Daiquiri Season Names its Duke and Duchess
img_6735.jpg

Judges for Tales of the Cocktail's celebration of New Orleans' favorite frozen drink decided that the best came from The Catahoula Hotel and Seaworthy.

 It may be the end of summer, but since September remains obnoxiously hot, it’s as good a month as any for Tales of the Cocktail to declare as Daiquiri Season. Forty-two restaurants and bars around the city have special daiquiris, and the participating venues have special events all month. 

Last week, writer Jennifer Cole, Willa Jean chef Lisa White, Cuban bartender Julio Cabrera, and bounce icon Big Freedia boarded a bus and visited the makers of the top six frozen and and non-frozen daiquiris with the goal of crowning the Duke and Duchess of Daiquiri. On Thursday in the Ace Hotel’s Three Keys, the judges and Tales of the Cocktail’s Ann Tuennerman named the top six in each style

Top Frozen
Daiquiri No. 6 - Cane & Table
Italian Cookie - Three Muses Frenchmen
Stone and Co. - The Mayhaw at St. Roch Market
Rum Cannonball- The Catahoula Upstairs Bar
Deadbeat Daiquiri - Latitude 29
Brancamenta Frappe - Erin Rose

Top Non-Frozen
Brown Bag Daiquiri - Balise
Good ships/wood ships - Seaworthy
The Torrents of Summer - Kingfish Kitchen and Cocktails
El Crepusculo de Nicaragua (Nicaraguan Twilight) - The Carousel Bar & Lounge
Snapvisa Sour - Josephine Estelle
Viking Vacation - Vessel

The judges declared the Rum Cannonball featuring Cane Run Rum from The Catahoula Hotel Upstairs Bar the top frozen daiquiri, and Seaworthy’s Good Ships/Wood Ships the top non-frozen daiquiri. Seaworthy’s Lisa Nguyen accepted her bejeweled daiquiri jug and trophy sash by reciting the toast that inspired her drink's name.

There are good ships and wood ships
ships that sail the sea
but the best ships are friendships
may they always be.

Daiquiri Season continues through the end of September, and Tales of the Cocktail will host Friday night daiquiri bus tours for those who want to try some of the best daiquiris without all the drunk driving. At the announcement, Tuennerman also revealed that the person who uses the #daiquiriseason hashtag in the most tweets and photos will receive his or her own industry calibre daiquiri machine.

The judges and winners recently talked to My Spilt Milk about the daiquiris they love.