So much of mixology is simple mathematics. Creating a drinkable cocktail is typically nothing more than reaching the right proportion of ingredients in the mixing glass (sure, the method of chilling, type and brand of spirit, and a number of other variables enter into the equation, but stay with me here).

Of course, this means you have to keep a lot of different formulae in your head if you want to have plenty of drinks in your repertoire. Fortunately, you happen across the occasional drink that achieves perfection through a perfect–and equal–balance of ingredients. The Corpse Reviver #2 is one such cocktail–equal parts gin, lemon juice, Lillet and Cointreau, with a drop or two of absinthe-type liqueur dribbled in–and the Golden Dawn is another.

This comes from Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails, and is the first drink I made after I gave up on tracking down a bottle of the elusive Marie Brizard’s Apry, and bought a bottle of the second-rate Bols apricot brandy, just so I can expand my mixing options. But I digress.

The Golden Dawn is the first cocktail I can recall that calls for equal parts of five different ingredients, two of them base spirits: Calvados, gin, orange juice, apricot brandy and Cointreau (as a spoiler, a little grenadine is trickled into the finished drink). Haigh credits the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild for coming up with this mix in the 1920s. Sweet but not cloying, and layered with flavor, the Golden Dawn is a delicious–and easy-to-remember–addition to the mixological playbook.

Golden Dawn

• 3/4 ounce Calvados (or applejack)
• 3/4 ounce gin
• 3/4 ounce fresh orange juice
• 3/4 ounce Cointreau
• 3/4 ounce apricot brandy

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a stemless cherry, and drizzle a little grenadine (don’t stir!) into the finished drink.

Technorati tag: cocktails, Calvados, gin.

Tags: Calvados, Drinks, Gin by Paul
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I’m only slightly taken aback by the name (which, as Slakethirst so kindly reminded me when I first posted this writeup, is short for “DElaware, MARyland, VirginiA”). I’m sure there’s some excellent story behind the awkward acronym–or at least a good excuse–but at first take, “Delmarva” sounds like the half-remembered name of your great-aunt in Waco, or something from that old Seinfeld episode about names that semi-rhyme with parts of the female anatomy.

Regardless, this drink–which comes from Gary Regan’s Joy of Mixology, and is derived from a mix Regan credits to Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh (who hails from the Delmarva region–hence the connection–and his original drink is named, of course, the “Delmarva Cocktail”)–is an enjoyable little companion. A close relative of the Twentieth Century, the Delmarva #2 takes a nice base of rye, tempers it slightly with dry vermouth, then tosses in an equal pairing of lemon juice and creme de cacao. As with the Twentieth Century, the taste is surprising, the mix a near-perfect balance that keeps any one ingredient from being dominant, or from being drowned out by the other flavors. And isn’t that what mixing drinks is all about?

Delmarva Cocktail #2

• 2 ounces rye
• 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce white creme de cacao

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; garnish with a single mint leaf.

[Oh, and that Delmarva #1? Simply substitute white creme de menthe--yes, the color matters--for the creme de cacao. Haven't tried it yet, but curiousity should get the better of me fairly soon.]

Technorati tag: cocktails, whiskey.

Tags: Drinks, Rye by Paul
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Things have a funny way of coming full circle. When my interest in cocktails first took off a few years ago, it didn’t take long for me to discover some of the most authoritative experts in the field. Within a week of my decision to explore the topic, I was reading William Grimes’ incredible Straight Up or On the Rocks and David Wondrich’s Esquire Drinks, two books that–more than any others I’ve come across–thoroughly explore and explain the history of cocktails and the world of culinary mixology. That same week, I also discovered two websites: an online presence of a group of other cocktail explorers at the Drinkboy forum, hosted by a Seattle-based rabid cocktail geek, Robert Hess; and Hess’s own site, www.drinkboy.com, which has an abundance of information that proved invaluable to a beginning (amateur) bartender.

