Preview: Tales of the Cocktail 2025
Tales of the Cocktail is talkin’ about an evolution at this year’s event, which takes place in New Orleans this month.
This year’s Tales of the Cocktail (TOTC) promises to shake things up with a dynamic new theme, a line-up of international speakers, and a record-breaking events schedule. From 20-25 July, bartenders, brand ambassadors, spirits aficionados, and hospitality professionals from around the world will descend on New Orleans for a week of education, inspiration, celebration – and, of course, cocktails.
Now in its 23rd year, TOTC continues to evolve – and, fittingly, that’s the theme for the 2025 conference. “On the face of it, it’s quite an obvious theme that you could perhaps choose every year,” says Charlotte Voisey, executive director of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation (TOTCF). “But it feels even more meaningful this year because we’re seeing so much change – in the world, in society, and in the industry.” The audience, too, is changing. “Fifty per cent of people who come to TOTC are coming for the very first time. The material they come to learn about needs to evolve as well.”
A call to action
Voisey says this evolution is a call to action. “TOTC is an opportunity to give the industry proactively what it needs right now, which could be education, space for discussion, celebration, or a place for networking. Usually, it needs all of those things, but we can prioritise through the seminar programming.” This year’s schedule features more than 315 events in six days – the most expansive TOTC yet. On the educational side, there are four streams: Business, Culture, Beyond the Bar, and the Futures Lab. More than 75 curated sessions have been selected, with this year’s line-up comprising 160 speakers. This includes 66 women, 54 BIPOC speakers, and 69 international voices from countries such as Jamaica, India, Peru, and Singapore.
“We had north of 400 seminar submissions this year,” Voisey says. “We chose 60 of the most thought-out seminar proposals that cover a variety of topics. Beyond the Bar, for example, is everything about wellness and longevity in the career of a bartender. Meanwhile, our Futures track propels us into 2035, looking back on how we as an industry evolved over the past 10 years.”
A major highlight is the keynote seminar ‘Rethinking Labour Standards: New Business Models for a Financially Sustainable Future’. This session marks the culmination of a multi-year research project exploring labour standards, and the challenges that bar owners and hospitality workers face. The initiative resulted in the development of six business models, which will be presented by Voisey with professor Lisa Cain and more.
Among the new additions to this year’s agenda is the Luxury Summit, taking place at the Four Seasons on Monday 21 July. “It’s a chance for the luxury sector to gather, hear insights, network and exchange ideas,” Voisey explains. “It’s what TOTC has always done for the industry at large – this is our opportunity to hone in on one sector.”
Meanwhile, Mob of Mentors, presented by Patrón Tequila, will return for its third year. This session asks hard-hitting questions about innovation, advocacy, creativity, and legacy. Co-hosted by Lauren Mote and Danil Nevsky, and featuring a global cast of mentors including Faye Chen (New York City’s Double Chicken Please), Diego Cabrera (Madrid’s Salmon Guru), and Iain McPherson (Edinburgh’s Panda & Sons), the panel champions the power of mentorship to drive a more inclusive, progressive drinks industry.
TOTC’s partners will also be back in full force for 2025, delivering more than 240 brand-hosted events – from daytime activations and immersive tastings to night-time parties that take over New Orleans.
Among them, vodka brand Absolut transforms ‘waste into taste’. Taking place on 22-23 July, bartending trio Like Minded Creatures will turn waste from TOTC’s Cocktail Apprentice Program into new serves, with catering by New Orleans restaurant Turkey and the Wolf reflecting this approach.
Another key part of TOTC is the Spirited Awards, which this year celebrate their 19th year. Those shortlisted will be biting their fingernails to discover the Bartender, Bar Mentor, Bar Team, and Best Cocktail Bar of the Year.
Earlier in the conference, on 22 July, guests will also hear from the Catalyst honourees: Christina Veira, the co-owner of Toronto’s Bar Mordecai and founder of Stave; and Lucia Creed, head of trade advocacy for whisky brand Uncle Nearest. They’ll be addressing the issue of inclusivity in the drinks industry, as well as relating their own efforts to improve things.
Voisey says the thing she’s most looking forward to at this year’s TOTC is the gathering of people: “There’s something about New Orleans – it takes away all the frills and everyone’s on the same wavelength. You can meet your heroes, your mentors, the people who wrote the books on your shelves. It’s a great connector of people.”
And what of the years ahead? While the format may change, the mission stays the same. “The goal is to educate, support and advance the industry,” Voisey says. “It’s an incredibly long-term mission. What that means and where we’ll need to lean in and offer resources, support, ideas, and creativity will change along the way, hopefully as the industry goes from strength to strength.
“It’s been a bit of a challenging year, for sure, but we’ve got a lot of strong people leading in the industry, and that fills me with tremendous confidence going forward.”
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