At This Convention, Drinking is Required

Few cities can match the party-hard reputation of New Orleans' aptly named Bourbon Street. In a through-the-looking-glass kind of way, Tales of the Cocktail is the inverse of the popular idea of boozing in the Big Easy.

Go down the rabbit hole and you will find molecular mixology instead of Jager in a test tube; pre-prohibition punches instead of the premixed hurricane; and Duvel drinks instead of dollar drafts.

Tales is one of the best places to learn about the art of making cocktails (and the joys of drinking them). It's an annual five-day event, founded by Ann Tuennerman, and held every year in the hotels and restaurants of New Orleans, a city that few can match in the historical significance of its cocktail culture. The 2009 event is in session and runs through Sunday, July 12.

Tales 101: Recovering from the appletini
The five days at Tales are packed with official events; it's as structured or as open as you want it to be. Some of the best bartenders and the biggest cocktail enthusiasts congregate in one corner of the French Quarter.

The seminars can be as educational as any college lecture, and there are numerous parties where you can get the Big Easy vibe. It's a very friendly event, where you can always find good conversation and great, well, tales at the bar.

The events and seminars are about $40, the spirited dinners -- where bar chefs pair cocktails with a special multi-course menu at famous restaurants -- are about $85, and the tasting rooms where companies promote their products are free.

The seminars cover trends in cocktails, new creations, best cocktail by spirit and tasting skills. Each tasting seminar includes three samples, where you learn to distinguish between different spirits. At last year's seminar on How to Taste Whisky, Paul Pacult (author, journalist and master taster) taught a standing-room-only audience how to tell the difference between an 18-, 20-, and 24-year-old scotch whiskey.