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Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar
A lively, historically informed, and definitive guide to classic American cocktails.
Cocktail writer and historian David Wondrich presents the colorful, little-known history of classic American drinks-and the ultimate mixologist's guide-in this engaging homage to Jerry Thomas, father of the American bar.
Wondrich reveals never-before-published details and stories about this larger-than-life nineteenth-century figure, along with definitive recipes for 100 punches, cocktails, sours, fizzes, toddies, slings, and other essential drinks, plus twenty new recipes from today's top mixologists, created exclusively for this book.
This colorful and good-humored volume is a mustread for anyone who appreciates the timeless appeal of a well-made drink-and the uniquely American history behind it.
Cocktail writer and historian David Wondrich presents the colorful, little-known history of classic American drinks-and the ultimate mixologist's guide-in this engaging homage to Jerry Thomas, father of the American bar.
Wondrich reveals never-before-published details and stories about this larger-than-life nineteenth-century figure, along with definitive recipes for 100 punches, cocktails, sours, fizzes, toddies, slings, and other essential drinks, plus twenty new recipes from today's top mixologists, created exclusively for this book.
This colorful and good-humored volume is a mustread for anyone who appreciates the timeless appeal of a well-made drink-and the uniquely American history behind it.
317 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
533 people are currently reading
3699 people want to read
About the author
David Wondrich
18 books112 followersBorn on the banks of the Monongahela. Raised in major urban centers. Ex-bass player, ex-English professor, ex-ragtime writer. Mixographer. Brooklynite. Likes port and Stilton and Artemus Ward.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
October 10, 2018
“Anyone who has spent any time pondering the origins of the Cocktail – be it for the months or years it takes to write a book or the minutes or seconds it takes to internalize a Dry Martini – will agree that it’s a quintessentially American contraption. How could it be anything but? It’s quick, direct, and vigorous. It’s flashy and a little bit vulgar. It induces an unreflective overconfidence. It’s democratic, forcing the finest liquors to rub elbows with ingredients of far more humble stamp. It’s profligate with natural resources (think of all the electricity generated to make the ice that gets used for ten seconds and then discarded). In short, it rocks.”
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent was the first in-depth exploration of that time period that I ever read, and it showed me how passing one simple law created a ripple effect that extended much further than I’d ever imagined (to give just one example, Prohibition and women’s suffrage are way more closely linked than you might expect, and we probably couldn’t have had one without the other). Drinking culture throughout history is history, and it’s really interesting for me to learn how and why people drank the way they did at certain points in time. Add that to the fact that the former manager at my job kept a reprint of a 1917 bartender’s manual behind the bar for the staff to look through, and I was itching to read some more cocktail history. Jim Meehan’s Meehan’s Bartender Manual discussed David Wondrich’s book at length, so I decided that I needed to read that next.
Trying to tackle the history of the cocktail in America is a tall order, to say the least, so Wondrich centers his book on one historicial, almost legendary bartender named Jerry Thomas, and uses his journey across the bars of America as the focal point to explore the history of drinking in America, from the colonies in the 18th century to Prohibition.
If nothing else, you have to appreciate the amount of research that went into this book, and how difficult it must have been. Many, many drink recipes are lost to history because they were never written down, or the recipes have disappeared, or the formula went through so many different rewrites that we have no idea what the original looked like. So much of what went on in the saloons and hotel bars of early America was not being recorded in any way, so there are huge gaps in our knowledge. (Apparently old-timey bartenders had a way of mixing drinks where they would rapidly throw the liquor back and forth between two glasses, and even though it was such common practice that it’s documented in multiple sources, modern bartenders can’t figure out how it was done). Also, bartenders have always and will always be professional bullshitters, so any story about the origin of a particular drink is almost certainly a total fabrication. (True story: a bartender once tried to tell me that the Bloody Mary is named for Queen Mary I of England, because vodka and tomato juice was her favorite drink, and it would take me another review just to unpack all the things wrong with that statement). To research the history of a cocktail, Wondrich would try to find the first written account of the drink – usually in a newspaper article or cocktail manual – and then search other newspaper and magazine articles to see if the drink had been mentioned anywhere else, and when. He also had to do a lot of fact-checking when it came to bar manuals, because a lot of them were thrown together quickly to make an easy buck, and used recipes that were modified or straight-up copied from other books. Professional bullshitters, remember.
