NOLADrinks Show – 6-10-19 – Tales of the Cocktail 2019 Annual Preview

On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we we’re talking about Tales of the Cocktail 2019 coming to New Orleans from July 16th to the 21st. We talk about the event, the largest bartender and spirits industry convention in the world with board co-chair, Neal Bodenheimer, and executive director, Caroline Rosen.

Pictured above from left – Bryan Dias of The NOLADrinks Show, Caroline Rosen, and Neal Bodenheimer of Tales of the Cocktail.

NOLADrinks Show – 6-10-19 – Tales of the Cocktail 2019 Annual Preview

We start the program off letting you know about this week’s show, next week’s, and we note the passing of New Orleans legend, Dr. John. Of course, that’s whose music you’ll hear in and out of the breaks on the whole episode.

Then, we’re over to the terrific cocktail bar, Cure, located in Uptown New Orleans for our featured interview. We’re joined by Neal Bodenheimer, co-owner of Cure and board co-chair of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, and Caroline Rosen, Tales’ executive director.

We discuss the foundation’s signature event, Tales of the Cocktail, coming to New Orleans mid-July. It’s the largest professional conference of bartenders and the spirits industry in the world and it takes place annually in the city. We touch on the event’s economic importance to NOLA, especially since it takes place in the tourism low season.

Additionally, we chat about numerous features, events, and other ways both industry professionals and enthusiasts can participate in Tales. This includes tasting rooms, a new VIP pass, spirited dinners, seminars, and more.  We also discuss changes to the prestigious “Spirited Awards” that now feature regional winners along with the overall categories.

Importantly, we talk about the organization’s structure and approach under its new leadership coming into their second year. We highlight the concept that it has been a bit over a calendar year since the new regime came into place and there is still much work ahead for the team to continue to transform this important event and organization.

Other concepts we discuss are their education programs, year-round activities (such as education and Tales on Tour), their grants program, the importance of the local New Orleans bartender and hospitality community to Tales, and much more. Of course, we let you know how you can find out more about the event, purchase tickets, and how to engage with Tales of the Cocktail.

Neal and Caroline stick around for our podcast-only portion – “Another Shot with NOLADrinks” – where we get further into a few of these topics. We close things out with our Parting Shot honoring Dr. John.

The map below shows the location of Cure. You can subscribe to, stream, and download The NOLADrinks Show podcast using the links and player above.

Cheers, You All!

~ Bryan