H2O Cocktails
At Tales of the Cocktail, Kathy Casey and Tony Abou-Ganim gave a seminar on H2O cocktails. These are essentially low-calorie vodka cocktails where all the calories come from the booze. The other ingredient in each is flavored water, made by infusing (in one of two methods) water with fresh ingredients.
The concept is new and refreshing- [...]
Vinegar: The Other Acid
Vinegar beverages date back thousands of years, though they’ve recently become trendy in cocktails.
In the seminar Vinegar: The Other Acid, the moderators spoke about the history of vinegar in drinks, the shrubs that are popular today, and a new technique of using vinegar to make non-alcoholic tinctures.
To read all about, follow this link to Alcademics.com.
TOTC on the BBC
Writer Camper English was interviewed for the BBC radio program The World this morning. Here’s a short report from Tales of the Cocktail.
Second Ice Seminar: The Chainsaw Shift
There were two seminars on ice this year at Tales of the Cocktail. The first one, reported here, showed the evolution of ice programs in New York bars and what equipment one needs to have an ice program in a bar.
Today’s seminar is about the West Coast style of ice program: buying a big block [...]
Shhh! It’s a Secret
In the seminar entitled Shh! It’s A Secret, we learned about Coco-Cola’s history as a “tonic wine,” got some inside as to how Lillet is made, learned a great deal about bittering agents, and we learned about a fungus found in fernet that sucks bitter flavors out of tree bark. Weird.
Read all about it over [...]
The Mysteries of Wood Maturation
What’s the difference between American and French oak?
Can you taste the difference between the flavor wood gives to a spirit versus the amount of time a spirit has spent in wood? (Spoiler: yes, you can.)
Check out this posting on what Camper English learned at this seminar at Tales of the Cocktail. The post is here.
Let’s Not Sugar-Coat It
As part of the Pro Series of Tales of the Cocktail, Gina Chersevani and a bunch of scientists and chefs talked about sweeteners in cocktails. She gave a tempting recipe for sugar beet syrup, proper treatment of honey, and the plant-based sweetener Truvia.
Read all about it over at Alcademics.
How to Build a Cutting-Edge Ice Program
In today’s seminar entitled How to Build a Cutting-Edge Ice Program, we learned about the progression of ice programs in New York bars from Milk & Honey to Pegu Club to Little Branch to Weatherup. Geared toward professionals, this seminar can save bar owners a few years of research.
Read the write-up on Alcademics here.
How The Global Drinks Business Works: Seminar Preview
I’ve been writing full-time about liquor since around 2005 and sometimes I’m still confused about who is the brand owner versus importer versus who has the distribution rights in which country and where stuff is sold. The global drinks business is some wild, wacky stuff. Based on the description below, I asked session moderator Philip [...]
Seminar Preview: Occupational Hazards
This is a preview of a seminar that will be given at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, which takes place July 20-24, 2011.
Occupational Hazards
This seminar, part of the pro-series, is targeted to bar professionals. Given the teaser below, I emailed seminar leader Charlotte Voisey a few questions.
Details:
Time: 3 PM to 4:30 PM
Date: Wednesday the [...]