That being said, the book is so in-depth and the research is so thorough that it gets repetitive, fast. My eyes started to glaze over by the time I was reading the recipe for the fifth historical variation of a Manhattan, and I still could not tell you the difference between a daisy and a sling.
What saves the book from being a total slog is, first, the stories Wondrich tells are just plain great – bartenders are, by and large, very interesting people, and this has been true since humans first discovered that drinking fermented grain water made parties way more fun. And Wondrich’s writing is clear and engaging, full of great lines like this that just sing:
“One must assume that Thomas took up his proper station behind the bar and set to doling out horns of panther sweat to the begrimed and hairy multitudes.”
And, talking about the Floradora cocktail:
“If ever there was a show that demanded to be commemorated with a drink, and preferably a fragrant, slightly silly one that hits like a roll of quarters in a clutch purse, it was this one.”
Definitely recommended for cocktail geeks, professional and aspiring mixologists, or just anyone who wants to learn how to mix some really good old-school drinks.
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent was the first in-depth exploration of that time period that I ever read, and it showed me how passing one simple law created a ripple effect that extended much further than I’d ever imagined (to give just one example, Prohibition and women’s suffrage are way more closely linked than you might expect, and we probably couldn’t have had one without the other). Drinking culture throughout history is history, and it’s really interesting for me to learn how and why people drank the way they did at certain points in time. Add that to the fact that the former manager at my job kept a reprint of a 1917 bartender’s manual behind the bar for the staff to look through, and I was itching to read some more cocktail history. Jim Meehan’s Meehan’s Bartender Manual discussed David Wondrich’s book at length, so I decided that I needed to read that next.
Trying to tackle the history of the cocktail in America is a tall order, to say the least, so Wondrich centers his book on one historicial, almost legendary bartender named Jerry Thomas, and uses his journey across the bars of America as the focal point to explore the history of drinking in America, from the colonies in the 18th century to Prohibition.
If nothing else, you have to appreciate the amount of research that went into this book, and how difficult it must have been. Many, many drink recipes are lost to history because they were never written down, or the recipes have disappeared, or the formula went through so many different rewrites that we have no idea what the original looked like. So much of what went on in the saloons and hotel bars of early America was not being recorded in any way, so there are huge gaps in our knowledge. (Apparently old-timey bartenders had a way of mixing drinks where they would rapidly throw the liquor back and forth between two glasses, and even though it was such common practice that it’s documented in multiple sources, modern bartenders can’t figure out how it was done). Also, bartenders have always and will always be professional bullshitters, so any story about the origin of a particular drink is almost certainly a total fabrication. (True story: a bartender once tried to tell me that the Bloody Mary is named for Queen Mary I of England, because vodka and tomato juice was her favorite drink, and it would take me another review just to unpack all the things wrong with that statement). To research the history of a cocktail, Wondrich would try to find the first written account of the drink – usually in a newspaper article or cocktail manual – and then search other newspaper and magazine articles to see if the drink had been mentioned anywhere else, and when. He also had to do a lot of fact-checking when it came to bar manuals, because a lot of them were thrown together quickly to make an easy buck, and used recipes that were modified or straight-up copied from other books. Professional bullshitters, remember.
That being said, the book is so in-depth and the research is so thorough that it gets repetitive, fast. My eyes started to glaze over by the time I was reading the recipe for the fifth historical variation of a Manhattan, and I still could not tell you the difference between a daisy and a sling.
What saves the book from being a total slog is, first, the stories Wondrich tells are just plain great – bartenders are, by and large, very interesting people, and this has been true since humans first discovered that drinking fermented grain water made parties way more fun. And Wondrich’s writing is clear and engaging, full of great lines like this that just sing:
“One must assume that Thomas took up his proper station behind the bar and set to doling out horns of panther sweat to the begrimed and hairy multitudes.”