So that whole full-circle thing kicked in on Sunday, when–along with about a dozen other people, ranging from curious amateurs (I’m assuming) to professional bartenders and bar consultants with years of experience–I attended Robert’s presentation of “Cocktails 101″ at Mona’s, a bar and restaurant in north Seattle. Robert’s been studying cocktails for years now, and the breadth and depth of his understanding is quite impressive. While I knew this from the start, it became even more clear over the two hours or so that he spoke, as he ranged from the jurassic era of cocktails–the juleps and shrubs of the early 1800s–through the saloons of the latter part of that century, into the Gilded Age and Prohibition, then into the WWII-era tiki craze before finishing up with that whole vodka situation that’s happened since the ’60s or so. Along the way he took a few healthy tangents into topics such as the world of bitters, the blind tasting of spirits and the sad story of absinthe. And best of all, we got to drink–starting with a Champagne cocktail (which, as Robert explained, fit the bill as a true cocktail because it included all the cocktail’s original elements of sugar, bitters, spirits and water–Champagne being “undistilled brandy,” so counting for both spirits and water in one shot), followed by a Sidecar and culminating with a Jasmine, with small tastes along the way of an Old Fashioned, an early version of a Martini (made with equal parts gin and sweet vermouth, with a dash of orange bitters), and a Mai Tai.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a “cocktail seminar”–in my mind’s eye I pictured the whole college-classroom setup with fluorescent lights and a blackboard–but Mona’s on a Sunday night was a great place to have this: warm, comfortable, with a friendly and capable staff and an excellent kitchen. And while Robert’s seminar covered a number of different topics–touching on matters that seemed counterintuitive to some and objectionable to others, along with other issues on which reasonable people may disagree–my only quibble is that there was too much for one evening. Robert’s extensive presentation could easily be broken into a number of different subject areas–Prohibition-era drinks, cocktails of the Gilded Age, early American drinks, the tiki phenomenon, etc.–each deserving its own hour or two of discussion and exploration in one of the city’s finer watering holes. Not quite a quibble, I guess–more of a request, for more events like this in the future. As the popularity of classic and well-crafted cocktails grows, it’s good to have events like “Cocktails 101″(as well as, hopefully, more graduate-level classes in mixology) that can provide local bartenders with a firm foundation on which to work, as well as to guide foodies and avid amateurs who–through word-of-mouth or word-of-blog–get others excited in culinary drinks. I’m looking forward to the next round.

Tags: Events, General by Paul
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I like books. I like to read books, I like to flip through books without really reading, I like to have books around.

I also like to drink–duh–and so over the past few years I’ve managed to accumulate way more books on cocktails, bartending, spirits and their role in culture and history than I ever thought existed. Most of these came cheap–old bar manuals are everywhere, and most are only worth a couple of bucks–but even the pricier vintage cocktail guides can be found for a bargain, assuming you’re willing to be diligent in your searching (both online and in used bookstores) and say the occasional prayer to Trader Vic. And then, there’s the sporadic reprint, which for a reasonable price puts a tome of well-established libational wisdom into the hands of a cocktail geek like myself.

Anyway, here’s my booze bookshelf–my plan is to refer back to this post on occasion, both to flesh out individual books a bit as well as to explore some of the worthwhile (or worthless) drinks each one contains. At some point I may give some rating system as to the worthiness of each book, but just putting it down in a list is enough work for now.

