Tales Teaser

For those of you who haven’t been following my footsteps on Twitter, I arrived in New Orleans yesterday for the Tales of the Cocktail festival. My trip didn’t start so well, after listening to the lady sitting next to me on the plane verbally assault our fellow travelers about their “flight etiquette” for a half an hour straight.

But things changed dramatically for the better once I was safely within the French Quarter limits. I’m staying at the Hotel Monteleone, a New Orleans landmark with a rich history. I’m so glad to be in the middle of all the action this year (last year we stayed in a hotel just outside the French Quarter).

After attending an awesome Welcome Reception put on by Beefeater gin, Steve & I headed over to the Mixo house, a Bed & Breakfast that's been completely rented out by a couple of crazy bloggers with an insane collection of booze, for the OVAL vodka infusion contest judging. There judges Gabriel Szaszko of Cocktailnerd, Rick Stutz of Kaiser Penguin, and Chantal Tseng, bartender at the Tabard Inn in Washington, DC, put these infusions (and their respective cocktails) to the test. I'd like to send a huge thanks their way, and I'd also like to extend a huge thanks to Chris Stanley, who prepared all the cocktails for judging (which, once you see the recipes you'll understand, is no small feat-especially when you're vying for bar space with dozens of cocktail afficianados).

In the coming days (ok, perhaps when I get back to the office) I'm going to write up a more detailed post and share some infusion recipes, cocktail recipes, and cocktail photos with you dear readers. But for now I'll have to leave it short and simple. Marshall Fawley of Scofflaw's Den took top prize with a creative Thai infusion and a delicious cocktail to boot! The judges were in complete agreement that his entry deserved the grand prize so Marshall will be having a portion of his stay in New Orleans paid for by OVAL vodka. Congratulations Marshall & well done!

More from New Orleans in the coming days...