I got hit by the Tales of the Cocktail thing and never got a chance to finish writing up the places I visited for drinks in San Francisco.

On day three I visited the Golden Gate Bridge in the morning. The thing is huge so walking to it like I did is a mistake. You think you will be there in a few minutes, but it ends up taking you forever. The fort that sits below the south end of the bridge was pretty cool, as were all the historic houses I passed on my way there. Read the rest of this entry »

I am now in the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo to be precise. Santo Domingo is a rough-around-the-edges sort of a place. The initial impression was lousy. Who appreciates arriving near midnight after delayed flights with no hotel booked, getting dumped by a taxi driver in a run-down area of town with no street lighting, discovering nobody speaks English and your Spanish teachers were a pack of lousy scam artists, and finally ending up in a roach-infested doss house called “El Refugio de Pirata”. No, really. That’s what it was called. I couldn’t make this stuff up. Read the rest of this entry »

This session tried to cover an awful lot of ground in a limited time so the treatment was a little superficial.  There was some interesting information though.

One of the highlights was the discussion of a product called Vin Mariani, a cocoa leaf infused aromatic wine (perhaps something like a quinquina) that was popular in the later 19th century.  This stuff was consumed widely in Europe and the United States before cocaine was made illegal.  Apparently it later morphed into coca-cola under pressure from prohibitionists.

Another interesting point was the lack of citrus juices in early 20th century French cocktails.  France only got into citrus juice containing drinks in the 1920s.  The popularity of gin as a base spirit in early French drinks was also surprising.  Apparently gin appears in the majority of the early drinks.

We also got an insight into what the disappeared liqueur Cordial Medoc was.  Supposedly it was a coffee and citrus liqueur.

Interesting stuff anyway.

I got out of bed early enough to make the media breakfast at Brennan’s. To start we had a tasty Bloody Mary with a splash of red wine in it, then more wine to follow during breakfast – baked apple with cream, two types of eggs (French conversant eggs that arrived on beds of spinach and the like), and Bananas Foster. They take breakfast seriously in New Orleans.  The Bananas Foster was pretty good, but then Brenan’s was where it was invented so no surprises there.  We didn’t quite get table-side service, but the chef came out to demonstrate how the dish was made.  He came damn near burning down the old dining room while doing so. Read the rest of this entry »

I just got back from the Tiki Dinner with cocktails designed and mixed by Jeff ‘Beachbum’ Berry and Wayne Curtis.  A last minute and little advertised change of venue almost saw me miss the thing completely, but after a little running around I eventually got there only slightly late, and just in time for an excellent meal.  I meant to pinch a copy of the menu for reference, but since it somehow got lost in the last minute confusion of leaving, this account is a little cursory. Read the rest of this entry »

Tales has been an enjoyably chaotic mess. The Internet refused to work for me before and time was short so this first round up of Tales Stuff has to cover a fair bit of territory.

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Internet access has been absolutely horrible so here is a late account of my second day in San Francisco. . .

Today, still in a luggageless state, I did a little tourist stuff then further explored San Francisco’s cocktail and drinking scene.

I had a breakfast of coffee and donuts, listening to a black guy and a Mexican talking about San Francisco in the 60s. The Mexican guy seemed to be high on something or other. Around midday I went to the Asian Art Museum and spent a few hours there. The collection is impressive, but the presentation, labeling and breadth are what make the place stand out. Why does no museum actually located in Asia have a comparably organized display? Some bits of the collection were organized according to key cultural influences (religion and so on), so that exhibits on early Indian Buddhism would lead you on to chronologically later yet derivative Chinese, Indonesian and Thai exhibits. It was an educational way of setting things up. Read the rest of this entry »

I am now en-route to Tales of the Cocktail, traveling via San Francisco. I got to San Francisco on Friday after a 24-hour-plus marathon of delayed flights and lost luggage. I checked into a hotel around Union Square, then took a walk over the hill and down to Fishermen’s Wharf. The architecture in San Francisco is great – row after row of cozy looking apartments, and a ton of what I am guessing are early Art-Deco commercial buildings. Read the rest of this entry »

Tales of the Cocktail is now less than a week away.  I thought I would post my likely schedule.  If you are going to be attending some of the same sessions then do say hello.

Tuesday 15th

- Arrive early evening and have a drink in the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone.  There I hope to run into Jay Hepburn of Oh Gosh!  Go for dinner some place.

Wednesday 16th

- Try to get up early enough to explore New Orleans in the morning.

-  2.00pm –  Toast to Tales of the Cocktail

-  4:30pm – Bloggers Reception

- 7.30pm – Save the Daiquiri Party

Thursday 17th

-  10.30am – To Have and Have Another: The Hemingway Bartender’s Companion

- 12.00pm – A bit of a toss up between Juniperlooza and Bourbon, Blues and Bluegras

- 2.30pm – Cognac and Armagnac: Understanding the nuances of the Spirits (this is a spirit I am very ignorant about so it should be interesting).

- 4.30pm – Haven’t quite decided, but possibly Latino Libations.

- 5.30 pm – Cocktail Hour

- 8.00 pm – Spirited Dinner at The Delichaise.

Friday 18th

- 10.30am – Amore, Amari

- 12.30pm – Rum, Ron, Rhum

- 2.30pm – History of Liqueurs

- 4.30pm – Impossible to choose here!  All four sessions look so interesting: Cocktails of the Old Raj; Essential Guide to American Whiskey, Rye Nation, and Sensory Perception in Mixology.  I guess I’ll just decide at the last minute or something.

- 8.00pm – I may check out Rum and all that Jazz.  On the other hand I may just go for a wander out on the town.

Saturday 19th

- 10.30am – The Cafes of Paris

- 12.30pm – History of Herbsaint (though the egg session also looks interesting)

-  4.30pm – Making your own cocktail ingredients

-  6pm – Possibly the Tiki party or maybe just check out the town.

Sunday 20th

- 10.30am – The Gentleman’s Companion: The life and times of Charles A Baker

- 12.30pm – The Flowing Bowl: A history of punch

- 5pm – Wormwood Society absinthe soiree

Monday 21st

Head on to the Caribbean

Last night I headed to another of the monthly whiskey tastings put on by Glengarry’s. The focus was Bruichladdich, an Islay distillery I am not too familiar with.

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