And, talking about the Floradora cocktail:
“If ever there was a show that demanded to be commemorated with a drink, and preferably a fragrant, slightly silly one that hits like a roll of quarters in a clutch purse, it was this one.”
Definitely recommended for cocktail geeks, professional and aspiring mixologists, or just anyone who wants to learn how to mix some really good old-school drinks.
September 11, 2012
On April 3rd, 2009 I had my first ever real cocktail. Sure I'd had mixed drinks before, on the level of "Jack and Coke" or "vodka and orange juice" but on that fateful day almost three and a half years ago I sat down at the bar at the just-barely-opened Cure in New Orleans and ordered a Sazerac. I had no idea what I was asking for other than that there was a decent bit of whiskey and a hint of absinthe involved. I won't say that the skies opened up and golden light poured down because that would be an exaggeration but it wouldn't be going too far to say that that day I became a convert to the art of making a fine mixed drink.
I didn't typically frequent bars - whiskey is cheaper at home - but because of various fortuitous circumstances I was able to while away many (many) hours at Cure without destroying my life savings. Whether or not I truly intended to I ended up picking up some fundamentals of good drink-making by osmosis. Okay, osmosis and a lot of direct ingestion and dozens of questions and the help of some incredibly friendly and patient bartenders.
Three years of drinking at one of the best bars in the United States - and almost exclusively at that bar - left me in a position that when I finally picked up this book and started leafing through it I was initially underwhelmed. "Yes, yes, of course, of course, why would you do it any other way, right, right, of course, yes," and so on - because almost everything I know about cocktails came from people doing it right ...
... which they would have had a harder time doing if Wondrich hadn't put out this book in 2007.
Okay, I don't mean to imply that Wondrich personally kick-started the craft cocktail renaissance - that'd be a ludicrous assertion. Without DeGroff, Regan, Haigh ... you know what, I'm going to stop there for fear of leaving out an important name. Point is that Imbibe is not the original cocktail history book but it is a fantastic one - well-researched, informative, and easy to understand. Wondrich gives great detail on all the recipes, ingredients, conversions, modern substitutions, how-to, theory, and history. The three pages on the etymology of the word "cocktail" alone were worth the purchase price of the book (for me, at least, living in the area where everyone still accepts the [coquetier / egg cup] theory as gospel). It's made it easier for everyone - from professionals down to dilettantes like me - to understand the how and why of making a classic drink.
Long story short: if you want to understand the history of the cocktail as an art and from what sepia-toned history the fundamentals grew, pick up this book and right away. If you don't then you'd probably find this book repetitive as well as boring. It's a niche text for sure, but a lovingly-researched and humorously-written one.
I didn't typically frequent bars - whiskey is cheaper at home - but because of various fortuitous circumstances I was able to while away many (many) hours at Cure without destroying my life savings. Whether or not I truly intended to I ended up picking up some fundamentals of good drink-making by osmosis. Okay, osmosis and a lot of direct ingestion and dozens of questions and the help of some incredibly friendly and patient bartenders.
Three years of drinking at one of the best bars in the United States - and almost exclusively at that bar - left me in a position that when I finally picked up this book and started leafing through it I was initially underwhelmed. "Yes, yes, of course, of course, why would you do it any other way, right, right, of course, yes," and so on - because almost everything I know about cocktails came from people doing it right ...
... which they would have had a harder time doing if Wondrich hadn't put out this book in 2007.
Okay, I don't mean to imply that Wondrich personally kick-started the craft cocktail renaissance - that'd be a ludicrous assertion. Without DeGroff, Regan, Haigh ... you know what, I'm going to stop there for fear of leaving out an important name. Point is that Imbibe is not the original cocktail history book but it is a fantastic one - well-researched, informative, and easy to understand. Wondrich gives great detail on all the recipes, ingredients, conversions, modern substitutions, how-to, theory, and history. The three pages on the etymology of the word "cocktail" alone were worth the purchase price of the book (for me, at least, living in the area where everyone still accepts the [coquetier / egg cup] theory as gospel). It's made it easier for everyone - from professionals down to dilettantes like me - to understand the how and why of making a classic drink.
