Paul's Spirited Travel
Tales of the cocktail
The Tales of the Cocktail conference is not something one can jump into blindly; proper planning begins at least a month before the conference. The conference schedule can be intense, and it is not uncommon to have multiple competing events happening during the same block of time around the city. This was my concern as I noticed rum events going head-to-head during the week and realized I would make most, but not all of them. Also, there was a big schedule change, with more pre-events happening Sunday and then the big tasting event “Meet the Distillers,” which traditionally marks the end of the conference, happening Thursday instead of Friday. The annual Pig and Punch charity event, along with some small events happening around the city, was moved to Friday instead of Saturday.
Each year, the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation chooses a new theme, and this year their choice was the word “inspire,” and I was curious to see how this theme would manifest during the conference as I found it to be a rather nebulous word to be a theme. Sunday evening had the traditional “Ode to the Bowl” bowling event and Speed Rack competition, but also featured two other events. The “Preiss 50th anniversary Legacy Celebration” event was where industry veterans gathered for a relaxing night of fun, food, and good conversations. The Ron Colon line and Camazotz Oaxacan rum were featured as part of the line-up, officially kicking off a week of discovering new rums at the event. The other was an “I am Alice” an Alice in Wonderland-themed Rabbit Hole Whiskey party. The pomp and ceremony juxtaposed with the spectacle and whimsy of the other successfully captured both sides of the hospitality industry in a single night.
During the conference, over 30 rum brands would be presented in seminars, tasting rooms, and brand events. Finding out where the rums would be located turned into a scavenger hunt of city-wide proportion. From Appleton at Ode to the Bowl on Sunday, Novo Fogo at the Sazerac House, and Zaya at the Infinium tasting, rum could be found everywhere as long as you were willing to take a little time to find it. Other events included Bacardi hosting its annual La Gran Familia event series at the Royal Sonesta Hotel; Don Q collaborated with Discover Puerto Rico for a cocktail event at Cane and Table; and Ron Zacapa held an event with their Master Blender Lorena Vásquez at the Sidecar Oyster bar. St. Benevolence Clairin, Bayou rum, Ron Barrilito, and Foursquare rums were featured at various tastings during the week. El Dorado Rum hosted a rum tasting room featuring their sizeable portfolio, including their Diamond Reserve rum line featuring some of their high-end products and El Dorado single still rums. They also provided attendees with two guided tasting sessions with Master Distiller Shaun Caleb that were very well received.
The team at Maison Ferrand hosted two Tales of the Cocktail events this year. On Tuesday, they officially released Planteray Mister Fogg Navy Rum and the accompanying book, Exploring 300 Years of Royal Navy Rum and Its Techniques, written by Alexandre Gabriel and Matt Pietrek, at a midday event at the Seaworthy restaurant. The blend of rums used to create the product was inspired by the rums sourced to create the sailors’ daily tots, and it was revealed that future blends of the product may vary depending on the rums available at the time of the bottling. On Thursday, Maison Ferrand hosted a Planteray Cut and Dry Coconut Rum event that turned out to be one of the most highly attended tasting sessions of the week, with a line extending outside the Ritz down Iberville into the French Quarter. They presented traditional and creative cocktails to highlight the potential ways to use the rums, and it was perhaps one of the most successful showcases the company has ever done of one of their products.
Worthy Park Estate Rum was featured at the “Taste of the Tropics” event, where Zan Kong Commercial Manager of Spirits for the brand led a seminar and discussed the estate, its operations, and the current rums in their lineup. Participants were able to taste the available Worthy Rum line in the adjoining tasting room. Worthy Park 109, which was nominated for Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient for the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, was a crowd favorite along with their Overproof rum.
One of the biggest and most exciting rum events of the week happened Wednesday afternoon. The “Soil to Sip: A Discussion on Estate Rum” seminar featured Mount Gay, Oxbow, and Worthy Park rums. Trudiann Branker, Master Blender of Mount Gay Rum, Olivia Stewart, President and Owner of Oxbow Rum Distillery, and Zan Kong of Worthy Park Estate were led by renowned author Noah Rothbaum for an informative and lively conversation about each brand’s estate processes, where we tasted the molasses and one representative rum from each brand: Mount Gay Single Estate 1, Oxbow Small Batch, and Worthy Park Overproof. This led to an informative question-and-answer section.
That night, the Mount Gay rum team hosted a single-estate rum dinner at the Compère Lapin restaurant with Master Blender Trudiann Branker. The dinner featured fresh cane juice from cane that participants crushed themselves, a range of cocktails and tastings, as well as a superb meal. Which, when combined, created a relaxing evening discussing the Mount Gay rum brand, the challenges and progress of the sugarcane estate, the operations of the distillery, blending, as well as a hint of the future of the brand. The event was a much-needed respite from the intensity of the conference and was well received by all who attended.
An interesting thing that should be noted is that there were more Rhum Agricole brands featured this year than at previous conferences. Rhum Clément and Rhum JM were featured at tasting events as part of the Spiribam portfolio. Rhum Depaz and Rhum Dillon were featured in a Tí Punch Rhum Agricole class led by the Bonnette team, and finally, Rhum St. James covered a late-night event at Nightbloom and tastings at the Sazerac House. It was good to see Martinique rhums being showcased and the interest the attendees displayed in learning about the products, and I hope to see more Agricole brands presented at the conference in the future.
One thing that has to be said about Tales of the Cocktail programming is that they continue to grow and present a wider range of topics each year. Of the 400 events that occurred during the week, attendees immersed themselves in 55 educational seminars, 9 Beyond the Bar workshops, and other events featuring a combined 290 brands. These events included networking sessions and seminars with programming that covered topics ranging from health and business, skill development, wellness, neurodiversity, inclusion, No/Lo products, and LBGTQ+ subjects. These events were led by 175 presenters with a large range of experience and specializations, representing the diversity and inclusivity of the hospitality industry.
As previously mentioned, the theme of the week was “Inspire.” Throughout the week, I encountered a large number of first-time attendees from all parts of the spirits industry. In line with this, the TOTC foundation revealed that 48% of the conference participants were attending the conference for the first time. As I waited in line for portfolio showcases, attended networking events and seminars, and dined around the city, I realized that it was among these members of the hospitality industry that the conference theme embodied most. The quest for inspiration, motivation, and knowledge is what brought them to New Orleans, and despite travel and weather challenges, many believed they were leaving the conference with newly acquired knowledge and contacts that were worth the challenges.
As far as the rum industry was concerned, it was good to see such a large cross-section of companies sharing information about their products. As the battle for market share continues, we collectively see brands fade in popularity and old, cheap staples being dropped by bar programs in favor of comparable, more interesting, and more competitive options. It is important for the hospitality community to see and experience the creative execution of these rums and discover their potential for their businesses and customers. The brands at the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail conference successfully did this, and it will be interesting for all of us to see how this is reflected over the next year.
-Paul Senft-