(note: for the date on each book, I’ve listed the publication or printing date for the edition I own, and not necessarily the original publication date for the book)

Cocktail guides, bartending manuals and other works pertaining to mixed drinks

The Algonquin Bar and Cocktail Book
by Anna Kiernan
2002

Bacchus Behave!
The Lost Art of Polite Drinking
by Alma Whitaker
1933

The Bartender’s Book
Being a compilation of Sundry Alcoholic Potations, Libations & Mixtures together with Recipes and Tables to make Everyman a Proficient Practitioner of the noble Art of Mixology
by Jack Townsend & Tom Moore McBride
1951

Bartender’s Guide
by “Trader Vic” Bergeron
1947

Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log
by Jeff Berry & Annene Kaye
1998

Beachbum Berry’s Intoxica!
by Jeff Berry
2002

The Bon Vivant’s Companion
or, How to Mix Drinks
by Jerry Thomas, edited and with an introduction by Herbert Asbury
1927 edition, printed 1934

Bottoms Up
by Ted Saucier
1951

Bottoms Up
Guide to Pleasant Drinking
cocktail guide published and distributed by Town & Country Liquors, Inc., Great Neck, NY
1949

Burke’s Complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes
by Harman Burney “Barney” Burke
1934

Burke’s Complete Cocktail and Tastybite Recipes
with Recipes for Food Bits for the Cocktail Hour – The Art and Etiquette of Mixing, Serving and Drinking Wines and Liquors
by Harman Burney “Barney” Burke
1941

Cakes and Ale
by Edward Spencer
1897

Classic Cocktails
(reprint of The Ideal Bartender)
by Tom Bullock and D.J. Frienz
2002 (originally published in 1917)

Cocktail
The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century
by Paul Harrington and Laura Moorhead
1998

Cocktails
by “Jimmy” late of Ciro’s London
undated; first published in 1930

The Cocktails of The Ritz Paris
by Colin Peter Field
2003

The Craft of the Cocktail
by Dale DeGroff
2002

Cups of Valor
by N.E. Beveridge
1968

Esquire Drinks
An Opinionated & Irreverent Guide to Drinking
by David Wondrich
2002

Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts
1949

Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em
by Stanley Clisby Arthur
1937

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks
by David Embury
1958 edition

The Flowing Bowl
by Edward Spencer
1903

For Snake-Bites – or something
undated; flyleaf reads “Compiled in order to preserve some evidence of the genius and artistry of those good old days,” so probably Prohibition-era

The Gentleman’s Companion
2 volumes, including Being An Exotic Drinking Book, or Around the World with Jigger, Beaker & Flask
by Charles H. Baker, Jr.
1946 (originally published 1939)

Here’s How!
by Judge Jr.
1927

The Hour
by Bernard DeVoto
1948

How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion
Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States, Together with the Most Popular British, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish Recipes, Embracing Punches, Juleps, Cobblers, Etc., Etc., Etc., in Endless Variety
by Jerry Thomas
2004 reprint of 1864 edition

The Joy of Mixology
by Gary Regan
2003

Killer Cocktails
An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking
by David Wondrich
2005

Mixologist
The Journal of the American Cocktail – Volume 1
Anistatia Miller, ed.; published by the Museum of the American Cocktail
2005

Mr. Boston Deluxe Official Bartender’s Guide
1978

The Official Mixer’s Manual
by Patrick Gavin Duffy, revised and enlarged by Robert Jay Misch
1975

Old Mr. Boston De Luxe Official Bartender’s Guide
1946

Old Waldorf Bar Days
by Albert Stevens Crockett
1931

On Drink
by Kingsley Amis
1972

The Savoy Cocktail Book
by Harry Craddock
1999 (originally published 1930)

Shaken Not Stirred
A Celebration of the Martini
Anistatia Miller & Jared Brown
1997

So Red the Nose–or, Breath in the Afternoon
Cocktail Recipes by 30 Leading Authors
by Sterling North and Carl Kroch
1935

The South American Gentleman’s Companion (2 volumes)
by Charles H. Baker, Jr.
1951

The Standard Bartender’s Guide
by Patrick Gavin Duffy
1948

The Standard Bartender’s Guide
by Patrick Gavin Duffy, revised by James Beard
1959

Standard Cocktail Guide
by Crosby Gaige
1944

The Stork Club Bar Book
by Lucius Beebe
2003 reprint of 1930′s / 1940′s original

Straight Up or On the Rocks
The Story of the American Cocktail
by William Grimes
2001

