The Museum of the American Cocktail™

Our drinks scholars possibly already know about Robert Hess' drinkboy.com where serious alcohologists discuss, debate, and offer up all sorts of info. This message came in the other day and is probably of interest to many here...

The Museum of the American Cocktail™

"...A new project I have been working on in collaboration with Dale DeGroff, America's Foremost Mixologist, as well as several other dedicated Cocktailians across the country.

"The Museum of the American Cocktail is a non-profit museum and tourist attraction that celebrates and preserves a rich aspect of American culture; the American cocktail.

"We are working towards establishing a permanent exhibition space situated in New Orleans, which will discover, collect, and preserve materials pertaining to the history of the American Cocktail and its influence on the world’s beverage industry and will exhibit those materials in both permanent and traveling exhibitions.

"Over the coming months we will be working up a full website on which we will provide background, information, "virtual exhibits", regularly updated news, as well as a gift shop for purchasing museum related books and other products.

"Currently, our website provides access to the existing Press Releases and News Updated, and you can get to that here:

http://www.MuseumOfTheAmericanCocktail.org

You can find a web-based informational brocure about the museum here:

http://www.kingcocktail.com/motac/intro.html

And you can find a membership form, which also contains information about membership here:

http://www.kingcocktail.com/motac/membership/form.html

Also, the DrinkBoy discussion forum

http://groups.msn.com/DrinkBoy

will play the role of being the "official" discussion forum for the museum, it's membership, and anybody interested in information about the museum." Robert Hess

It must be good if my work firewall blocks it!

doh!

Thanks VERY much for posting this. Drinking is my favorite pastime.

The video has some great classic footage.
(Close your eyes when Martha comes on)
Thanks for the link Woofmut.

I been researching Las Vegas for affordable tiki culture to see in October and ran across news that the Museum of the American Cocktail is now located at Commander’s Palace, Las Vegas in the Desert Passage of the Aladdin Casino.

I wish I could be there for the Jeff Berry seminar in December. Drat. And the new Trader Vic's isn't opening until December either!

Bump to refresh this thread with info as of December, 2015.

http://sofabinstitute.org/cocktail-museum

Museum of the American Cocktail

Throughout its two-century-old history, the cocktail has influenced music, theater, art, film, and politics around the world.

The Museum of the American Cocktail celebrates this true American cultural icon. Founded by Dale DeGroff, and several of the world's most passionate cocktail authorities and historians, The Museum of the American Cocktail seeks to advance the profession and increase consumer knowledge of mixology while stressing the importance of responsible drinking. MOTAC celebrates and preserves a rich aspect of American culture while providing educational resources for professionals and the public. We also aim to broaden career opportunities in the spirits industry and encourage more participation from women and members of under-represented groups in the field.

In 2008, MOTAC opened inside the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in the Riverwalk Marketplace. In 2013 MOTAC officially became part of the SoFAB Institute.

The New Orleans Collection of The Museum of the American Cocktail is located inside the Southern Food and Beverage Museum at 1504 Oretha C. Haley Boulevard, New Orleans LA.

Hours: Wednesday through Monday, 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, Closed Tuesdays

Starting October 7th [2015] the Museum will open on Wednesdays from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM!

Field Trips, Group Tours and Private Events can be scheduled when the museum is closed. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Admission:
• Adults: $10 per person
• Students (with ID), Military, and Seniors over 60: $5 per person
• Children Under 12 (with an adult): Free

Group Rates and Activities are available upon request. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

And while you bring it up, I'm a member and will be going to this MOTAC event tonight:

Oh, James! Imbibing 007
• Tuesday, December 15, 2015
• 6:30pm 8:30pm
• Faith & Flower 705 W. Ninth St. Los Angeles, CA
• Tickets are $40 in advance, $35 for SoFAB-MOTAC and USBG members, and $50 at the door.
From aphrodisiacs to villain concoctions, alcohol abounds in the James Bond books and movies. Dive into bitter, sweet, rocks, and neat with food historian Linda Civitello, author of Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People. Whether you like your martinis shaken, stirred, or dirty, come get your Bond on with The Museum of the American Cocktail and the evening's Drinkmaster, Edwin Osegueda will be handcrafting these cocktails:

Welcome Punch: English Milk Punch (courtesy Michael Lay!)

• Bacardi 8
• Korbel Brandy
• Smith & Cross Rum
• Batavia Arrack
• Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
• Pernod Absinthe

Course 1: Vesper

• Beefeater Gin London
• Belvedere Vodka
• Lillet

Course 2: Americano & Negroni side-by-side

• Beefeater Gin London
• Campari
• Carpano Antica Formula

Course 3: Old-Fashioned

• 114 Old Grand-Dad

Course 4: Brandy Alexander

• Pierre Ferrand Cognac 1840
• Tempus Fugit Spirits Crème de Cacao

TBD - please take some photos, and let us know how it goes!

For the Vesper cocktail, I remember reading that the formula for Lillet has changed over the past several decades, and that the original drink is not what we're able to make today. Some have also commented that the Vesper is "overrated" today. I would like to hear your impression of the drink. See if you can discuss this with the bartender(s) there.

Also, the "English Milk Punch" is intriguing because the ingredient list is full of distinct and strong flavors. I'd really like to know your thoughts on that cocktail. Could be a gem if its balanced well.

