Among the things that we missed yesterday because we are so damn slow is the official Toast that kicks off Tales of the Cocktail. What was special about this year's toast is that they were making the announcement that New Orleans has been granted an official cocktail, The Sazerac. Of course we knew this already because of the unrelenting emails sent out by the festival, and also this article by Eric Asimov in yesterday's Times. New Orleans is supposedly the only city in the country that has won legislative approval for an official cocktail.

I knew that I wanted my first drink in New Orleans to be a Sazerac, and I wish that it had been with the festival folks. Because when I finally sat down at a restaurant (Cafe Degas) and ordered one, what came to the table was a syrupy sweet glass of liquid that only hinted at whiskey with an even fainter whisper of Herbsaint. Also, they served it on ice. Not sure but if memory serves you serve it chilled in a chilled glass... the New Orleans cocktail police need to get out there and straighten this out if the Sazerac is going to be the city's official cocktail. But I suppose in the city that still has that morbid Hurricane Katrina "graffiti" on many buildings, cocktail standardization will be a long time coming.

Meanwhile, I think we need to get to work on Austin's official cocktail. (My suggestion: NOT the Batini!!)

Yesterday was pretty much a waste due to the extreme consumption that took place the night before. After an aggressive day of conferencing, we went to dinner at Cochon with Bobby Huegel and Morgan from drinkdogma. Dinner was great and ended with an impromptu moonshine tasting, which I'm sure Bobby will post about as soon as he recovers from New Orleans. After dinner we had the cab drop us off at the Swizzle Stick Bar at Cafe Adelaide, where we enjoyed some cocktails with Gabriel and Joana of cocktailnerd. From the bar we walked back to the hotel, and then on to the Absinthe House, but not before I inadvertently offended the Swizzle Stick barkeep by clarifying that Austin was in Texas. "Really?" He said. "Yes," I replied, before he completed his sentence to the effect of, "I work behind the bar AND I'm a complete moron. Go figure" Well, you can't win them all.

The Absinthe House is a bizarre blend of tourist trap, local hangout, and important ancient artifact. As a tourist trap, a so-so drink costs $9. As a local hangout, it is less touristy, though still on Bourbon St. As an ancient artifact, it is important in that it is one of the few bars that remain from the period of Absinthe's heyday, and managed to survive the lifting of the ban. As such, it was something of an after-hours hangout for the cocktailians' post-conference refreshments. They do serve many of the historic cocktails such as the Ramos Gin Fizz and the Sazerac, though they seem a tiny bit put out by the enthusiasm of all these cocktail people who have flooded the bar this week. I met Jay Hepburn from OhGosh! at the Absinthe House as well as a few other folks who I knew of but whom I'd not yet met. That is the cool thing about Tales. Well the meet-and-greet and of course the booze.

The booze is what took us down the road a few blocks to Clover Grill, not because they serve booze but because they serve greasy diner breakfast that helps prevent ill effects from a night of copious consumption. It was almost 5am when we wandered back past the Absinthe House, and thought the doors were closed, many of the Tales folk and other revelers still lingered on the sidewalks outside. When we made it back to the hotel, we laid down to a slumber that would in turn take up the better part of the next day, day three of Tales.

Today I attended a seminar entitled The Green Bar. I guess I thought I was going to be attending a talk about how to use fresh/seasonal/local ingredients in cocktails, but that was only a small part of this session (not to mention, of course, a theme that ran through a great many of the seminars). The Green Bar was moderated by Bridget Albert, who worked under Tony Abou-Ganim at the Bellagio and who has come out with a book about farmer's market cocktails. The two panelists were H. Joseph Ehrmann, known as "H", who is an evangelist for fresh fruit cocktails at his bar Elixir in San Francisco, as well as with his job as Brand Ambassador for Square One Organic Vodka; and Allen Katz, of Southern Wine & Spirits and Slow Food. My complete notes are posted below, but here are the main themes:

>"Greening" your bar is not just the environmentally responsible thing to do, but also makes business sense, as long as you keep in mind that you can't always make the "most green" decision because it may not be feasible.

