Leblon!

We're pleased to announce that we've just been retained by Leblon Cachaça to work on Trade Marketing and Social Media Marketing. We're absolutely thrilled to be working with Steve Luttman, Gerry Schweitzer, Jaime Keller, Matthew Engle and the rest of their team on this category leading product. I could say some great things about them, but perhaps the best is a simple one..."they get it." And it will be great to work with people who are on the cutting edge of spirits marketing as BAT is practicing it.

As many of you know, Leblon has been doing the heavy lifting driving the creation of the category in the U.S. so while the category is still small, it's growing rapidly and starting to attract other players, which is a good thing...a rising tide and all that. And for many of our friends in the cocktail blogosphere, it's a brand and category of great interest...it's new, it's fresh, it has a spectacular signature drink (caipirinha), but also inspires creativity beyond that drink because of its flavor, complexity and heritage.

Here's a fact you may not know...Cachaça is the third most consumed spirit in the world. And since most of it is consumed in Brazil and some in Germany...you get a sense for the Brazilian market...and the potential for the U.S.

So, thanks to the folks at Leblon for for picking BAT. We look forward to a spectacular collaboration. Sphere: Related Content

TOTC Seminars and Samples

I finally made it to a seminar…Latino Libations presented by Tony Abou-Ganim. Always an entertaining presentation, Tony was helped by some fortuitous finds in the audience that almost upstaged the master. Aided by the able talents of Diego Loret de Mola, Tony gave an informative history lesson and current take on Cachaça and Caipirinhas, Pisco and Pisco Sours, Rum and Mojitos. I recognized someone in the audience and stopped to say hi and it turned out to be Stacey Smith, Beverage Director of Pappas Restaurants in Houston whom I shared a great dinner with at the Sante’ Restaurant Symposium last year. Also attending the seminar were Herbie Loebl of Pisco Monte Sierpe, Jean Francois Bonneté of Mystique Brands and Michael Trujillo, New Mexico mixologist for SWS.

Next it was downstairs to the Cocktail hour with about 30 stations serving some incredibly diverse cocktail creations. Frankly though, I didn’t like many of them. It struck me as though everyone erred on the side of “creativity” in a palette of flavors I’m not really in love with… a lot with hot peppers, unique combinations of spices and fruits, interpretations of classics substituting tequila for rum or in one case a Brandy Alexander made with Absinthe that quite frankly, smelled like mildew! We did get to meet Natalie Bovis-Nelson aka The Liquid Muse and enjoyed her creation the Nolita Heat. Sphere: Related Content