Long story short: if you want to understand the history of the cocktail as an art and from what sepia-toned history the fundamentals grew, pick up this book and right away. If you don't then you'd probably find this book repetitive as well as boring. It's a niche text for sure, but a lovingly-researched and humorously-written one.
May 19, 2017
It took me 309 days to finish this. It was a slog. The writing was at times convoluted. The required ingredients pricey and sometimes unobtainable. I suppose I learned some stuff, but I didn't enjoy it.
November 24, 2015
Der verrückte Professor
Es gibt Koryphäen, die ihr Fachgebiet geprägt haben. Ihre Namen sind mit dem Gebiet auf ewig verbunden, teilweise bis zur Synonymität. Jerry Thomas ist eine dieser Koryphäen – wer sich auch nur ansatzweise mit der Wissenschaft der Mixologie auseinandersetzt, trifft ziemlich schnell auf seinen Namen. Er ist der Roger Federer der Mixkunst, der Pelé der Mischgetränke, der Muhammad Ali des Cocktails. Was machte ihn so besonders? Er war einer der ersten Bartender, die das Potenzial von Cocktails (man hatte damals aber ein sehr viel differenzierendes Vokabular für Mischgetränke hatte als das generische Schlagwort “Cocktail” wie heute) erkannten, und entsprechend brachte er ein Buch heraus, das nicht nur mit simplen Rezepten, sondern mit einer Taxonomie und einem logischem Aufbau aufwarten konnte; daher gilt er als der Vater der Mixologie, also der rationalen Studie des Mischgetränks.
David Wondrich hat sich mit seinen Büchern und seinen Artikeln über geschichtliche Aspekte der Mixologie einen Ruf als Cocktailhistoriker erworben. In dem kurz und knackig betitelten Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to “Professor” Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar, das noch den Untertitel Featuring the Original Formulae for 100 Classic American Drinks and a Selection of New Drinks Contributed in his Honor by the Leading Mixologists of our Time trägt, erinnert Wondrich uns an diesen Heroen hinter der Theke, dessen Rezepte und Vorgehensweise beim Mixen bis heute nachwirken.
Selbstverständlich handelt es sich nicht einfach nur (aber auch!) um eine kommentierte Neuausgabe von Jerry Thomas’ How to Mix Drinks: Or, The Bon-vivant’s Companion, sondern um eine Untersuchung der damaligen Cocktailkultur. Andere legendäre Bartender der Zeit, wie George J. Kappeler, William T. “Cocktail” Boothby oder Harry Johnson dürfen auch Rezepte und Anekdoten beisteuern, und zeigen, dass Thomas zwar ein Titan seiner Zunft war, aber beileibe nicht in einem Vakuum lebte.
Historische Umstände, wie die erstaunliche Bedeutung der leichteren Erhältlichkeit von Eis ab den 1830ern für Cocktails, werden von Wondrich ebenso analysiert wie etymologische Grundlagen (warum wurde der John Collins zum Tom Collins? Woher kommt der Begriff “Cocktail”?) oder Veränderungen von Geschmacksvorlieben – ich nenne nur das Stichwort “Zucker”, der damals gern pfundweise in Mischgetränke gegeben wurde. Wichtig für alle Freunde von aktuell so hippen Gincocktails: Damals war Holland gin, heute als Genever bekannt, der Gin der Wahl, nicht die heute den Markt überschwemmenden Ausprägungen des London Dry Gin. Inzwischen habe ich mich auch mit Genever auseinandergesetzt: Diese malzige, gereifte Art des Gin kann sogar mich als Ginskeptiker überzeugen.
