Tales of the Cocktail 2009

The internationally acclaimed festival of cocktails, cuisine and culture returned for its seventh year in New Orleans, July 8-12, 2009. Carine, Dan and The Raven were all there to take in the sights, sounds and of course the great cocktails!

The event brought together the best and brightest of the cocktail community (award-winning mixologists, authors, bartenders and chefs) for a five-day celebration of the history and the craft of the cocktail. This year, the most spirited event of the summer invited everyone to "Stir Your Soul" with a series of dinners, cocktail demos, tastings, competitions, seminars, book signings, tours and special events all perfectly paired with some of the best cocktails ever made.

To put the event in quantifiable terms you can taste, Tales of the Cocktail 2008 used 85 pounds of mint leaves, 40 pounds of super-fine sugar, 280 liters of lime juice, 350 liters of lemon juice, 1815 lime wedges, 2115 lemon twists, 2340 jalapeno slices, 50 pounds of ginger root, 12 pounds of cherries and satisfied the taste buds of thousands of cocktail lovers from across the world.

To make things easier to follow, I've broken our photos into groups so they make sense. Please visit the pages below to take part in the story that was Tales of the Cocktail 2009.