Barfly's Beat: Tales of the Cocktail - Last Call

Last Call for Tales goers

"Where is everyone going for after hours? Old Absinthe? d.b.a?"

"Old Absinthe House."

This short conversation is repeated nightly as official Tales of the Cocktail evening events wind down. Where will party continue for a crowd already saturated with specialty cocktails, complimentary tastings, liquid pool parties, and spirited dinners? Where to call it a night depends on the day of the week, but generally there are a few stalwart establishments where the spirits community gathers to party until the wee hours.

First stop is Jean Lafitte's Old Absinthe House on the corner  Bourbon and Bienville streets, a fixture in New Orleans cocktail history for over a century. It is the home of the famous Absinthe House Frappe cocktail, which was created in 1860s by Cayetano Ferrer, and has quite a cocktail menu of traditional New Orleans and Southern drinks.

"Everyone You Have Ever Known or Ever Will Know Ends up at the Old Absinthe House."

On Friday night, as the Grand Marnier Bar Room Brawl wrapped up, I posed the question to  Catdaddy Moonshine Bar chef challenge winner Payman Bahmani and Sam Ross of Milk & Honey. Old Absinthe House was the consensus. So we left Generations Hall and hailed taxis to Bourbon Street.  The bar's ambiance is a wonderful mish-mash of history and customer driven decoration.  Business and "calling" cards are stapled to the walls, it has a gritty dive bar feel, comely female bartenders, worn out oak bar, and all sorts of under garments hang from the ceiling along side antique chandeliers.  The place is like Cheers! when we enter with recognizable faces packed three deep to the bar. The Tales crowd kept the party going as promised. Their drink of choice? Beer and a shot.

That's right. The world's best barkeepers and cocktail aficionados keep it simple at the Old Absinthe for Last Call. No frappes, no absinthe drips, no sazeracs, and for Godsake - no Ramos fizzes! Just an Abita or a Budweiser in a bottle, and a shot of tequila, Fernet, or turkey.  That is the Tales wind down.

The party overflowed into the street where merriment, conversation, and tomfoolery was not in short supply. Bonus: Hotel Monteleone is only three blocks away so the stumble home is a short one.

Vaughan's Lounge at 4229 Dauphine in Bywater is a Thursday night tradition. Why take a taxi a few miles from the French Quarter to a divey roadhouse? Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers jazz/brass band plays every Thursday until the wee hours. Vaughan's is an authentic Crescent City party that welcomes everyone. Play ping-pong in the back room, enjoy cheap drinks, and get your dance on to Kermit's krewe.

Some advice:

• Never agree to Green Chartreuse shots with certain notable Boston mixologists at 2:30am. If you agree that this is a good thing, then it is already to late for you. 
• Exit Strategy: Take the cab driver's information on the way to Bywater so you can call them for extraction. Bywater, which is east of the French Quarter and most hotels, is a pretty desolate neighborhood after hours. It is not easy to flag a cab so call ahead when you are ready to head back to the hotel.
• Cash Bar and $10 cover but it is often waived late night.

d.b.a at 618 Frenchmen Street on the outskirts of the French Quarter is the Big Easy outpost of the popular East Village watering hole. Like its' Yankee cousin, d.b.a. New Orleans has a tremendous selection of brown spirits and beers prominently displayed on massive chalk boards above the back bar. Try the Abita Imperial Stout and NOLA blonde ale to start, maybe an award winning Four Roses Yellow bourbon on the side. There is also live jazz nightly at d.b.a. Best feature, the come as you are attitude and no pretension.

Mind you, this is the rated PG version of the Tales night cap destinations. There is a rated R version which is best experienced and not written about. That said,  see you at the Old Absinthe House where everyone ends up.

- Fredo

Tales of the Cocktail - Day One

The Carousel Bar at Monteleone

New Orleans is HOT and by HOT I mean clothes stick to you HOT even in the shade. Occasionally, a thunderstorm rolls through and dribbles rain drops on your body. When you are out walking around the Vieux Carré , you actually hope it rains. This my friends is the opposite from New York which is going through an unprecedented monsoon season. So Day one. What happened? Where did I go? And more importantly what did I imbibe?

