First Time at Tales
Guide: First Time at Tales of the Cocktail
If you’re a first-timer, use the guide below to help navigate your way through Tales of the Cocktail. We’ll see you there!
With hundreds of opportunities developed specifically for industry professionals from bartenders to distillers, Tales of the Cocktail® is the drinks industry’s annual meeting place for exchanging new ideas, products, and techniques featuring in-person education, tastings, networking, and awards programming. Since 2002, the global spirits community has gathered in the heart of the French Quarter for Tales of the Cocktail®. What started as an annual walking tour of historic New Orleans cocktail bars has now become the world’s leading cocktail conference.
Location
The Tales of the Cocktail conference is headquartered at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, and is home to Registration, Seminars, Tasting Rooms, Tales Catalyst, Toast to Tales, New Orleans Spirits Competition, and is the meeting point for New Orleans Cocktail Tours.
In addition, you can attend brand-sponsored events throughout the city. Grab a ride from a ride-sharing app to the brand parties or hop on a pedicab to arrive in style.
Tickets
First things first, decide which ticket package is right for you and choose your Special Event tickets. Buy your tickets online in advance before they sell out!
Ticket packages include week and day passes with options to choose seminar and tasting room combo access, tasting room access only, or the Festival Entry Pass that includes workshops, fitness, and networking (and is included with all other tickets). A La Carte tickets grant you access to special events including Spirited Awards, New Orleans Cocktail Tours, Day of Service, and Pig & Punch.
TOTC2025 Ticket Prices:
- Festival Entry Pass: $10
- Bartender Seminar + Tasting Week Pass: $500 (for working bartenders only)
- Seminar + Tasting Week Pass: $595
- Tasting Week Pass: $175
- Bartender Seminar + Tasting Day Pass: $155
- Seminar + Tasting Day Pass: $185
- Tasting Day Pass: $45
- Special Events
- Day of Service: Free Registration (for attendees)
- New Orleans Cocktail Tours: $65
- 14th Annual Pig and Punch: $40
- Spirited Awards: Tickets on Sale June 9, 2025
Hotel Blocks
Tales of the Cocktail offers a hotel block for attendees with discounted rates at the host hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, and a selection of other great hotels around New Orleans.
When You Arrive: Head to Registration First
To get your wristband and confirm you’re over 21, head to Registration when you arrive at The Ritz-Carlton. Be sure to bring a valid government-issued ID.
Learn Something New at Seminars
TOTC strives to bring innovative, inclusive, and stimulating educational programming to the annual conference. Aimed at educating people in the drinks industry, the educational seminars’ themes of Business, Culture, Futures Labs, and Beyond the Bar offer relevant topics for bartenders, managers, and owners.
Check out the Conference Agenda to learn more about this year’s seminar topics and when and where they are taking place.
Network with Brand Reps and Sample Spirits in Tasting Rooms
Brands from around the world come together in Tales of the Cocktail Tasting Rooms to offer you the best pours. Head to the bars located around the conference floors and explore inside traditional tasting rooms and Brand Residencies.
A must-do is Meet the Distillers on Thursday, July 24, TOTC’s signature trade show offering guests an up close and personal experience with their favorite spirits brands. Taste samples, meet the makers, and get a firsthand account of distillations from across the globe.
The Conference Schedule lists all of the Tasting Rooms and bars for each day so you can plan which brands you want to learn about and taste.
Choose By Invitation Events to Attend
The best spirits brands from around the world will once again host exclusive events in venues around New Orleans for TOTC attendees to be inspired by their creativity. By Invitation event types include day and night events, as well as Spirited Drinking + Dining.
Spirited Drinking + Dining experiences include Spirited Dinners, Guest Shifts, Happy Hours, and Last Call Happy Hours. Spirited Dining events require a separate ticket available to purchase in the description located in the Conference Schedule. Guests Shifts, Happy Hours, and Last Call Happy Hours may require an RSVP, if one is required the link will be in the description.
By Invitation Events often have an RSVP list that is shared on the Conference Schedule as well as the brand’s social media. Check the Conference Agenda often as brands lock in their parties or to find out more information about this event including how to attend, please contact a brand representative. Get your RSVPs in early, as space is limited at many parties.
Go Beyond the Bar
Beyond the Bar (BTB) provides a platform to address serious issues within the global drinks industry, including mental and physical wellness, substance use, sexual harassment, diversity, and sustainability.
This year, Tales of the Cocktail’s Beyond the Bar programming includes onsite workshops, networking sessions, fitness classes, and sobriety support groups.
Look for the Beyond the Bar tag in the Conference Schedule to attend one of these events.
Make Plans to Attend Special Events
Day of Service
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Free Registration (for attendees)
TOTCF is excited to welcome you to our annual Day of Service in partnership with Green Light New Orleans. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s sustainability initiatives, the history of water and justice in New Orleans, and paint rain barrels that will be distributed to bars throughout the city.
Toast to Tales
Monday, July 21, 2025
10 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
Join the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s Board of Directors in toasting its 23rd year and another exceptional lineup of seminars, events, networking opportunities, tastings, and awards programming all aimed to “Evolve” the drinks community — the conference’s 2025 theme. This year’s Toast to Tales will be held in The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans Davenport Lounge on the third floor.
New Orleans Cocktail Tour
$65
In collaboration with Wayne Curtis, a series of 8 educational walking tours will provide a wealth of knowledge and keen insight into the city’s history and cocktail scene. Enlisting special guests to help guide the tours, Wayne and his team will lead immersive experiences throughout the French Quarter.
Monday, July 21
- The Ramos Reality Tour: Separating Fact from Fizz, 12:00-1:30 pm
- The Big Gay Bar Tour, 2-3:30 pm
Tuesday, July 22
- Brandy/Bourbon/Bitters/Ice, 12:00-1:30 pm
- The Big Gay Bar Tour, 2-3:30 pm
Wednesday, July 23
- Louche: The French Quarter Absinthe Tour, 12:00-1:30 pm
- The Ramos Reality Tour: Separating Fact from Fizz, 2-3:30 pm
Thursday, July 24
- Brandy/Bourbon/Bitters/Ice, 12:00-1:30 pm
- Louche: The French Quarter Absinthe Tour, 2-3:30 pm
Tales Catalyst
Admission with Seminar + Tasting Pass
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Celebrate the 2025 Tales Catalyst Honorees with Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, Tito’s, and Uncle Nearest. Hear from the 2025 International Honoree, Christina Veira, and the U.S. Honoree, Lucia Creed, during Tales Catalyst on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Created to celebrate women and non-binary individuals who are breaking barriers and championing inclusivity within the global beverage community, Tales Catalyst will honor two individuals—one U.S. and one International—at the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans.
Spirited Awards
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Tickets on Sale June 9, 2025
Attend the celebration of the 2024 Spirited Awards Top 4 Nominees and Winners at the Spirited Awards Ceremony on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Since its founding in 2007, the Spirited Awards have become one of the industry’s most revered awards, recognizing beverage professionals, products, establishments, journalists, and media across every facet of the spirits and cocktail industry on a global scale.
14th Annual Pig and Punch
$40
Friday, July 25, 2025
The 14th annual Pig & Punch presented by The Bon Vivants is thrilled to be heading back to New Orleans for a one-of-a-kind party for charity to close out Tales of the Cocktail! New Orleans holds a special place in the heart of Pig & Punch, infusing the event with its distinct brand of fun and energy. We’re excited to bring the party back to The Broadside, promising an unparalleled experience.