>For consumers, there is a responsibility to share information and to ask questions. Talk to your local establishments about what you want to see on their menus, and ask businesses questions to find out if they are really sustainable, or just "greenwashing" to appear as such.

>Sustainability in the bar relies on using not just fresh ingredients, but also seasonal and regional ingredients. But this is only one part of a much bigger picture that encapsulates the entire business, from the light bulbs you chose to the cleaning products you use. Vendor choice is also important, and it is critical to establish relationships with the people who are producing your products: farmers for food, brand ambassadors for spirits; and through this process establish a reputation for quality with your customers.

>There is a cultural heritage aspect present in cocktail bars that serve classical drinks and those made with "heritage foods", ie all of the countless varieties of produce that are available. A drink is thus not just a drink, but a connection to our cultural and agricultural past.

>Going the sustainable route is not the easiest, but it is still accessible. Businesses that make the commitment will be rewarded with a loyal clientele, even if they have to accept a different margin than if they took the conventional route. The business can be green and also be profitable

What a pleasure it was to see LeNell Smothers (with Eric Seed) in her seminar "Cracking The Egg." LeNell owns a liquor store in Brooklyn and has a tendency to pepper her seminars with as much sexual innuendo as possible. She ended her seminar on the use of eggs in cocktails, a favorite subject of mine, with a surprise finish that I would not have thought possible for such a venue. Even if she hadn't ended her talk with such a grand climax, it would have been an enjoyable session, and certainly the liveliest I attended.

LeNell began by going through a list of egg facts, including debunking a few myths. The brown ones aren't necessarily better, as it happens, and you don't need a rooster, though she admits that "roosters are fun to have around... ."
My full notes from the session are at the bottom of this post.

Importantly I think Eric Seed made a convincing case that eggs are relatively safe to use in cocktails. If his numbers are correct, the average consumer encounters a contaminated egg once in 42 years. They discussed safety considerations, most of which fall into the category of "if you are not a complete dumb-ass, you already know this." She suggested, for example, that it was not very attractive for bartenders to separate eggs with their fingers.

Excitingly, an important and heretofore-unbeknownst-to-me use for Vodka was discovered: spritzing the outside of the eggs with Vodka serves to sanitize them.
I also learned that the spring can be removed from a Hawthorne shaker and put in the cocktail shaker while "dry shaking" the ingredients, with the effect of throwing a whisk into your shaker. This helps immensely with the arduous shaking tasks required by cocktails such as the Ramos Gin Fizz.

LeNell went through a history of the use of eggs in cocktails, many of which I have never attempted--Caudles, Possets, Syllabubs among them. Use of eggs began diminishing in the mid 19th century and by the 1960's had all but faded away. Judging by the number of mixologists in the room, it appears that the new guard isn't afraid to put an egg in the shaker.

We tasted two egg drinks, LeNell's own Mae West Royal Diamond Fizz (recipe below) and the Ramos Gin Fizz (which by most accounts is pronounced RAY-mos). Then LeNell moved into the Grand Finale. She asked for a volunteer from the audience so that she could demonstrate the best way to enjoy a Prairie Oyster. Since the volunteers didn't exactly rush the stage, LeNell called from the audience a strapping young man whom she identified as Matty. Once he ascended the bimah, LeNell promptly removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, and instructed him to lay down on the table. She then proceeded to crack a raw egg yolk into his belly button, prepare it with soy sauce and tabasco, and lick it up. I have never had the opportunity to partake of the Prairie Oyster in this fashion but having now seen it I am left with no doubt that this is the most enjoyable method.

"Why use eggs?" asks Lenell. “The are just so f*cking sexy!” (For evidence, she attempted to show a clip from the film “Tampopo," though suffered from an A/V malfunction. I personally thought she had enough evidence laying on the table...)