Category Archives: Dorothy Hernandez

We Came, We Saw, We Cocktailed: A Tales Wrap Up Report

tot4by Dorothy Hernandez   photos by Fred Plunkett

Everything at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, just like Texas, was bigger. Here’s a roundup of our week (what we can remember, anyway).

What’s hot

Tales founder Ann Tuennerman shared with us via email some of this year’s hottest trends, echoing The Standard Pour’s Brian McCullough, with whom we chatted on Wednesday.

There is a “renewed appreciation for tequila and mezcal and the craftsmen behind the product. We had a tasting event plus a few seminars in tequilas, mezcals and rare agave spirits,” she said, adding the gin and tonic is becoming more popular.       Continue reading

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Bare Knuckle Madness At Tales Of The Cocktail

tales5by Dorothy Hernandez

If the hour-plus wait and getting shut down by the cops are any indication, the Bare Knuckles bar fight at the Jax Brewery was one of the hottest parties of Tales of the Cocktail Friday night in the Big Easy—and Texas was there to represent.

Since we couldn’t get in, we caught up with 86 Co.’s and Texas’ own Jason Kosmas the day after to get the scoop on the party where Bar Smyth was among the teams battling for fancy drinks supremacy and global domination, well at least bar domination.   Continue reading

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Tales of the Cocktail Veteran

IMG_7388by Dorothy Hernandez

Bonnie Wilson had a busy week in New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail. The bartender from The Ranch at Las Colinas in Irving arrived last Monday, prepped for the Texas Tailgate on Tuesday, competed in the 21 Cocktail Salute on Thursday and served up drinks with a healthy twist (think spinach, beets, cucumber and booze) at the VeeV Fresh Market outside Hotel Monteleone in the hot sun on Saturday.

With such seminars as Agave Amigos at the festival this year, the three-time Tales veteran backed up the idea that agave is having its moment. As a spirit, it’s blown up in the past couple of years.   Continue reading

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Texas Bartenders Are Bringing It Home From Tales Of The Cocktail

IMG_6999by Dorothy Hernandez

Thursday morning, Bar Smyth’s Omar Yeefoon took the national title of Stoli’s Most Original Bartender, winning over the judges with creative cocktails such as a play on a Manhattan and a deconstructed Moscow Mule, which entailed lime, brown sugar, a shot of vodka and candied sugar on a plate. He competed against four other bartenders from New York, Miami, LA, Dallas and Chicago. Yeefoon took Dallas last month at Candleroom where he went head to head with Cedar Social’s Trina Nishimura and the Dram’s Jason Birt.   Continue reading

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Tales Of The Cocktail Day One

cocktailby Dorothy Hernandez

Greetings from New Orleans! CraveDFW is bellying up to the bar Tales of the Cocktail, which officially kicks off today.

Texas is well-represented at the world’s premier cocktail festival, says Brian McCullough of the Standard Pour and president of the North Texas chapter of the U.S. Bartenders Guild, with about 25 Texans repping the Lone Star State, such as Mate Hartai of the Libertine, Josh Hendricks and Charlie Pap.   Continue reading

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Post Card From Nola: The Alibi

by Dorothy Hernandez

Bar food doesn’t immediately bring to mind gourmet, or even edible, food. Its purpose is utilitarian, whether you’re trying to soak up the booze or prep for a night of heavy drinking. The choices are pretty standard: fries, nachos, any heat and serve product that you can take out of a bag and dump into a deep fryer.

At The Alibi, 811 Iberville in New Orleans, there are mysterious dollar bills pinned to the ceiling. Even at 1 p.m., it smells like Bourbon Street at 3 a.m. It seems like a bar this dive-y would have food only fit for the inebriated but The Alibi is one of those serendipitous vacation finds.

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