World’s largest toast to be attempted at Tales of the Cocktail

Well, you have to be 21. But there aren’t any other requirements for a free drink at the Monteleone Hotel Wednesday afternoon. The goal is to make history, which, when it comes to New Orleans and drinking shouldn’t be a long shot (pun intended).

The occasion is the The World’s Largest Bols Genever Kopstootje Toast, being raised in conjunction with Tales of the Cocktail, the city’s biggest drinking festival (or at least the biggest festival focusing on the subject of drinking). Since TOTC will be bringing 20,000 mixologists and imbibers to town, the giant free toast event should draw a crowd.

Some background here. Literally translated as a “little head butt,” a Kopstootje (pronounced kop-stow-tjuh) is a shot sipped from an original Dutch tulip glass filled to the brim with Bols Genever and paired up with a beer. The trick for bartenders is to fill the tulip glass to the absolute rim, creating a meniscus shape that almost overflows. Drinkers bend forward and slurp the top, then take a sip of the accompanying beer.

Since re-introducing Bols Genever to the U.S. cocktail community, Lucas Bols USA is now introducing the Kopstootje as the authentic way of drinking Genever.

So, if you have nothing else to do and are hankering for an early start to cocktail hour, head to the Monteleone Hotel around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday and hold our your hand. You’ll learn a new way to drink a Dutch treat, and chances are you’ll make cocktail history.