The “Cocktail” turns 203 years old this week, and the festivities are already underway! They kicked off this past weekend and will run through May 17, all around the world. Here are a few of the highlights:
This is the third year of SAN FRANCISCO Cocktail Week, a fun city-wide celebration which I have attended since its launch in 2007. It is growing quickly and this year they’ve added a whole schedule of seminars, party and even an “official cocktail” called the Barbary Flip. SF Cocktail Week appears to be shaping up as a smaller version of Ann Tuennerman’s stupendous cocktailian extravaganza, otherwise known as Tales of the Cocktail. So, if you can’t wait until July for Tales, get thee to San Fran this week.
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Speaking of NEW ORLEANS, The Museum of the American Cocktail website provides this explanation of the annual festivities: “World Cocktail Week, celebrated from May 6th -13th was established to promote a better understanding, appreciation, and respect for the cocktail and its history. The date commemorates the first reference of the term "Cocktail" in the 1806 edition of "The Balance and Columbian Repository." MOTAC also has a whole line up of fun for you down at the Riverwalk Marketplace where it is housed. Cocktails will be prepared by local mixologists who will pay tribute to the great traditions of New Orleans.
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I launched The Liquid Muse in 2006 in WASHINGTON DC because it is a hotbed of top-notch mixology. This past weekend, SOVA featured pisco cocktails for a special World Cocktail Week Happy Hour. If you missed that, hurry down to Proof for this special dinner TONIGHT at Proof. ($145 per person).
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On May 11 and 12th, Tini Bigs in SEATTLE presents Jamie Boudreau’s interpretations of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails for only $7. Considered “Father of the Cocktail, ” and the world’s first celebrity bartender, Thomas published the first recipe book for bartenders, Bon-Vivant’s Companion in 1862.
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Gary Regan let us know about the World Cocktail Week “High Spirited Cocktail Showdown” Fundraiser in NEW YORK presented by Contemporary Cocktails and Handcrafted PR in association with The Museum of the American Cocktail® at Prana, 79 Madison Avenue at 28th Street. Tickets $40 Purchase here.
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Going abroad? The PARIS Bar Show has been going on May 10 and 11; meanwhile Door 74 in AMSTERDAM is hosting a BYO Cocktail night on May 13 where guests get to dazzle the rock-star bartenders. They say that the “Hobby shaker, cocktail lover or cocktail gurus are all invited!” The best creation will be featured in the new Summer menu.
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As for me, I’ll be keeping it real with the homies in LOS ANGELES. We have so much going on down here now that I don’t have to leave my own backyard for a decent drink – or a decent celebration. I’ll be representing down at the Edison which is serving up Moscow Mules in copper mugs for only 5 bucks on May 13. This mixture of vodka, ginger beer and lime was created in the late 1930’s at the Cock N Bull in Hollywood, where movie stars of the day got their own personalized, engraved copper mugs to use whenever they came in.