The Manhattan Classic is nearly here – what will you learn?
By Francine Cohen

Photo by Philip Anema

It’s just a dozen days to go until the start of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic www.manhattancocktailclassic.com so we’re a little surprised that you don’t have your schedule already set in stone, and your pencils sharpened for all the notes you’ll be taking at those seminars.

But far be it from us to chastise you for leaving things until the last minute. Instead, we’d like to reward you for your careful consideration of the programming and offer you a 10%* discount on remaining programs and events.

Here’s some of what we’ll be covering. Will we see you there?

***Answer these questions correctly and you’ll be able to both save 10% on your seminar tickets and attend the gala with us. We’ve got just one gala ticket to spare so the early bird gets the worm (i.e. respond quickly as the first one to do so correctly will be traipsing up the library’s stairs with us).

Manhattan Cocktail Classic Seminars It Would Be A Shame To Miss

How To Behave In A Bar
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Event Date: 5/14/2011, 4:00 pm

with Philip Duff & Angus Winchester

Do fancy bars intimidate you? Are you a first-jobber? College graduate? Freshly-minted brand ambassador? Perhaps you’ve just moved here from abroad? Or you’re a brand owner flying in to visit your distributor? Or you’re visiting friends in the Big City? Amsterdam bar owner, cocktail consultant and bon viveur Philip Duff, one of the least well-behaved men in the industry, helps you skirt the chutes and climb the ladders of Bar Etiquette to be a social lion in any decent bar in the world. After this ground-breaking session you shall verily bask in the many advantages that accrue to a bar guest who is the coolest person in the room, whether you be there to pick up your next partner, hold your client’s hand, pimp your brand or simply hang loose with your tight homies.

Saturday, May 14th, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

History: What Is It Good For? (Or How to Spell “Classic” without “Ass”)
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Event Date: 5/14/2011, 1:45 pm

with David Wondrich

The last few years have seen an unprecedented level of interest in the history of cocktails and drinking in general, and an unprecedented appeal to that history to justify current drinking practices. This lively panel discussion will examine the ways that this history has been used and the ways it has been abused.

Among the topics of discussion: sleeve garters and mustaches. Educated bartenders and historically-illiterate customers. The ways history is used to give cover to fundamentally unhistorical practices. How our version of history and what really happened differ.

Saturday, May 14th, 1:45pm – 3:15pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

Photo by Philip Anema

A Drop Of The Hard Stuff: The History And Uses of Irish Whiskey And Its Liqueurs
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Event Date: 5/15/2011, 4:00 pm

with Philip Duff & Sean Muldoon

Irishmen Philip Duff (drinks writer, consultant, bar owner, never won a thing in his life) and Sean Muldoon (who won World’s Best Drinks Selection, World’s Best Hotel Bar and World’s Best Cocktail List for Belfast’s Merchant Hotel when he was its Bar Manager) team up for the ultimate guide to Irish whiskey & Irish-whiskey liqueurs.

From Irish monks in Spain in the year 500 A.D, to the invention of whiskey, to the birth of Irish cream liqueurs, Duff & Muldoon share and taste their way through the untold history of Irish spirits; the rules, the stories and the uses of the world’s fastest growing drinks category. Includes extensive tastings of whiskies and liqueurs, several distilled especially and uniquely for this seminar!

Sunday, May 15th, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

Global Drink Rituals from Prehistory to Today
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Event Date: 5/15/2011, 6:15 pm

with Elayne Duke

Did you ever wonder why we drink Pickle Backs, or why you should know the Mexican itch, how Germany’s Oktoberfest got started or what exactly does it mean to be out on the Sesh? Join Global Drinker, Elayne Duke for a roller coaster ride around the world as we investigate these amusing practices and many more. A sampling of three ritual drinks will be served, plus all attendees will be able to create their very own.

Sunday, May 15th, 6:15pm – 7:45pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

Whiskies of the World – The Great Debate
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Event Date: 5/15/2011, 1:45 pm

with Jimmy Russell, Dennis Malcolm, Ian McCallum, Mike Miyamoto

Join us in an rousing open panel discussion with Whisk(e)y Masters and Experts with a combined more than 130 years of whisk(e)y making experience as they go head to head debating which regions and which processes make the best whiskies. The gloves come off as Scotland, Kentucky and Japan square off in heated discussions, prodded on by our moderator. Then we turn the floor over to the audience to ask questions and get our panel even further riled up as they defend their home whisk(e)y making turf. A fun, freewheeling experience and education for any whisk(e)y lover.

The panel will be lead by Master’s from the World of Whisk(e)y including: Wild Turkey Master Distiller, Jimmy Russell; Master Blender for Glen Grant, Dennis Malcolm; Master Blender for Bowmore, Auchentoshan & Glen Garioch, Ian McCallum; Master Distiller for Yamazaki Mike Miyamoto.

