![\"Drinks\"](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3486\/3987226785_472d0ed6ba.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWell — and this post has taken me longer than I'd have liked to get written and posted — I went to the fall preview event of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic<\/a>. Something akin to New York's version of Tales of the Cocktail, the event was a jam-packed two days<\/a> of seminars, open bars, lectures, history lessons, war stories from behind the stick, and an over-the-top fancy-dress gala.<\/p>\n (According to Robert Simonson in the Times<\/em><\/a>, the gala "was attended by 1,000 people, who consumed roughly 190 turkey Cocktailians was there, of course, and I shot pictures of all the sessions, three of the "Stories from Behind the Bar" events, the official bar, and the closing gala. I thought some of the most interesting sessions centered around stuff I didn't know as much about — Andy Seymour's session on sherry<\/a> and Steve Olson's session on agave<\/a> stood out especially, as did the session on barware<\/a> with Greg Boehm, Don Lee, and Alex Day (and David Wondrich as a surprise special guest.) I got to see Jim Meehan inviting guests behind the bar at PDT<\/a> and teaching them how to make quality drinks, and I got to hear Phil Ward<\/a>'s and Joaquin Simo<\/a>'s stories about life behind the bars at their respective establishments. I got to see Don Lee scientifically analyzing various bartenders' shaking techniques<\/a>, Dale DeGroff flaming orange peels, Sasha Petraske cracking ice<\/a>, Charlotte Voisey shaking up cocktails<\/a>, and Audrey Saunders dancing with Gary Regan<\/a> shortly before regaling the crowd with tales of gin. The weekend was so engrossing, in fact, that I wonder how they'll top it in May for the full Manhattan Cocktail Classic — it took me several days to recover, and that was just from a weekend of shooting pictures and conducting brief interviews.<\/p>\n![\"Gala\"](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3526\/3988362092_90f26ce600.jpg\")
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\ndrumsticks, six whole smoked pigs, and literally thousands of
\ncocktails, prepared by a team of more than 150 bartenders." A friend referred to it as "cocktail prom", and that was really what it felt like.)<\/p>\n
![\"Orange,](\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2547\/3987362339_aa1fdecedf.jpg\")
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