Have fun and please share some pics.

Update: The "English Milk Punch" recipe from Michael Lay is available online. It's reviewed as being very smooth and tasty, and also unique by its use of milk.

The Faith and Flower English Milk Punch I had at last night's MOTAC event was delightful, silky, smooth, clean and balanced. There's a good reason this cocktail received all the attention that it has.

The Faith & Flower Vesper from last night's MOTAC event was exactly what a Vesper should be, clean and strong.

The Faith & Flower Americano from last night's MOTAC event

The Faith & Flower Old Fashioned from last night's MOTAC event

And here was the last course at last night's MOTAC event, a Faith & Flower Brandy Alexander! It was a perfect finish to the evening's cocktails.

Thank you, TBD, for the photos and the comments! Sounds like a very good evening.

The milk punch is intriguing and is going into my list of cocktails to test in the near future. Wish I had more time...

Also, about the Vesper, I found the info below in Wikipedia (with supporting references) that the Lillet of today is very different from the Lillet of the past. I'm not really a fan of the Vesper, but it may NOT have tasted better back before the Lillet changed because it was likely much more bitter. Still, I gotta try it again, so it's being added to my list as well.

On Lillet, from Wikipedia:
"Kina Lillet was reformulated in 1986[4] and rebranded as Lillet Blanc, a "fresher, fruitier, and less bitter" concoction.[5] Cocchi Americano is generally considered to be the nearest contemporary drink to the original recipe Kina Lillet and is often used as a substitute for it in cocktails.[6][7][8]"

4. http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/02/what-is-cocchi-aperitivo-americano-aperitif-cocktails-drinks.html
5. http://savoystomp.com/2008/01/31/the-quest-for-kina-lillet/
6. cocchi americano « liquor is quicker
7. What's the Deal with Cocchi Aperitivo Americano? | Serious Eats: Drinks
8. Case Study | Cocchi Americano: Waking the Dead - NYTimes.com

If Kina Lillet was more bitter then I can't imagine how that would improve the Vesper. Even Ian Fleming, who invented the Vesper in Casino Royale, later wrote that he regretted it and found the drink "unpalatable." I've tried making it with Lillet Blanc and Cocchi Americano. I'm not sure I'd agree that it's unpalatable, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to a non-James Bond fan or add it into my regular rotation.

Those are good thoughts on the Vesper. I think every James Bond fan must try it, but coming to like it is a different endeavor. This reminds me that there are a number of Campari aficionados out there who drink it simply with soda, and the cocktail retains the herbal bitterness. The Vesper may be the same way - it may appeal to some, but not to most. I once spent a couple of weeks using up a whole bottle of Campari that way -- with soda -- trying to get into the zen of that herbal bitterness. It never stuck with me, but it wasn't bad, and I actually enjoyed the effort.

Why the Campari & soda? Because I had read that Sylvester Stallone is a huge Campari & soda fan, and I had the Campari around and wasn't doing much with it.

I like the Vesper much more with Cochi than with Lillet Blanc, but I still much prefer a good gin Martini.

And I have become an Amaro convert of the highest order and Campari was the gateway for sure. Friends and family coming to visit from Chicago all know the price of admission is a bottle of Malort which I happily drink neat and thoroughly enjoy.

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2015-12-17 12:19 ]

Sunny, that's even more intriguing... Another bartender I have been discussing things with got me to add an Amaro to my shopping list. Haven't bought it yet, but it's on my short list.

TBD, getting back to the "tiki" focus here, what's your impression of "tiki" at the event the other night in LA, and in the Museum of the American Cocktail in general, if you've been there in New Orleans? Does it discuss or otherwise touch on any tiki? My expectation is that it would.

There was no real "tiki" focus at the MOTAC James Bond event, but then I wasn't expecting any. The author who spoke and introduced the cocktails, Linda Civitello, wrote "Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People." She did touch on the Caribbean generally and Jamaica (but mostly in reference to Fleming's Jamaican home Golden Eye), and she gave an very (very!) abbreviated shortened "history" of rum. But this wasn't really the place for tiki talk.

As for MOTAC, I visited it in New Orleans before it moved to its present location. I thought they had an incredible wing of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum devoted to it. There was a good section on tiki, but again, it's intended to focus on all cocktails, and such a history can't be as comprehensive as Sven and Beachbum would give us. But like I said, I haven't yet seen it since it opened in the new location. The MOTAC board member I've met out here, Philip Dobbard, lives in LA now, but used to live in NOLA and he's fantastic. He's at all the events and plans and prepares them. He's a good friend and has visited The Below Decks for a few rounds of cocktails. I'd also recommend frequently checking out the MOTAC events that are listed site:

http://sofabinstitute.org/cocktail-museum/

[ Edited by: The Below Decks 2015-12-17 16:54 ]

[ Edited by: The Below Decks 2015-12-17 16:55 ]

[ Edited by: The Below Decks 2015-12-17 16:55 ]

Perfect, thanks TBD! I forgot it was a James Bond event in Los Angeles, doh...

As far as the museum on New Orleans goes, I'll have to visit the next time I'm there. I do expect at least a little tiki. But with time, space, and funding constraints, you can never be certain.

Cheers, and thanks for all the info!