Sunday, May 15th, 1:45pm – 3:15pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

Age: The Final Frontier – Barreling Spirits & Cocktails
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Event Date: 5/16/2011, 6:15 pm

with Philip Duff

Wear your tasting trousers! Opinionated drinks writer, bartender and consultant Philip Duff takes you through the history of aging things that historically weren’t aged: from genever and tequila to lemon juice and pre-mixed cocktails. What happens in a barrel? Is it always good? When is it bad? And can I have another barrel-aged Negroni, please? (Includes custom-aged gins, rums, and cocktails made exclusively for this seminar)

Monday, May 16th, 6:15pm – 7:45pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

From the BeGINning: Gin is [always has been] IN!
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Event Date: 5/16/2011, 4:00 pm

with Steve Olson, Angus Winchester, Andy Seymour & Tom Nichol, Master Distiller of Tanqueray

Gin is in! Get schooled on Gin with Steve Olson, aka wine geek, Angus Winchester, Gin Master of the Universe (and Tanqueray World Ambassador), Andy Seymour of Beverage Alcohol Resource, and special guest, Tom Nichol, the Master Distiller of Tanqueray. Learn about Gin’s illustrious heritage and history and its honored place in the cocktail, as well as its many ranges of distillation, and finally learn the actual �Ginesis’ of Tanqueray No. TEN, the first of the New Western Style Gins, from the Master Distiller and creator himself.

Monday, May 16th, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

Discovering Le Cognac
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Event Date: 5/16/2011, 1:45 pm

with Steve Olson, Dale DeGroff, Paul Pacult, David Wondrich, Doug Frost & Andy Seymour

Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) brings you Cognac. Six of the World’s leading spirits/cocktail experts teach you everything you ever wanted to know about Cognac � nuff said! Dale DeGroff, Paul Pacult, David Wondrich, Doug Frost, Andy Seymour and Steven Olson.

Monday, May 16th, 1:45pm – 3:15pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

Spirits in a Blind, or How Spirits Professionals Describe Spirits with Something other than “I like it.”
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Event Date: 5/16/2011, 11:30 am

with Doug Frost & Steve Olson

Join tasting experts Steve Olson and Doug Frost MS, MW to discover the tricks of the trade, and learn the steps that these two BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource) founders and examiners take when teaching spirits tasting to true professionals.

Monday, May 16th, 11:30am – 1:00pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

Mysticism and Magic: Connecting spirits with their unique cultural heritages
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Event Date: 5/17/2011, 4:00 pm

with Danny Valdez, Ron Cooper, Steve Olson, Andy Seymour, Tad Carducci & Misty Kalkofen

In this seminar, we will be connecting and identifying the drinking culture related to specific distillates. With its deep lineage rooted in the Mayan cultural influence in Guatemala, we will explore the mysticism surrounding Ron Zacapa Rum along with the native traditions of the Chorti Indians. Similarly in Oaxaca, agave is very important in the day to day lives of the Zapotec Indians, especially seen in their culturally preserved distilling methods of Del Maguey Mezcal. Join Danny Valdez, Ron Cooper, Steve Olson, Andy Seymour, Neyah White & Misty Kalkofen on an in-depth look at drinking cultures and histories from around the world.

Tuesday, May 17th, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

The History of Distilling in New York City
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Event Date: 5/17/2011, 4:45 pm

with Allen Katz & Tom Potter

Not often thought of as a hotbed for commercial distilling, the history of producing alcoholic spirits in New York City stretches as far back to its first days as New Amsterdam. From moonshine, to rum and gin, today�s outer-boroughs were key locales for craft distilling from the Tammany-era of the 19th Century up until Prohibition. Join Allen Katz and Tom Potter on an historical journey that traces the path of distilling in our great city, from its earliest days to the modern revival of craft distilling in Brooklyn.

Tuesday, May 17th, 4:45pm – 6:15pm
The Study at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

The Mindful Bartender
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Event Date: 5/17/2011, 1:45 pm

with Gaz Regan, Aisha Sharpe & Dushan Zaric

The mindful bartender sets his/her intentions to be of service to guests before each and every shift. This is done in a 5 to 15 minute period of stillness or meditation.

Mindful bartenders strive constantly to be aware of what they are doing, to engage with customers in a manner that lets the guest know that they are the bartender’s priority, and they try to react to each and every situation in the bar in a way that leads to the best possible outcome for all involved.

Mindful bartenders attract customer loyalty, bigger tips, and they help tremendously toward helping the people with whom they work come together as a happy team, who genuinely care about being of service to others.

We will teach the art of Mindful Bartending.

Tuesday, May 17th, 1:45pm – 3:15pm
The Gallery at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street

*INSIDE F&B’s discount code is 2011FAN. Use this for checkout and save, save, save! ***Please respond with the correct answers to francinecohen@insidefandb.com.

1) What’s the name of that fellow who is joining Angus Winchester to teach us how to behave properly in bars (or not get kicked out when we don’t)?
2) We’re going on a ritualistic roller coaster ride with what global guide?
3) If you want to learn about the Zapotec Indian’s rituals from Danny Valdez, Ron Cooper, Steve Olson, Andy Seymour, Tad Carducci & Misty Kalkofen you will have to at least walked in knowing the Zapotec Indians are a tribe based where?
4) In which of the five boroughs is there a craft distilling revival according to this seminar presented by Allen Katz and Tom Potter.
5) Mindful bartenders need to run around the empty bar shouting out recipes for 10 minutes before starting work or sit quietly for a few and contemplating their shift ahead in order to have a productive one?
6) Bonus question: Does Dave Wondrich have a mustache?

Photo by Philip Anema