Ten years ago today Hurricane Katrina smashed into New Orleans and left in her wake lost lives, uprooted communities, and widespread devastation.  Today this unique city has not only survived, but thrived.  The resulting changes have not been without tension. As Manuel Roig-Franzia wrote in a recent Washington Post article: "A city some feared might be left for dead ... is undergoing a social, economic, and cultural revolution.  Yet it is still a place deeply tied to its ancient traditions and rites, stubbornly and proudly unique, unparalleled in its embrace of the weird, the mysterious, the whimsical."

In memory of those who died during Katrina, and in tribute to those who have been instrumental in the city's resurgence, have a New Orleans cocktail or two.  You can go classic old school with a  Sazerac or Vieux Carre.  You can go a little off the beaten path with a Place D'Armes.  You can go mix it up with a Vieux Nouveau Sazerac. You can go with an appropriate original creation such as the Bourbon Renaissance.  Just have a cocktail or two and toast to the city's resilience.