THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN COCKTAIL REOPENS, A NEW BOOK CELEBRATING CLASSIC AND CUTTING ADAPTATIONS OF CLASSICS HITS THE STANDS

Founded in 2005 by myself, my wife Jill and a handful of cocktail historians and spirits experts, including authors Jared Brown, Anastasia Miller, Robert Hess and cocktail historian Ted Haigh among others, the Museum of the American Cocktail (MOATC) found a new home in New Orleans. It was a happy homecoming for the wandering exhibit exiled from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.  The exhibit found a home in Las Vegasthanks to the Brennen family at their beautiful Commanders Palace Restaurant. But the Museum was rendered homeless again by the sale of The Aladdin Hotel and Casino.

MOTAC celebrates the rich history of the American cocktail and the culture that has grown around it. “The story of the cocktail is really the story of American history in microcosm,” explains Curator Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh, designer of this unique exhibit. The first thing that greets visitors as they pass through the doors, is a life size statue of Jerry Thomas, the father of the bartending profession and author of the popular 1862 book of “How to Mix Drinks”  or “The Bon Vivant’s Companion”. Haigh has created an exhibit that takes visitors on a fascinating tour of the history of the cocktail, covering several different eras, while illustrating how the cocktail has influenced music, theater, art, film, and politics around the world during its two hundred year history. The exhibit includes vintage cocktail shakers, Prohibition-era literature, music, bar tools, photographs, and cocktail memorabilia, and even a moonshine still, complete with mud and rat! Through its exhibit and regular seminars MOTAC advances the profession of bartending while stressing the importance of responsible drinking.

The first seminar in MOTAC’S new home is planned for Monday, November 3rd, 2008^, and will be given by the founding president of the Museum, and your blogger, Dale DeGroff. In addition to the presentations, there will be rotating exhibits, and a gift shop offering an array of bar tools and cocktail related publications.

The Museum, which shares a large space with The Southern Food and BeverageMuseum, officially opened July 21st with a formal ribbon cutting ceremony at the new home in Riverwalk Marketplace. The Marketplace is located right on the Mississippi river adjacent to the famous French Quarter. A virtual tour of the exhibit is available at www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org.