In mixohistorischen Kreisen wird gern die Genese zwei der bedeutendsten Cocktails, des Manhattan und des Martini, diskutiert und mit Legenden ausgeschmückt – Wondrich untersucht die Legenden und erläutert, warum manche davon nicht wahr sein können. Wie so oft ist die Wahrheit bei weitem nicht so spektakulär wie die erfundene Geschichte, sondern sogar recht prosaisch.
Stilistisch kann mich David Wondrich voll überzeugen: Er ist ein sehr eloquenter, äußerst humorvoller und kluger Schwaller, der mit vielen exquisiten und ausgefallenen Formulierungen dem eh schon feuchtfröhlichen Thema noch den letzten Kick gibt, wie wenn er den Dry Martini als einen “fiery chalice of unmixed tanglefoot” beschreibt.
Ich bin schon vor diesem Buch ein großer Fan dieser einfachen, frühen Cocktails gewesen. Das Buch bestärkt mich darin, dass es oft die kleinen, scheinbar so simplen Mixturen sind, die, wenn mit Verve und Qualitätszutaten hergestellt, den besten Effekt im Glas bieten. Dass sie damals auch deutlich nach Alkohol schmecken durften, etwas, das in den 80ern und 90ern nicht mehr so gern gesehen war, stellt er klar – gottseidank ist die moderne Barkultur wieder offen dafür.
Wer mehr über die damalige Alkoholkonsumgesellschaft wissen will, die mit Alkoholgeschmack sehr gut umgehen konnte, kann sich gern bei Ian Williams weiter einlesen.
Zu Ehren des Professors habe ich mir dann auch heute einen dieser rezepttechnisch einfachen Cocktails, die kräftig nach Schnaps schmecken, aus diesem Buch hergestellt, und zwar den, den Jerry Thomas höchstselbst erfunden hat: Den Buck and Breck. Eine etwas aufwändige Herstellung und spektakuläre Präsentation zeigt, dass die Show schon für Thomas klar dazugehörte; er war vielleicht auch der erste Flair bartender.
Buck and Breck
1½ oz Cognac (z.B. Hennessy VS, Wondrich empfiehlt allerdings VSOP)
1 Spritzer Absinthe (z.B. Absinthe Emanuelle)
2 Spritzer Angostura
1 oz Crémant (z.B. Wolfberger Crémant)
In einem Glas, das mit Zitronensaft ausgespült und mit Puderzucker ausgekleidet ist, servieren
Sehr wertvoll finde ich Wondrich’s erläuterte Mengenangaben zu all den Rezepten: bei den notorisch vielfältigen und ungenauen Maßangaben der Originalbücher muss man schon vertiefte Ingenieurskenntnisse haben, um diese so nachzubauen, wie sie beabsichtigt waren.
Ein wirklich spannendes, unterhaltsames und lehrreiches Buch. Wondrich hat noch weitere Bücher auf Lager, die ich mir garantiert noch zu Gemüte führen werde. Doch erstmal gibts jetzt einen Gin Rickey gegen den schlimmen Durst vom ganzen Rezensieren.
Es gibt Koryphäen, die ihr Fachgebiet geprägt haben. Ihre Namen sind mit dem Gebiet auf ewig verbunden, teilweise bis zur Synonymität. Jerry Thomas ist eine dieser Koryphäen – wer sich auch nur ansatzweise mit der Wissenschaft der Mixologie auseinandersetzt, trifft ziemlich schnell auf seinen Namen. Er ist der Roger Federer der Mixkunst, der Pelé der Mischgetränke, der Muhammad Ali des Cocktails. Was machte ihn so besonders? Er war einer der ersten Bartender, die das Potenzial von Cocktails (man hatte damals aber ein sehr viel differenzierendes Vokabular für Mischgetränke hatte als das generische Schlagwort “Cocktail” wie heute) erkannten, und entsprechend brachte er ein Buch heraus, das nicht nur mit simplen Rezepten, sondern mit einer Taxonomie und einem logischem Aufbau aufwarten konnte; daher gilt er als der Vater der Mixologie, also der rationalen Studie des Mischgetränks.
