Manhattan Cocktail Classic Announces 2011 Line-Up of Seminars

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic—the two-year-old cocktail crowd confab—has announced the seminar line-up for its May 14-17 event, to be held at Astor Center in the East Village. Unlike MCC's inaugural event, in 2010, this year's seminars were selected by popular vote—a move that resulted in some controversy and grumbling within the cocktail community. Should attendees curate the syllabus of a convention intended to educate them? Won't such a voting process inevitably lead to ballot box-stuffing on the part of presenters and their corporate sponsors? These and other arguments I heard bandied about.

Approximately 20,000 people chose from among 85 various suggested panels, registering their preferences on the MCC website during the one month voting period.

Among the prevailing classes—which will all cost $50 a ticket—are "Aperitivo: The Italian Happy Hour," led by Joseph Campanale; "The Agave Session: The Magical Elixirs of Mexico," conducted by Steve Olson and Del Maguey Mezcal producer Ron Cooper; "Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum" with Danny Valdez, David Wondrich, Ed Hamilton and Sean Kenyon; "Botanical Bartending" with Charlotte Voisey and Jim Meehan; "Age: The Final Frontier—Barreling Spirits and Cocktails," taught by Philip Duff; "Preserving With Liquor for Kitchen and Bar: Local Ingredients 12 Months a Year," led by Francis Schott and Mark Pascal; "Whiskey of the World" with Wild Turkey distillers Eddie Russell and Jimmy Russell, Bowmore master blender Iain McCallum, and brand ambassadors Gardner Dunn, Kristina Sutter, Ross Hendry and James MacKenzie; and "The Art of the Simple Cocktail," in which mixologist Elayne Duke declares "the complicated cocktail dead."

In addition to the seminars, MCC promises other cocktail-oriented events in three boroughs. The opening night gala will be held again at the New York Public Library's main branch on Fifth Avenue. For more information, consult www.manhattancocktailclassic.com.

Here's that super final schedule:

SATURDAY MAY 14:
11:30am - 1:00pm (Gallery) The Science of Mixology
12:15pm - 1:45pm (Study) Hand’s on with Tony Abou-Ganim
1:45pm - 3:15pm (Gallery) History: What is it Good For?
2:30pm - 4:00pm (Study) Whiskey is the New Black
4:00pm - 5:30pm (Gallery) How to Behave in a Bar
4:45pm - 6:15pm (Study) Rye Mania
6:15pm - 7:45pm (Gallery) Aperitivo: The Italian Happy Hour
7:00pm - 8:30pm (Study) Beyond the Hangover Cure 

SUNDAY MAY 15:
11:30am - 1:00pm (Gallery) Art of the Simple Cocktail
12:15pm - 1:45pm (Study) Glasses & Tools
1:45pm - 3:15pm (Gallery) Whiskies of the World
2:30pm - 4:00pm (Study) Classic Cocktails, Classic Film
4:00pm - 5:30pm (Gallery) A Drop Of The Hard Stuff
4:45pm - 6:15pm (Study) Preserving with Liquor
6:15pm - 7:45pm (Gallery) Global Drink Rituals
7:00pm - 8:30pm (Study) The Science of Citrus 

MONDAY MAY 16:
11:30am - 1:00pm (Gallery) Spirits in a Blind
12:15pm - 1:45pm (Study) Drink Like You Eat
1:45pm - 3:15pm (Gallery) Discovering Le Cognac
2:30pm - 4:00pm (Study) Three Mixologists, Three Drinks, Three Ways
4:00pm - 5:30pm (Gallery) From the BeGINning
4:45pm - 6:15pm (Study) Tequila’s Rebirth
6:15pm - 7:45pm (Gallery) Age: The Final Frontier
7:00pm - 8:30pm (Study) Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum 

TUESDAY MAY 17:
11:30am - 1:00pm (Gallery) Botanical Bartending
12:15pm - 1:45pm (Study) The Agave Sessions
1:45pm - 3:15pm (Gallery) The Mindful Bartender
2:30pm - 4:00pm (Study) The Science of Taste
4:00pm - 5:30pm (Gallery) Mysticism and Magic
4:45pm - 6:15pm (Study) The History of Distilling in New York City 

SATURDAY STORIES FROM BEHIND THE BAR (1-3pm):
Death and Company
Flatiron
Huckleberry Bar
Painkiller
PDT
Pegu Club
Employees Only 

SUNDAY STORIES FROM BEHIND THE BAR (1-3pm):
67 Orange
Lani Kai
Little Branch
inoteca e liquori bar **3-5pm
Raines Law Room
Weather Up Tribeca

MONDAY STORIES FROM BEHIND THE BAR (1-3pm):
Clover Club 

TUESDAY STORIES FROM BEHIND THE BAR (5-7pm):
Living Bar Room and Terrace