The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks dinner or mid-afternoon drinks accompanying cake or chocolate cookies, but they are anathema as a "cocktail" before a large meal. In terms of IBA Official Cocktails, Embury describes classic Before-Dinner Cocktails, which whet the appetite, not other categories. Embury breaks all cocktail ingredients down into three categories: The base is the principal ingredient of the cocktail. It is typically a single spirit such as rum, gin, or whiskey, and typically makes up 75 percent or more of the total volume of the cocktail before icing. The modifying agent is the ingredient that gives the cocktail its character. Its function is
Tales of the Cocktail Tales of the Cocktail Tales of the Cocktail (sometimes shortened to Tales or TotC) is an annual trade conference, festival, and gathering of cocktail and spirits industry professionals in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference was founded in 2003 by cocktail enthusiast Ann Tuennerman, and as of 2016 hosts between 15,000 and 17,000 ticketed attendants. Tales of the Cocktail began in 2002 as the New Orleans Original Cocktail Tour, a walking tour of historic New Orleans bars hosted by local cocktail aficionado Ann Tuennerman (née Rogers). In September 2003, Tuennerman celebrated the first anniversary of the tour by hosting Tales of