Two Weeks to Tales

Tales of the Cocktail is only two weeks away, and we’re already gearing up for the festivities. The schedule of seminars and tastings looks great this year, but we’re especially looking forward to the Spirited Dinners, which we’re sponsoring with St. Germain. We’ve seen all of the pairing menus for this year’s dinners, and we’re seriously blown away by the creativity. The bartenders and chefs collaborating this year are really taking things up a notch, so anyone planning to attend has a lot to look forward to. A number of the dinners are already selling out, so if you’ve had your eyes on a particular venue, be sure to get your tickets quickly so you can secure a seat. We have a sneak peek of the menus on our website, but here’s another taste of what’s in store at the ZOË dinner, which has Willy Shine and Jacques Bezuidenhout creating cocktails to match dishes from chef Roberto Bustillo in what looks to be an incredible a five-course meal.

Corn-Crusted Scallop
U-10 scallop dusted in ground air-dried corn and seared served over pickled watermelon and candied lardon chow-chow

paired with

Sandia Fresca
2 oz. Del Maguay San Luis mezcal
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 1⁄4 oz. watermelon juice
1⁄2 oz. Averna
Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: cocktail

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled glass.