Tales Tallies

Ann Tuennerman sent a note today tallying the impressive array of ingredients used in this year's Tales of the Cocktail.

Now and again, I'd bump into bartenders I didn't know, waiting for an elevator or chatting in the hallways. How'd I know they were bartenders? Easy to diagnose: after Day Two, they could often be spotted because they'd be using their left hand to massage their right forearm—that is, the one that was leveraging all the juice from endless-seeming bins of lemons and limes.

Hats off to all the volunteers, bartenders, and presenters who made that all happen. I'm reminded of something Jamie Boudreau said when talking about a hand-operated Büchner funnel: "My hands haven't ached so badly since I was eleven."

In addition to 6,000 pounds of ice in the five days, Tales bartenders and presenters went through:

• 70 liters of Cranberry Juice
• 28 liters of Tomato Juice
• 68 liters of Pineapple Juice
• 30 quarts of egg whites
• 15 dozen eggs
• 40 pounds of super fine sugar
• 26 pounds of Demerera Sugar
• 56 cases of Lemons/350 liters of lemon juice
• 61 cases of Limes/280 liters of lime juice
• 12 cases of Oranges
• 12 cases of Grapefruit
• 23 pounds of Cucumbers
• 50 pounds of Ginger Root
• 9 flats of Raspberries
• 5 flats of Blueberries
• 7 flats of Blackberries
• 9 pounds of Jalapeño peppers or 2340 jalapeño slices
• 31 pounds of Fresh Mint or 8085 mint leaves
• 6 Pounds of Fresh Basil
• 3 Pounds of Fresh Sage
• 3 Pounds of Fresh Rosemary
• 5 Pounds of Fresh Cilantro
• 12 Pounds of Cherries
• 30 cans of Condensed Milk
• 12 quarts of heavy Cream


There is no mention of the tallies of aspirin, Alleve, headache powders, or hairs of various dogs consumed to ameliorate the effects of the above when combined with thousands of gallons of spirits.

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