My flight was pretty straight forward. I breezed through the TSA checkpoint with my modified Travel Bar. Once on the plane, I ordered a club soda and glass of ice and built an:

Aviation Cooler

- 1 1/2 oz Martin Miller's Gin

- 1 oz Luxardo Maraschino

- 1 oz Fresh lemon juice

- 1 tsp of Rothman & Winter Créme de Violette in spritz form

- 3 oz Club soda

Oh it was on! I love the expression on fellow passengers' faces when I bust out the Flight 001 - To Go Bottles. It is a mixture of surprise and admiration. Yes, I am not supposed to smuggle booze on the plane but < I am using TSA approved portion sized plastic bottles. So is it really wrong? At the end of the day, I am have a proper cocktail - gratis - while you are drinking Sierra Mist. I looked around the plane and there were many important industry folks including Phil Ward (Death & Co), the molecular mixology trio Eben Freeman (Tailor), Dave Arnold (French Culinary Institute), and Johnny Iuzzini (Jean Georges), and a half dozen others I recognized. I was traveling in good company. Ok, back to Tales of the Cocktail. Once I arrived, I cabbed it to the Iberville Suites, checked in, and made my way to Meyer the Hat on St. Charles to purchase a straw pork pie fedora. This is my ritual when I am in New Orleans. Meyer the Hat is an institution in this town and clearly I need head gear to protect my chrome dome from the blistering sun. So I bought a Biltmore Milan model on sale!

Next stop was Tales of the Cocktail central aka the Hotel Monteleone. I "checked in" with the Tales folks which was simple since I had not provided press credentials. Next year, I need to send it by March to be considered an official Tales blogger. So they gave me a To Go Cup, a swizzle stick, an events calendar and sent me on my way. No drink voucher? Hrmph! So I left the hectic scene at Hotel Monteleone and grabbed lunch at Acme Oyster House down the block on Iberville Street. I hit this place whenever I am in town, plus they don't serve lunch on the plane these days. So I ignored the "Don't eat oysters unless the month ends with an R" rule and ordered a dozen, a shrimp po' boy, and an Abita beer. It was friggin good. Ahh - finally satiated I headed back to Hotel Monteleone for kick off drinks at the famous Carousel Bar.

Naturally, I ordered the signature Vieux Carré:

- 3/4 oz Sazerac 6 year old rye

- 3/4 oz Cognac

- 3/4 oz sweet vermouth

- dash Peychaud's bitters

- dash Angostura bitters

- 1/4 oz Benedictine

- lemon twist for garnish

Combine in Old Fashioned glass, stir, then squeeze lemon twist and drop in glass.

Once sorted out and bit dizzy from the ride, I retreated to my hotel room and prepared for dinner. White cotton dress shirt french cuffs, white chinos, blue silk Gucci ascot, black wing tips (sans socks), the blue/white seersucker blazer, and the new lid. In other words, Southern Gentlemen Lawyer type causal (no tie) for evening aperitifs!

First stop was the Louisiana State Museum at The Presbytre for the Cocktail "Carnival" Happy Hour which ran from 5:30 - 7pm. 25 of the World's best and up and coming mixologists manned table next to exhibitions. Bulleit Bourbon, Captain Morgan's, Zacapa Rum, Tanqueray, Ketel One Vodka, Don Julio Tequila, and other sponsors provided the booze, while a jazz band played on the second floor. Highlights of the Happy Hour included:

- Discussing The Flip with THE Wayne Curtis, author of "And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails"

- Talking shop and drinks with Max Goldberg and Toby Malone of the Patterson House in Nashville,

- Sampling the tasty cocktails courtesy of vatos Eric Alperin and Matty Eggleston of The Varnish in Los Angeles,

- Tony Abou-Ganim's Cable Cars,

- Chatting with King Cocktail Dale DeGroff,

- Death & Co's Joacim Simo building a cocktail in a bystander's mouth because he ran out of clean glasses (no lie) - he actually spritzed bitters in the guys mouth to kick it off,

- Meeting New Orleans radio personality Tim McNally and his crew. They really made me feel at home and from now on I will have to refer to a seersucker jacket as a "Haspel."

It was a real treat to mingle and talk with so many talented bartenders and cocktail aficionados. Properly toasted, I strolled down to the water to IRIS for a Spirited Dinner.

Allen Katz beverage director of Southern Wines & Spirits was mixing up cocktail pairings with dinner. So I took a bar seat and had a bird's eye of the master at work. Poppy's Choice was by far my favorite drink (Gin, VEP Chartreuse, Lillet blanc)! This gem was a stiff yet crisp aperitif. Allen did not stop there, the cocktails were almost two for every one entree which in my opinion is a damn good value for $100.  Excellent New Cajun food, outstanding service, and drinks for the ages. A perfect evening.

Ended up at Vaughan's Lounge in the Bywater section. This place seemed like 15 minute cab ride and I knew that I was in the real New Orleans. No fancy hanging gardens or stumbling tourists out here (except me). Thursday nights is when trumpet player Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers play so I wanted to check it out this NOLA institution. The music was jumping, the crowd friendly and spirited. I met the DrinkBoston crowd. After 3am shots of Green Chartreuse I knew I was in trouble. So I summoned what strength I had left and flagged a cab. I have to admit that liquor muscles or not, I was worried because I felt like it was the middle of no where and had no idea how to get home. By the grace of God, I was able to get out in one piece and back to "the Quarter". Next year, go to Vaughan's early and with numbers! What a great time - and this was one DAY ONE!

- Fredo