Trader Vic’s Book of Food & Drink
by Vic Bergeron
1946

Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails
by Ted Haigh
2004

World Drinks and How to Mix Them
by “Cocktail Bill” Boothby
1934

Not cocktails, necessarily, but still of interest to the booze enthusiast

The Alcoholic Republic
An American Tradition
by W.J. Rorabaugh
1979

Big Shots
The Men Behind the Booze
by A.J. Baime
2003

Booze
The Impact of Whisky on the Prairie West
James H. Gray
1972

The Cocktail
The Influence of Spirits on the American Psyche
by Joseph Lanza

The Complete Guide to Whiskey
by Jim Murray
1997

Drink
A Social History of America
by Andrew Barr
1999

Grossman’s Guide to Wines, Spirits and Beers
by Harold J. Grossman
1964

Kentucky Moonshine
by David W. Maurer
1974

Rum
The Epic Story of the Drink that Conquered the World
by Charles A. Coulombe
2004

The Social History of Bourbon
An Unhurried Account of our Star-Spangled American Drink
by Gerald Carson
1963

Tales of the Ex-Tanks
by Clarence Louis Cullen
1900

Ten Nights in a Bar Room
by T.S. Arthur
printing date unknown; originally published 1854; copy appears to be from 1880s-1890s

Vintage Bar Ware
Identification & Value Guide
by Stephen Visakay
1997

Tags: Books by Paul
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It’s over.

The lights are coming down from the windows, the ornaments are going back in their boxes, the tree is destined for the compost heap. From here on out, there’s no gaity to winter–it’s all leafless branches, bitter mornings and sullen gray skies until April. I’ve spent most of my life in drier, colder climates where–instead of Seattle’s incessant drizzle–winter mornings are marked by a crisp, dusty haze, as if the air itself had frozen, ready to shatter into shards should you yell too loud.

To survive the grim patch of calendar that we call ‘January,’ hibernation is in order. But, for those of us who can’t afford the luxury of simply burrowing under the covers until the days grow longer, an adversarial approach to the season is the next best thing. Rather than simply resigning oneself to a monotonous trudge toward springtime, it’s best to come out swinging, kicking January in its icy crotch and throwing elbows at its nose.

And that’s where whisky, no ‘e,’ comes in. Few things shake winter’s grip like this smoky spirit. I once spent a January (and a February, and a March) in Edinburgh, and developed an appreciation for whisky’s inimitable power to smash winter right in its teeth. I’ll never debate the value of a touch of a nice single malt–but for people like me, who just have to start fiddling with things in a glass, there’s a nice, gentle drink that uses whisky as its mainstay, and smoothes and fortifies itself with, basically, more whisky: the Rusty Nail.

The Rusty Nail couldn’t be simpler to make–pour some Scotch over ice, add some Drambuie (a whisky-based liqueur flavored with herbs and sweetened with honey), stir if you like (or don’t, if you like), and follow your instinct for the rest. Recipes vary on proportions, with some calling for equal parts of the two ingredients, ranging down to four parts Scotch to one part liqueur. It’s a good idea to lean toward the dry side–Drambuie is one of the loveliest liqueurs in creation, but too much will clip the whisky’s wings. Oh, and use a blended Scotch for this–put aside your Laphroig and break out that bottle of Chivas or Johnny Walker you got for Christmas. If you’re paying for the bottle yourself and you’re looking for a good, affordable mixing whisky, you could do much, much worse than Famous Grouse.

Whisky, mixed with whisky. January hasn’t got a chance.

Rusty Nail

• 2 ounces blended Scotch
• 1/2 ounce Drambuie

Fill an old fashioned glass 3/4 full of ice; add Scotch, then Drambuie. Stir, if you like. A twist of lemon may be added, but is entirely optional.

Technorati tag: cocktails, Scotch.

Tags: Drinks, Scotch by Paul
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