David Wondrich hat sich mit seinen Büchern und seinen Artikeln über geschichtliche Aspekte der Mixologie einen Ruf als Cocktailhistoriker erworben. In dem kurz und knackig betitelten Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to “Professor” Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar, das noch den Untertitel Featuring the Original Formulae for 100 Classic American Drinks and a Selection of New Drinks Contributed in his Honor by the Leading Mixologists of our Time trägt, erinnert Wondrich uns an diesen Heroen hinter der Theke, dessen Rezepte und Vorgehensweise beim Mixen bis heute nachwirken.
Selbstverständlich handelt es sich nicht einfach nur (aber auch!) um eine kommentierte Neuausgabe von Jerry Thomas’ How to Mix Drinks: Or, The Bon-vivant’s Companion, sondern um eine Untersuchung der damaligen Cocktailkultur. Andere legendäre Bartender der Zeit, wie George J. Kappeler, William T. “Cocktail” Boothby oder Harry Johnson dürfen auch Rezepte und Anekdoten beisteuern, und zeigen, dass Thomas zwar ein Titan seiner Zunft war, aber beileibe nicht in einem Vakuum lebte.
Historische Umstände, wie die erstaunliche Bedeutung der leichteren Erhältlichkeit von Eis ab den 1830ern für Cocktails, werden von Wondrich ebenso analysiert wie etymologische Grundlagen (warum wurde der John Collins zum Tom Collins? Woher kommt der Begriff “Cocktail”?) oder Veränderungen von Geschmacksvorlieben – ich nenne nur das Stichwort “Zucker”, der damals gern pfundweise in Mischgetränke gegeben wurde. Wichtig für alle Freunde von aktuell so hippen Gincocktails: Damals war Holland gin, heute als Genever bekannt, der Gin der Wahl, nicht die heute den Markt überschwemmenden Ausprägungen des London Dry Gin. Inzwischen habe ich mich auch mit Genever auseinandergesetzt: Diese malzige, gereifte Art des Gin kann sogar mich als Ginskeptiker überzeugen.
In mixohistorischen Kreisen wird gern die Genese zwei der bedeutendsten Cocktails, des Manhattan und des Martini, diskutiert und mit Legenden ausgeschmückt – Wondrich untersucht die Legenden und erläutert, warum manche davon nicht wahr sein können. Wie so oft ist die Wahrheit bei weitem nicht so spektakulär wie die erfundene Geschichte, sondern sogar recht prosaisch.
Stilistisch kann mich David Wondrich voll überzeugen: Er ist ein sehr eloquenter, äußerst humorvoller und kluger Schwaller, der mit vielen exquisiten und ausgefallenen Formulierungen dem eh schon feuchtfröhlichen Thema noch den letzten Kick gibt, wie wenn er den Dry Martini als einen “fiery chalice of unmixed tanglefoot” beschreibt.
Ich bin schon vor diesem Buch ein großer Fan dieser einfachen, frühen Cocktails gewesen. Das Buch bestärkt mich darin, dass es oft die kleinen, scheinbar so simplen Mixturen sind, die, wenn mit Verve und Qualitätszutaten hergestellt, den besten Effekt im Glas bieten. Dass sie damals auch deutlich nach Alkohol schmecken durften, etwas, das in den 80ern und 90ern nicht mehr so gern gesehen war, stellt er klar – gottseidank ist die moderne Barkultur wieder offen dafür.
The resulting drinks were also delicious, but they demanded a consumer who was acclimatized to the taste of liquor and knew how to stow it away.
Wer mehr über die damalige Alkoholkonsumgesellschaft wissen will, die mit Alkoholgeschmack sehr gut umgehen konnte, kann sich gern bei Ian Williams weiter einlesen.
Zu Ehren des Professors habe ich mir dann auch heute einen dieser rezepttechnisch einfachen Cocktails, die kräftig nach Schnaps schmecken, aus diesem Buch hergestellt, und zwar den, den Jerry Thomas höchstselbst erfunden hat: Den Buck and Breck. Eine etwas aufwändige Herstellung und spektakuläre Präsentation zeigt, dass die Show schon für Thomas klar dazugehörte; er war vielleicht auch der erste Flair bartender.
