I strolled into the Carousel bar around 5:00pm yesterday in hopes of meeting up with the blogging crew. It was fairly quiet so I sat down to work my rum judging post. Before long however, the entourage began arriving. Like some orchestrated puppet show, bloggers arrived one by one, searched quizzically around the room, invariably […]

(posted from the Carousel Bar, Hotel Monteleone) Never before have I sampled 31 different rums in one day. Walking in for the first session, we were greeted by tables filled with rum. 18 per seating to be precise. The aroma was not unlike that of a food scientist who just took a bat to his […]

While much of the city is still napping away last night’s amusements, I find myself at Cafe Envie, a small little coffee shop on Decatur almost out of the French Quarter. Only a few tourists dot streets filled with painters, garbage men, and other at work types getting ready for a new day. I walk […]

And who would have thought I’d find Martin of Forbidden Island, Eric Seed of Haus Alpenz, and Matt of Rum Dood at the carousel bar? After some great conversation, a Vieux Carre, and a Pimm’s Cup, it is time for the good Penguin to get some sleep before the a.m. rum judging in the morning. […]

Knowing that I would be assaulted this whole week by fine dining and complex, crazy cocktails, I wanted to start off on the right foot. That lead me to Yo Mama’s Bar and Grill, a small nook on St. Peter. Sparsely populated, I sat at the bar and opened the menu. That was a useless […]

Let the intense blogging begin. Having finished up a delightful pisco sour at a local Peruvian restaurant, I thought it was time to get the blog rolling for Tales of the Cocktail, which begins this coming Wednesday. Last time this year, I was sitting in central Pennsylvania among cows and Amish, wondering what pimento dram […]

One of my favorite sessions last year at Tales of the Cocktail was Tiki Drinks from A to Zombie. And to everyone’s great shock, I’m sure, I have plans to attend Potions of the Caribbean, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s upcoming panel featuring some notable guests: Wayne Curtis, Martin Cate, Stephen Remsberg, and Brother Cleve. In addition, […]