (a national treasure, I should mention), they couldn’t help, once rum was brought up, to discuss Trader Vic, Donn Beach, and a few of the cocktails developed by them. Rum, once upon a time a cheap commodity that bar managers had to buy in order to get their whiskey, bourbon, etc. was elevated to the status of exotic elixir once Donn Beach got his hands on the stuff (with a little lime, mint, and pastis/bitters). Here’s a short clip of the panel discussing rum and the fellas that brought it into the limelight.

In a much more related panel, Rum, Ron, Rhum, Angus Winchester, who is a dynamic public speaker if ever there was one, brought up the subject with all the due respect and swagger. No wonder he had to bring it up right, as Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and Martin Cate of Forbidden Island were in the audience… as well as Wayne Curtis (Tale of the world in 10 cocktails) next to him on the panel. Here’s a short clip from Angus’ speech. Oh, and Angus, if you’re ever looking to get rid of that swizzle stick (or a drop of the 17 year old J. Wray & Nephew), I’ll gladly hold onto either, preferably both.

Of course, there was also the Tiki Dinner, with drinks by Jeff Berry and food by Chris DeBarr. I think Seamus and Rick have already said quite enough about it, but I’ve got a few pictures in the Tales of the Cocktail gallery to share. Oh what a night.

Today marks Tiki’s true time to shine at Tales. Starting this morning with the Potions of the Caribbean session, led by Jeff Berry, then moving onto Martin Cate’s Garnish panel, and ending off with the Tiki block party. I’ll be writing up a few notes once these are done with… I’m sure there will be pictures, memories, and a brutal hangover.

Tales of the Cocktail is only a two months away, even a bit less at this point. At this time, thoughts of drunkenly gallivanting about, discussing the business of the boozeness, and many handshakes and business card exchanges swirl about in my head. Between the lectures and the briefings, the tastings and the dealing, where can a guy just relax and get a drink?

Good thing someone thought to talk to a bum about this. A Beachbum, in fact, who, along with a few other panelists, will be providing a trip through the tropics on Saturday, July 19th, with their presentation “Potions of the Caribbean: Lost Cocktails from America’s Post War Playground“. Here, the crowd will be whisked away from the muggy Louisiana summer to a cool Caribbean isle (or at least a room with decent air conditioning), with tropical libations all around.

Along with featured presenter Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, the four panelists are all widely traveled personae with their own take on tropical libations and the Caribbean scene. These prestigious paragons of paneling are Wayne Curtis, author of the essential book And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails; Martin Cate, owner of the celebrated Forbidden Island Tiki bar by the San Francisco Bay; Brother Cleve, the Boston-based mixologist who kick-started the 1990s “Cocktail Nation” movement with his band Combustible Edison; and Steven Remsberg, owner of the world’s largest private rum collection. They’ll be backed up by some real firepower behind the TOC bar as well, since our sample drinks will be mixed by three of the Blogosphere’s premiere Tiki drink experts: Rick Stutz of Kaiser Penguin, Blair Reynolds, aka Trader Tiki, and Craig Hermann of Tiki Drinks & Indigo Firmaments.

The welcoming drink, as in the days when a bowl of punch was expected when dropping by a neighbor’s, will be the 17th-century Meeting House Punch. Contrary to popular belief, during the great age of piracy the buccaneers’ drink of choice was not a bottle of rum, but a bowl of rum punch. Punches were all the rage even among cut-throats like John Rackham. After all, what goes better with plunder than sugar and a few slices of lime?

The presentation will begin in the Caribbean after WWII, when Jamaica, Cuba and Puerto Rico all developed their tourist industries to compete with Hawaii as the “other” exotic vacation paradise. They built lavish resorts, where they served inventive tropical cocktails inspired by the Tiki drinks served in America’s wildly popular Polynesian-themed bars. The bum and the other presenters will be talking about the people behind this era … a story which actually starts hundreds of years before, when the first visitors to the area also brought their own drink recipes with them.

Since the Spanish “discovered” the Caribbean, invading hordes have continually tried to turn it into something else. For the Conquistadors, the Caribbean was “New Spain”; for the Edwardian English, Jamaica was “The New Riviera”; for 1940s Americans, Havana was “The Las Vegas Of The Caribbean”; and for the multinational resort developers of the 1960s, the Caribbean was “Hawaii In The Atlantic.” And whatever the incarnation, there were always new drinks served.

Jeff “Beachbum” Berry will start the seminar off by tracing Caribbean drink history up to Cuba’s transformation into America’s playground during Prohibition, when famous bartenders like Constantine Ribailagua invented drinks like the La Florida Cocktail (the next drink sample). The bum will also take a look at Sloppy Joe Abeal, who created exotic cocktails for thirsty American celebrities like Ernest Hemingway.

Martin Cate will then take the floor to detail the native spirits, spices and fruits that are unique to the Caribbean, which Don The Beachcomber encountered on his travels to the region in the 1920s — and brought to Hollywood, using them as his inspiration for the first “Tiki Drinks.”

As the third sample is served, a Trader Vic concoction called the Rum Pot, Wayne will reveal how the Tiki cycle went full circle with the story of Trader Vic in the Caribbean: Like Don The Beachcomber, Vic learned how to make tropical drinks by travelling to Cuba. When his restaurant expanded into a chain, he opened a lavish Trader Vic’s in Havana — just in time for Castro’s revolutionaries to storm it.

In the next round, Brother Cleve will delve deeper into the post-WWII “Hawaii In The Atlantic” tourist pitch that led to Caribbean resorts creating their own Tiki-style Drinks, such as the oeuvre of St. Croix’s Weston Huggins and Puerto Rico’s Joe Scialom.

The final drink sampled will be a Jasper’s Jamaican cocktail, served while Stephen Remsberg recounts the aftermath of “Atlantic Hawaii”: When the Tiki craze fizzled in the 1970s, Caribbean bartenders went back to their own kind of indigenous cocktails. Stephen, who sampled these bartenders’ wares back in the 1970s, will demo how to properly make a Jasper’s Jamaican, a drink developed by the most legendary of these bartenders, Jasper LeFranc.

Potions of the Caribbean: Lost Cocktails from America’s Post-War Playground takes place Saturday, July 19, at 10:30-12:00 at the Hotel Monteleone. Tickets for the session are available on the Tales of the Cocktail website. Hope to see you there!

(note – special thanks to the bum for providing such great information!)