New Orleans booze conference Tales of the Cocktail officially kicks off today, and the Feed with be covering the eff out of it (more on that later). In preparation for what will no doubt be an entertainingly hazy series of blog posts, we visited one of the city’s lesser-known landmarks—the Museum of the American Cocktail—yesterday. Per usual, we’ve returned bearing observations. Find ‘em after the jump.

The inglorious location (inside a larger museum dedicated to Southern food, which is itself is located inside a massive mall food court) belies the treasures within: a series of display cases detailing the cocktail’s evolution from pharmaceutical by-product to artisanal nip, with stops through the kitschy ’50s and the Dark Ages (the discovery of vodka as a marketable tipple). It’s a cocktail geek’s sanctuary, with shrines to tattered bottles (gems included Prohibition era “nonalcoholic juniper-flavored gin” and vessels bearing the morbid Jamaica Ginger label), gleaming bar toys and erstwhile news clippings. Find more highlights in the slide show above.

Photos: Daniel Krieger