The Gentleman’s Companion, Volume II: An Exotic Drinking Book by Charles H Baker Jr (1939)
In 1931, American journalist Charles H Baker Jr took an odyssey, searching for the finest food and drink in such obscure corners as Cairo, Mindinao, Calcutta, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Borneo, Jaipur, and Yokohama. Everywhere he went, everywhere he looked there was a bar, a bartender, and some unique, carefully prepared variation on the words […] read more…
Drinking Cups & Their Custom by Henry Porter & George Roberts (1869)
Londoners Henry Porter and George Roberts were not fans of the new American bars nor of cocktails that were displacing traditional British compounds such as punches and cups. By 1860s, the colonial intrusion into British drinking habits insinuated by Reform Club chef Alexis Benoit Soyer, Leo Engels at the Criterion, the Bowling Alley Bar at the Cremorne […] read more…
Cups & Their Custom by Henry Porter & George Roberts (1863)
Londoners Henry Porter and George Roberts were not fans of the new American bars nor of cocktails that were displacing traditional British compounds such as punches and cups. By 1860s, the colonial intrusion into British drinking habits insinuated by Reform Club chef Alexis Benoit Soyer, Leo Engels at the Criterion, the Bowling Alley Bar at the Cremorne […] read more…
Café Royal Cocktail Book by William J Tarling (1937)
Originally published in 1937 by the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild, Café Royal Cocktail Book compiled by William J Tarling offers a rare glimpse into the wide array of drinks offered in London bars between the two world wars. Tarling, head bartender at the Café Royal during had two goals. He wanted to extend this resource […] read more…
Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide by Charles Mahoney (1912)
Written by Charles S Mahoney, head bartender of New York’s landmark Hoffman House, The Hoffman House bartender’s Guide gives you a more than ample taste of the cocktail’s golden age in the US during the turn of the century. The Hoffman House was the training ground for such luminaries as Harry Craddock. Photographs of the Police […] read more…
The Bar-Tender’s Guide or How to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas (1862, 1887)
The first drinks book in the English language to contain recipes for cocktails, The Bar-Tender’s Guide or How to Mix Drinks by Jerry “The Professor” Thomas (later retitled How to Mix Drinks or the Bon-Vivan’ts Companion) presented the broad variety of mixed drinks that had gained rapid popularity in the United States by the early 1860s. Ten cocktails […] read more…
The Complete Distiller by Ambrose Cooper (1757)
There is no other way to describe distiller Ambrose Cooper’s comprehensive book entitled The Complete Distiller except to quote the title page describing its contents: “1. The method of performing the various processes of distillation with description of several instruments: The whole doctrine of fermentation; The manner of drawing spirits from malt, raisins, molasses, […] read more…
Nouvelle instruction pour les confitures, les liqueurs et les fruits by Francois Massialot (1712)
Chef de cuisine to dukes, cardinals, marquises, and a regent François Massialot inspired professional chefs not only in France but in as well, especially when his Nouveau cuisinier royal et bourgeois was first published in 1691. Expanded into three volumes by 1734, the English version—The Court and Country Cook—was printed in numerous editions from 1702 […] read more…
The Modern Houeswife or Ménagère by Soyer (1851)
In his 1851 runaway best-seller, The Modern Housewife or Ménagère, Soyer offered up recipes for Gold Jelly, made with eau-de-vie de Danzig; a Maraschino Jelly imbued with quartered fruits; and Rum-Punch Jelly. This concept was grabbed up by Jerry “The Professor” Thomas and was crafted into a sherbet-with-cognac and Jamaican rum #28 Punch […] read more…
The New English Dispensatory by William Lewis (1753)
In this 1753 edition of The New English Dispensatory a simple Stomach Julep (Julepum Stomachicum) appears with some fascinating ingredients: a saffron syrup made with sherry, spirit rectified with mint, and a non-alcoholic mint distillate. From this recipe you can well imagine why it’s worth flipping through the pages upon pages of medicinal simples compiled […] read more…
The Flowing Bowl by The Only William (1892)
New York bartender William Schmidt, nicknamed “The Only William”, commented in his 1892 book The Flowing Bowl that: “Mixed drinks might be compared to music: an orchestra will produce good music, provided all players are artists; but have only one or two inferior musicians in your band and you may be convinced they will […] read more…
Oxford Night Caps by Richard Cook (1847, 1827, 1835, 1871)
