by Meredith Kay
We all have something in our lives that we look forward to each year. For some, it might be Christmas, and the giving and receiving of gifts. For others, it might be football season, or a loved one’s birthday. For me, however, it is the annual gathering of fellow cocktail enthusiasts, industry professionals and local chefs, who all come together in January to celebrate for a great cause at the annual San Antonio Cocktail Conference.
This year marked the 7th annual Cocktail Conference, and every year, the event just gets bigger and better, with more people, more events and more creative alcoholic concoctions. This year’s event raised money for several deserving children’s charities, and offered a schedule packed with informative seminars and themed parties that kept participants going all day and into the night, all over downtown San Antonio.
The conference events kicked off on Wednesday, January 10th, with “Women Shaking It Up: Inspiring Women Superheroes”, at Zaza Gardens, just south of Downtown. This event showcases “badass” female bartenders from around the country, along with local lady chefs putting their personal spin on some amazing cocktails and creative cuisine. My drinking companion for the evening was a good friend and neighbor, who had also accompanied me to the same event last year. Aida and I jumped out of our Lyft-mobile and eagerly entered the party to a welcoming atmosphere of funky music and smiling faces.
Our very first cocktail featured an ingredient that took me back many, many years to my days as a young fraülein waiting tables at a family-owned German restaurant. The cocktail was called “Equal Parts”, and contained Novo Fogo Barrel-Aged Cachaça, Lustau Pedro Ximenez Sherry, and Underberg. Underberg is a German digestif bitter made from aromatic herbs. The owners of the restaurant where I worked, would give this to me whenever I would come in to work with an upset stomach, or a slight hangover. I cannot tell you that it tastes good, but I can attest to the curative properties of the Underberg herb blend. When blended with the other liquors, this cocktail was surprisingly delicious, and the perfect way to start the night. The fabulous superwoman at the helm of this table’s culinary offering was the beautiful and talented Chef Lisa Astorga-Watel of Bite in Southtown, a modern, little bistro offering a blend of French and Chilean cuisines with an eclectic flair. Her take on cheese fondue over French baguette crouton skewers, and served in a cone with a fresh herb garnish was whimsical and delicious.
Throughout the event space, and spilling out onto the patio surrounding a small swimming pool, cocktails and tastings lured guests. Some of the standout cocktails included the Reyka Vodka “Lavender 75”, the “Poolside Sparkle” featuring Finlandia Vodka, pineapple juice and Korbel Brut Champagne. However, most impressive cocktail, in my opinion, had to be the “Sheroe Sour”, a blend of Drambuie, grapefruit and lemon juice, Oloroso Sherry, Angostura Bitters and red wine. It was a strange combination, but worked so well, that Aida and I found ourselves going back for several of these.
Also, in attendance was Jenn White of Brindles Gourmet Ice Cream, along with her talented husband, Chef Jeff White. One of San Antonio’s hottest culinary power couples, the duo happily scooped a Horchata & Spiced Rum Affogato that had guests swooning. The ladies of this event did an outstanding job kicking off the Cocktail Conference, and Aida and I walked out of the event primed for a weekend of drinking and debauchery.
Thursday night was the official Opening Night of the Cocktail Conference, and once again, it was held at the Doseum on Broadway. A spectacular venue for parties, the event was spread throughout the various rooms on the ground floor, with a diverse lineup of liquors, liqueurs and libations. Jameson Irish Whiskey brought their “A” game once again this year with their brand representatives pouring, not only original Jameson, but also their Caskmates lineup of whiskeys distilled in different types of barrels such as IPA, Craft Beer and Charred Wood. The popular hand-tooled leather keychains bearing the Jameson logo, along with your initials was a great touch as well.
As my handsome date, Michael Rivas, and I wandered through the throngs of thirsty party people, we made a beeline for Chef Jason Dady and his culinary offerings from his Spanish tapas restaurant, The Bin. The Parsnip Hummus and Manchego y Chorizo Pintxos bites provided the perfect savory appetizer to a night of experimental drinking, so we loaded up and headed into the fray to see what we could discover next. Luckily, we didn’t have to go too far before we stumbled upon Austin Cocktails sampling several of their pre-mixed, bottled cocktail flavors. We tried all three: Fred’s Ruby Red Cocktail, the Cucumber Vodka Mojito and the Bergamot Orange Margarita. All three were very tasty, but my favorite was, definitely, the Cucumber Mojito.
Across the crowd, I spotted my friend, the ever-dapper Eddie Williams, laughing with another couple, so we sauntered over to say hello. We made the acquaintance of Wayne and Karen Lane, who had travelled from Columbus, Ohio to visit San Antonio and check out the Cocktail Conference, on the advice of their friend Eddie. We all hit it off fabulously and wound up hanging out all weekend. In the end, our Southern hospitality won them over, and we convinced them to come back in April for Fiesta. As we chatted, I happily sipped another outstanding cocktail from the Drambuie brand, which featured apple cider, lime juice, Angostura bitters and dry Champagne. It seems that Drambuie was on a roll at the conference and the brand to beat.
