We just returned from the 22nd edition of Tales of the Cocktail, the annual drinks conference/bacchanalia held in New Orleans during the ungodly summer period of late July. Weather? Brutal (h/t to Tito’s for passing out personal, rechargeable fans). The experience? As always, incredible and educational — and admittedly, a lot of fun.
So what was the buzz this year? Surrounded by thousands of luminaries from the hospitality world and hundreds of drinks brands both big and craft, it was a perfect time to see where the drinks world is headed in the next few months. With the alcohol industry in a rather surprising static phase (at least financially), we weren’t sure what to expect. Complacency? Panic? A mad scramble to find the next big thing?
Throughout 60+ events and tastings, both intimate and epic in scope, we found a few common threads. Like last year, the no/low-alcohol movement has momentum — we were thrilled to find zero-proof drinks at almost every event. And while a few annual events felt a bit smaller this year, others were massive and there was just more of everything. No matter what the market says, Tales feels like it’s just getting bigger.
A quick note: Our drinks newsletter The Spill was the sponsor of both Beyond the Bar (a series of seminars that focus on mental health and physical wellness, as well as a chill, non-boozy space to go between events) and Meet the Distillers (an intimate Thursday two-part tasting with craft distilleries), and we couldn’t have been happier about our involvement. If you’re going in 2025, please check out both.
The Espresso Martini Has Paved the Way for a Coffee Cocktail Explosion
Espresso Martinis were everywhere at Tales. Not only did everyone flock to Erin Rose as usual for the signature frozen Irish Coffee, but on Tuesday afternoon, Kirk tried a frozen Espresso Martini from Few Spirits at the iconic bar. And even though you could snag an Espresso Martini at many events this year, the drink du jour has certainly paved the way for coffee cocktails of all kinds. At Bacardi’s La Gran Familia Cafe, the bar teams from both Overstory and True Laurel incorporated coffee into their drinks. The Caffe Italia — made with Italicus, cold brew, cardamom bitters and mint — from Lorenzo Antinori of Bar Leone was the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. Mijenta even put coffee liqueur in their Christmas in July cocktail, where it sang alongside blanco tequila, spiced pear liqueur and vermouth. The Espresso Martini is here to stay (Mr Black did a whole party about it, as our main image showcases), but coffee cocktails are just getting started. – Amanda Gabriele
Everyone Has a Foam Now
Every cocktail trend will eventually make a comeback. I’m not sure I’ve had more than a handful of cocktails with artisanal foam in the past five years; at this year’s TOTC, I encountered several. And each foam offered a different consistency and taste profile; a Rabbit Hole whiskey event on Monday afternoon featured Cherry One, which utilized “garnished cherry-cacao air” scooped over on top of a Manhattan-style drink. Over at Angel’s Envy — a first-rate event — they were serving No, You Quit It, a bourbon/blood orange/bitters mixed drink with a Champagne foam. And Johnnie Walker offered a tipple (courtesy of NYC’s Mister Paradise) that was topped by a thicker carrot cream cheese foam that tasted exactly like it sounds. – Kirk Miller
How Beyond the Bar Became a Vital Resource for the Drinks Community
Developed at Tales of the Cocktail, the BTB platform is tackling wellness, substance abuse and mental health issuesMilk Punches Are Back in a Big Way
A little less than a decade ago, I saw milk punches everywhere, from fancy cocktail bars to restaurants that benefitted from batching libations in advance for ease of service. And not that they ever went away, but it’s been more difficult to find them recently. But at Tales, they were everywhere. True Laurel combined Ilegal Mezcal, fig jam, cream sherry and citrus and gave it a buttermilk wash. Overstory lightened it up a bit with Teeling Irish Whiskey, Earl Grey tea, Champagne and clarified milk. At almost every event I attended, there was one cocktail I couldn’t drink because there was some kind of milk washing involved. I may be lactose intolerant and unable to partake, but you should definitely try the milk punch next time it shows up on your favorite bar menu. – AG
Tequila Is Getting Bolder
I love tequila. But there are literally thousands of tequila brands, and the market feels saturated with nearly identical 100% Blue Weber agave blancos, reposados and añejos. The recent trend of adding ex-wine barrel maturation is a start, but this year I saw three things from the agave world that reinvigorated my tequila interest: More still strength or overproof tequilas that up the agave flavor and work better in cocktails (El Tequileño, among many others); improved Cristalinos (Patron, Mijenta) within a category that still gives me pause but increasingly less so; and more commitment to being additive-free (at this point, it was hard to find a tequila that didn’t advertise this fact). I’m also digging the newish crossover of tequila and coffee, best exemplified by Quintaliza, which was part of a cool pop-up event at the Ritz-Carlton. Their reposado tequila is finished in both ex-bourbon barrels and barrels seasoned with coffee, and, completing the trend circle, they recently introduced an amazing high-proof version. – KM
The Olive Isn’t Just for Martinis
You likely associate the olive with the almighty Martini, and I don’t blame you — it’s personally my favorite way to garnish one of my favorite cocktails. It even showed up in liquid form in Shinji’s Dirtiest Martini (Belvedere Vodka, freeze-dried olives, white soy). But the olive can do so much more than that. In Spain, it’s the garnish of choice for vermouth and soda, and Italians add it as a savory component to their Aperol and Select Spritzes. At an Italicus happy hour, perfectly green olives were used to garnish a refreshing bergamot spritz (and they use it to garnish their signature Margarita, too). At the Suntory Sessions party, a green olive and sage leaf were used to garnish the Mayahuel, made with El Tesoro Blanco tequila, blanc vermouth and elderflower liqueur. Tales even had a seminar titled “Olives: A Symbol of Peace and Cocktails” that covered how to integrate olives into a bar menu. Love them or hate them, expect to see olives grace cocktails beyond the Martini. – AG
Mexico City Is Having a Moment
Now in its 18th year, Tales’s Spirited Awards serve as a good barometer of what the drinks industry finds interesting and cool on a global scale. This year showed further proof that Mexico City might be the new cocktail capital of the world — particularly the city’s premier speakeasy Handshake, which won Best International Bar Team, Best International Bartender and World’s Best Cocktail Menu awards. Or maybe the surprise new drinks haven is in Colombia, as that country’s three-floor ALQUÍMICO took home World’s Best Bar honors.
Also, a shoutout to The Cocktail Lovers, a digital and print magazine (and podcast) that won the Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication award. While InsideHook did not make the final four in that category — quick brag, we did get into the top 10 finalists and expect to be back in years to come — the Spirited Awards does a great job shedding light on bars, drinks professionals and, yes, publications that we’re not all that familiar with. I’ll be subscribing. – KM
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