Tales of the Cocktail 2008: Spirit Award winners

Part one of the end of my Tales blogging. Some of the nominees were previously mentioned, here.

I'd never been in a place quite like Harrah's and I felt like I walked miles to get to the theater where the awards ceremony was being held.

"Oh man...so many people! And tables! I'll be at tables with people!" I thought, beginning to panic once I saw all the dinner tables set up. I camped out with Hanna Lee from Hanna Lee Communications for a while and I'd like to thank Mr. Eben Freeman for taking me under his wing so that I didn't freeze up and die by painful shyness.

Here are the winners:

Best Drinks Selection
1806 Melbourne Australia

Best Classic Cocktail Bar
Milk and Honey, NYC

World’s Best Cocktail Bar
Le Lion - Hamburg, Germany

Best New Cocktail Bar
Ruby, Copenhagen, Denmark

Mixologist/Bartender of the Year
Nick Strangeway - Hawksmoor, London, England

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book
Imbibe by David Wondrich

Best Cocktail Writing
Gary Regan (San Francisco Chronicle)

Best New Product
Fever Tree Mixers

Best Cocktail Menu
Ruby - Copenhagen, Denmark

Best Drinks Brand Representative/Brand Ambassador
Jason Crawley - Maxxium, Australia.

Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award
Dale DeGroff - King Cocktail