What’s shakin, cocktail fans?
Welcome to Episode 161 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!
Thanks for joining us for another interview episode, where we track down the best and brightest minds in the spirits and cocktail world so that we can share their secrets with you. This time around, we have an incredible treat for ya. Caroline Rosen, executive director of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, joins us to talk about how the biggest and most important cocktail conference in the country is forging ahead and offering digital seminars FOR FREE this year.
The history of Tales of the Cocktail – from its humble origins as a walking tour soaked in history and booze, to its current status at the cutting edge of international spirits and cocktail conferences.
How Tales of the Cocktail actually operates – and believe me, it’s complicated. There’s educational seminars, pop-up events, bar takeovers, second line parades, chance celebrity encounters in hotel lobbies, and a whole lot more besides.
What the Tales of the Cocktail has done in 2020 to pivot in the wake of the COVID-19 Coronavirus – including all the details about their FREE digital education and networking opportunities that will be announced on August 31st.
We also cover a bunch of other topics, including the yearly Oscars of the cocktail world – AKA the Spirited Awards, the uncommon economic impact the event has on the service industry sector of the Big Easy, the legendary mid-July aroma of Bourbon St.
And much, much more
You can follow Tales of the Cocktail on Facebook, as well as on Instagram (@tales_of_the_cocktail).
This episode’s featured cocktail is the Hurricane, a cocktail synonymous with with New Orleans and the French Quarter. The common ingredients SEEM to be:
2 oz of Dark Rum
2 oz of Light or White Rum
Some amount of Passion Fruit (either in syrup or puree format (which, by the way, are very different))
And some sort of citrus – usually lemon or lime
Now, you might be wondering at this point why we’re bothering to give you a cocktail recipe as cloudy as this one. Well, one reason is that some ungodly percentage of first time visitors to New Orleans visit the birthplace of of the Hurricane Cocktail – Pat O’Brien’s, and the history of this bar, coupled with the supposed origin story of the cocktail are actually kinda compelling.
Pat O’Brien is a gentleman who ran a speakeasy in the French Quarter during Prohibition, and according to legend, the password for this elicit bar was: “Storm’s Brewin’.” Later on, when drinking was legal again, he purchased a sprawling residential building and converted it to a bar with an attractive courtyard and a dueling piano stage, which is still popular to this day. I’ve been there – and as you’d expect – it’s pretty much all tourists and bachelorette parties.
AND YET – Pat O’Brien’s is pretty much the undisputed home of the hurricane cocktail.
See, in the wake of Prohibition and during World War II, there was a glut of rum from the Caribbean because everyone was suddenly obsessed with all the stuff they couldn’t get – like whiskey and imported stuff from Europe and because the military efforts abroad had a lot of manufacturers pivoting to help the war effort.
The following statement comes directly from the Pat O’Brien’s website:
In the 1940’s many US distilleries were used to manufacture necessities for war time, and domestic liquor was scarce. However, Rum coming up the Mississippi river from the Caribbean islands was plentiful. In order to buy a case of Bourbon, for example, there was strong incentive to purchase large quantities of rum. With General manager George Oechsner Jr at the helm, the folks in the bar experimented with recipes, and eventually everyone agreed that passion fruit was a hit! A glass shaped like a hurricane lamp was the perfect vessel and the Hurricane drink became New Orleans favorite libation.
Fast forward to today, and you’ve got Pat O’Brien’s selling jugs (and powdered packets) of their Hurricane mix (as well as a bunch of hackneyed DIY recipes on the internet that involve Hawaiian fruit punch). It’s all slightly reminiscent of a frat party, especially when you consider the ingredients that frequently bastardize the formulation:
Galliano (of Harvey Wallbanger fame)
Grenadine (possibly why the cocktail at Pat O’Brien’s is red instead of orange)
And other fruit juices like pineapple orange juice
Now, one thing all these ingredients have in common is sugar – which suggests that you need something (or multiple things) to sweeten your drink and take the edge off all that booze and acidity. So keep that in mind as you’re seeking out the best hurricane cocktail recipe for you. This is the type of challenge we think today’s home bartenders are uniquely suited to tackle because the ingredients should be readily available (even the passion fruit puree or syrup), and you can really dial in the recipe to suit your personal palate, which is something you can’t always find at a bar.
In terms of consistency, it’s a bit ironic that the garnish for the Hurricane cocktail is the one item that seems to carry over with complete accuracy from recipe to recipe. They all call for an orange wheel or half-wheel and a maraschino cherry. In the spirit of the cocktail, this is normally a firebird red artificial cherry, but I’d highly recommend subbing in a brandied cherry if you’ve got one.
Tales of the Cocktail began in 2002 as a small, historical walking tour that featured New Orleans’ rich cocktail history and culture. Over the ensuing 17 years, it developed into a massively popular international cocktail convention with a more than 8 million dollar impact on the service industry of New Orleans. Some of the highlights of the event include:
Best-in-class educational seminars hosted by some of the biggest names in the industry
The Spirited Awards, which recognize the most noteworthy cocktail bars, brand ambassadors, authors, mentors, and publications of the year
Tasting rooms where brands create flavorful experiences for guests to promote their products and educate consumers and bartenders
The Bitters & Book Store, where guests can sample and purchase cocktail bitters from around the world and buy the latest and greatest cocktail books to stock their libraries.
If you’d like to hear some hot takes from Tales of the Cocktail 2019, tune into Episode 108 of this podcast!
This year, Tales of the Cocktail will release its digital course offerings and schedule of live Q&A sessions, round tables, brand activations, and mentorship office hours on August 31. You can visit TalesoftheCocktail.org and sign up for their email list if you want to receive a reminder email when those become available.
I’m obsessed with a Cynar Spritz. It’s like an Aperol Spritz, but not as sweet, still delicious, still low-ABV.
I’d be a twist: that fresh little note you throw in. I’m not for everyone, but I think I make most things better.
My great uncle was a man named William Spratling. He lived here in the French Quarter with William Faulkner, he was an architecture professor at Tulane, and he was bisexual. He ended up moving down to Mexico City and making these beautiful silver designs. So I’d love to be in Mexico City with him and Julia Child at Pujol enjoying a long meal with cocktail pairings.
Malort.
It’s the most basic b*%ch thing in the world, but I still love a vodka soda.
TAKE YOUR CREATIONS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
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