On the search for food again, we found the eager culinary students of the Art Institue of San Antonio beckoning guests with their Kare-Kare, a Fillipino pork stew made with peanut butter and served over rice. It was delicious and gave us just enough sustenance to venture outside, into the cold and windy night, to see what kind of alcoholic trouble we could find. It didn’t take long. The tequila was flowing, literally, straight down an ice chute and into the mouths of brave drinkers. Maestro Dobel Single Estate Tequila is smooth, and definitely had the most creative alcohol delivery system of the night. I try to stay away from drinking tequila in this country, because it tends to get me into trouble, but it’s a little difficult to avoid when high end brands such as Casamigos and Herradura are beckoning from every corner.
In the back room of the Doseum, we were lured by some great old-school 80’s music, so we wandered in and started to make the rounds. A new restaurant caught my eye, but it was the Pork Rillettes with Tomato Jam and Microgreens on Crostini that caught my taste buds. Maverick Texas Brasserie is the newest Southtown restaurant to open, and the menu sounds absolutely amazing. The menu has a French flair and features “rotisserie meats and fire-kissed steaks”, and I can’t wait to make several trips to taste everything. Cups empty, and bellies happy for the moment, we headed for the far back corner and discovered an incredibly nice lady from Portugal sampling a delicious wild cherry liqueur made in a medieval, walled town in northern Portugal, called Óbidos. I have actually walked the old walls of this charming village, and I can honestly say that this sweet elixir, named Ginja D’Óbidos is addicting.
Another standout was a Single Malt Scotch Whisky that I had never heard of. Jura is a tiny island off the coast of Northern Scotland. The population of the island is less than a thousand people, and they have been distilling Jura Whisky since 1810. It has the distinct aroma and flavor that you expect from a great Scotch, and it was interesting to see such an obscure distillery from so far away make it all the way to San Antonio.
Heading out the door at the end of the night, we grabbed a German style pretzel from the hooks situated on the tables at the entrance, and started to make plans for Friday night’s event.
Waldorf on the Prairie has been the fancier event during the Cocktail Conference weekend for a few years now. Held throughout the St. Anthony Hotel, you’ll find party goers wearing their very best. The atmosphere is festive and live music can be found in every room. Guests enter through the parking garage and are immediately greeted by the conference’s signature cocktail. This year’s libation was the” Tio Mio”. A hearty blend of Herradura Anejo Tequila, Agave Syrup, Angostura Bitters and Fee Bros. Chocolate Bitters, it was sweet and sour, and the chocolate bitters added a unique flavor that left you licking your lips as you took another sip.
As we wandered through the crowd, and those waiting in line to have their portraits painted, I made a beeline for the Zephyr Gin table to sample their “Perfect Martini”. I’m a huge fan of Elderflower, and this martini featured both Dolin Blanc and Dolin Rouge Vermouth, as well as Elderflower Bitters. The cocktail was very classy, and the gin comes in one of the most elegant bottles I’ve ever seen. Another incredibly beautiful bottle holds a liquid near and dear to my heart, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select. I once received a bottle as a gift from the distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It had my name engraved on the glass, and although the whiskey is long gone, the memory is still a very precious one, so it was with great delight that I happened to see that Jack Daniels was actually featuring their Single Barrel Select in one of the coolest cocktails of the event. Their “Berry Lemonade” featured this special whiskey blended with spiced blueberry purée and lemon juice. The drink was also served with a dark purple blueberry paleta, turning everyone’s mouths a deep shade of violet.
Every year, somebody serves a rather interesting soup, and this year it was a restaurant named Foreign & Domestic, out of Austin. They offered a Sunchoke Soup topped with candied hazelnuts, whey and chervil. It was an elegant presentation and offered a delicious departure from the other small bites at the event.
Through the ballroom, and up the stairs to the balcony that surrounds the space, you can usually find some of the more eclectic offerings at this Friday night event. I headed straight for the Montenegro table. Amaro Montenegro is an aromatic blend of forty botanicals and the “Monte Mule” knocked it out of the ballroom with it’s blend of Mezcal, lime juice and Barritt’s Ginger Beer. I would like to say that I only had one of these, but I would be lying, and the cocktails only served to bolster my bravery when it came to tasting the cocktail at the neighboring table. I don’t even remember what it was, but I do remember that the cocktail was rimmed with a special salt that included crushed black ants. No joke. I think that I was so thrown by the revelation of this secret ingredient that I failed to notice anything else about the drink. They say that we all ingest small insects unknowingly throughout our lives, but I can honestly say that this was the first time, and probably the last time, that I will do so willingly.
Michael and I then found our new friends, Wayne and Karen from Ohio, laughing with Eddie Williams and his beautiful wife, Paula. We all hung out for a while talking about our favorite bites and cocktails, and as the night came to an end, we headed for the Jason Dady table at the exit, where he has made it a tradition to serve breakfast tacos to those still hungry revelers, as we walk out of the hotel and head home, or in our case, the next after-party.
What began as a wild idea from Chef Mark Bohanan, of Bohanan’s Steak House, the San Antonio Cocktail Conference has become one of the Alamo City’s signature events of the year. Now in it’s seventh year, proceeds raised by Houston Street Charities at this event, will serve many great non-profit organizations that aid in helping children in need all over town. Industry professionals, bar owners and bartenders, and liquor brand ambassadors travel from around the world to attend this Cocktail Conference, and every year, the event has grown bigger and better. If you haven’t had the absolute pleasure of attending one of the Cocktail Conference events yet, please make it a point to mark your calendars for next year’s event in January. I promise that it will be an unforgettable and delicious experience, and you may even make some new friends and discover a new favorite cocktail.
