Forget amateur night – the biggest rager in the country last weekend was at Tales of the Cocktail, the annual New Orleans festival that draws the most accomplished, ambitious and creative players in the world of bartending and mixology. The big names were all there (Dale DeGroff, Gary Regan, Pegu Club’s Audrey Saunders) as well as plenty of newcomers soaking up knowledge at scores of seminars, tastings and late-night parties. The Buzz visited the alcohol-fueled scene to distill the latest trends.
In the pink: Scott Beattie's market-driven cocktail
photo: Karen Hudes
Culinary Cues: Cocktails are going “hyper-seasonal,” in the words of one panelist, as bartenders develop relationships with farmers to get the right botanicals for their drinks. That adds up to elements like the lemon verbena–infused syrup and dehydrated peach-chip garnish used by Scott Beattie (Sonoma County’s Cyrus) and refreshing tomato water prepared by Todd Thrasher (Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, VA) for his Bloody Mary. Two green-minded Brooklyn impresarios told the Buzz they’re going hands-on this year, with a bar in the works where the herbs for infusions and garnishes will be grown on-site.
Micro-Distilling: More and more mixologists are learning their way around a still, and licensed micro-distilleries are popping up around the country, including two producing absinthe in Oregon. For one cocktail, bourbon (made with all-local corn) by the Hudson Valley’s Tuthilltown Spirits was blended with New York apple butter and maple syrup to make a pleasing tipple with a wealth of terroir. And since former Eliot Spitzer signed a bill last year making it legal for farmers to distill what they grow, expect to see more homegrown micros on the way.
Feeling Bitter: Ted Haigh (aka Dr. Cocktail, curator of the just-opened Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans) sees a trend in bartenders making their own bitters too. “They want to recreate Boker’s Bitters, Abbott’s Bitters,” he says, and some small companies like Fee Brothers are heeding the call, bringing back previously extinct flavors.
Garnish Recap: Some of the most fragrant and eye-catching toppers of the weekend included a half-fig, a shiso leaf and a sprig of mint smacked in the bartender's palm. Look out for foams, flowers, house-pickled produce and crystallized powders from liqueurs making a statement on the rim.
New Sensation: A standing-room-only crowd squeezed in for a seminar on molecular mixology. Like its gastronomic counterpart, the gist is using science – knowing the chemical properties of the liquids you’re working with and the tools at your disposal – to intensify flavors and re-contextualize familiar notes. Eben Freeman of NYC's Tailor pulled it off with a New Orleans twist, presenting a Ramos Gin Fizz marshmallow and Sazerac gummi bear, while a vodka rep presented the audience with groan-inducing but admittedly amusing Red Bull cotton candy. Among other topics, Jamie Boudreau (Vessel in Seattle) discussed “fat-washing” to get the flavor of bacon without the slickness.
“People are eager to try new ideas and disgusting things,” says Freeman, who thinks the public is “over feeling safe.” Even when he’s not testing palates with hops-infused liquors and the like, he’s keen on stirring up “profound emotional experiences” with memory triggers like scotch infused with pumpernickel raisin bread, and “bringing back the first impressions of flavors,” serving customers perception-bending renditions of rum and Coke in solid form.
LeNell Smothers plays doctor
photo: Karen Hudes
Hangover Cure: LeNell Smothers, the saucy owner of LeNell’s wine and liquor shop in Red Hook, always keeps the tone down-home. At her seminar on using eggs in cocktails, she concluded by asking, “Have you ever had a proper Prairie Oyster?” She then demonstrated the hangover cure by having a buff volunteer take off his shirt and lie down on the table. She proceeded to crack eggs, add salt and pepper, Worcestershire and Tabasco and licked the result off his stomach before a thrilled audience. Which all shows the professionals can get as down and dirty as anyone, they just know how to do it properly.
– Karen Hudes