This is the first known—to date—volume dedicated entirely to mixed drinks in the English language. Oxford Night Caps: A Collection of Receipts for Making Various Beverages Used in the University was published a number of times between 1827 and 1931 to aid Oxford University students in mixing proper beverages for their on- and off-campus gatherings. […] read more…
Haney’s Steward & Barkeeper’s Manual (1869)
Haney’s Steward & Bartender’s Manual was one of many titles Jesse Haney & Co., Publishers produced for the trade. The reason this sample 82-page volume is of interest is because cocktail book collectors such as Mauro Majoub and drinks historians Jared Brown, Anistatia Miller, and Dave Wondrich believe this work may be the book […] read more…
1000 Misture by Elvezio Grassi (1936)
The cocktail was something really new in Italy during the 1920s and 1930s. After 2000 years of ippocratic wines , bitters and finally Vermouth served in a super classic way (the old style with just a lemon zest or a splash of soda), Italian barmen began to really to understand and incorporate cocktail culture imported from the rest of […] read more…
Distillateur Liquoriste by Roret (1918)
France is the cradle of European distillation, dating back to the 1200s. By 1918, the artistry and technical expertise of the distiller’s art became the focus of a series of eight books created by the leading publisher of technical and scientific knowledge in France: Encyclopédie-Roret. This particular volume, Distillateur Liquoriste, discloses the formulae and production methods […] read more…
The Artistry of Mixing Drinks by Frank Meier (1936)
One thousand copies of Frank Meier’s The Artistry of Mixing Drinks were published in 1936. As a bartender in one of the world’s most exclusive venues of the time, the Paris Ritz, where he worked from 1921 to 1947, Meier had amassed an impressive, loyal following of celebrities and other notables as well as […] read more…
Bariana by Louis Fouquet (1896)
Originally published in 1896, Bariana: Recueil de toutes boissons americains et anglaises, is regarded as one of the earliest-known French cocktail books. It was written by Louis Fouquet, head barman at The Criterion in Paris and later owner of the café that still bears his name. Although the title implies there are many American and British mixed drinks […] read more…
Drinks by Jacques Straub (1914)
First published in 1914 and again after Straub’s death in 1920, the slender Drinks by Jacques Straub contains over 700 recipes, including a surprising number of drinks that were thought to have been invented later. Straub had worked at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky, prior to moving to Chicago where he became wine steward for […] read more…
When It’s Cocktail Time in Cuba by Basil Woon (1928)
Privately published in 1928 by Horace Liveright, British playwright and journalist Basil Woon captured the energy that took hold of Havana, as Americans flocked by the thousands to drink, gamble and party amid the tropical beauty that is Cuba. Welcome to When It’s Cocktail Time in Cuba. Of special interest to bartenders is Chapter 2, […] read more…
The Cocktail Book: A Sideboard Manual for Gentlemen (1926)
Published during the cocktail’s heyday in Great Britain, this small volume—The Cocktail Book: A Sideboard for Gentlemen—demonstrates what every good private valet to any of London’s Bright Young People needed to know how to mix, shake, or stir between the two Great Wars. Cocktails, smashes, cobblers, punches, cups, and the entire mixed drink repertoire including […] read more…
Louis’ Mixed Drinks by Muckensturm (1906)
Where do Dry Martinis come from? They were certainly around for a long time before Jacques Louis Muckensturm wrote his 1906 book Louis’ Mixed Drinks. However, Mr Muckensturm will always be remembered as the first person in the English language to call the combination of gin and dry vermouth a Dry Martini. (Frank P […] read more…
Jayne’s Bartender’s Guide (1934)
With an anonymous author and published by Dr D Jayne and Son in Philadelphia circa 1934, Jayne’s Bartender’s Guide was one of many books published right after the repeal of Prohibition in the USA that hoped to revive the recipes and the culture of cocktail drinking after a nearly 15-year hiatus. In addition to recipes […] read more…
Harry Johnson’s Bartenders’ Manual (1882, 1888, 1900, 1934)
The first book to comprehensively document the proper steps to opening, stocking, and operating a bar, Harry Johnson’s Bartenders’ Manual is a mandatory volume for novices and professionals in the bartending profession. Originally published in 1882, Prussian-born Johnson revised and expanded this book three times (1888, 1900, and posthumously in 1934) as his own knowledge of […] read more…
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