Buck and Breck
1½ oz Cognac (z.B. Hennessy VS, Wondrich empfiehlt allerdings VSOP)
1 Spritzer Absinthe (z.B. Absinthe Emanuelle)
2 Spritzer Angostura
1 oz Crémant (z.B. Wolfberger Crémant)
In einem Glas, das mit Zitronensaft ausgespült und mit Puderzucker ausgekleidet ist, servieren
Sehr wertvoll finde ich Wondrich’s erläuterte Mengenangaben zu all den Rezepten: bei den notorisch vielfältigen und ungenauen Maßangaben der Originalbücher muss man schon vertiefte Ingenieurskenntnisse haben, um diese so nachzubauen, wie sie beabsichtigt waren.
Ein wirklich spannendes, unterhaltsames und lehrreiches Buch. Wondrich hat noch weitere Bücher auf Lager, die ich mir garantiert noch zu Gemüte führen werde. Doch erstmal gibts jetzt einen Gin Rickey gegen den schlimmen Durst vom ganzen Rezensieren.
March 25, 2023
Es una gran lectura si te gusta conocer sobre la historia de la coctelería. Tiene, además recetas de clásicos que nunca fallan.
Es, por sobretodo, un libro de historia que por momentos se puede poner un poquito denso. Pero vale la pena porque a partir de esto se entiende el racional detrás de muchas creaciones.
Recomendado para aquellos apasionados por el mundo de la gastronomía.
Es, por sobretodo, un libro de historia que por momentos se puede poner un poquito denso. Pero vale la pena porque a partir de esto se entiende el racional detrás de muchas creaciones.
Recomendado para aquellos apasionados por el mundo de la gastronomía.
October 14, 2016
This book is a fascinating read about the first "celebrity bartender" Jerry Thomas and a hands-on approach to early cocktail culture. More than just a historical depiction, it tells the story of Thomas through Thomas' own drink recipes and the history behind each. It's part salute to the cocktail and part bartenders bible. Would recommend a permanent place behind every bar for reference and cocktail list idea generator. Reading a chapter on Martinis influenced the Aviation Blonde Martini at Eleven. Recipe as follows:
Aviation Blonde (based on classic cocktail The Aviation)
3/4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1 1/2 oz Broker's gin
1 1/2 tsp Luxardo maraschino liqueur
absinthe rinse (pour 1/2 oz absinthe into glass, swirl in glass and throw out)
1 tsp simple syrup
Aviation Blonde (based on classic cocktail The Aviation)
3/4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1 1/2 oz Broker's gin
1 1/2 tsp Luxardo maraschino liqueur
absinthe rinse (pour 1/2 oz absinthe into glass, swirl in glass and throw out)
1 tsp simple syrup
August 23, 2019
As in his other major book, Punch, when Mr Wondrich has his historian's cap on, it is abundantly clear that he possesses the academic triple-threat of research, synthesis, and articulation. When he acts as a technical consultant, his research and synthesis is just as strong, but he becomes a bit too casual in his wordcrafting, and in a couple recipes, it's almost as hard to deduce what he's recommending as it is to interpret the original nineteenth-century recipe.
N.b. Perfect or not, Imbibe! is for good reason one of the landmark works of the field and should by no means be omitted from any cocktail reading list.
N.b. Perfect or not, Imbibe! is for good reason one of the landmark works of the field and should by no means be omitted from any cocktail reading list.
April 10, 2011
This book is much more of a historical record or reference book than a book to sit down and read cover-to-cover. Full of great information and interesting historical tidbits, it is a page turner for the aspiring mixologist, but for the casual tippler like myself, I just can't stay glued to a book that spends pages speculating on London Dry vs. Holland gins. Still, having said that, I do kind of look forward to trying my hand at a few of these recipes in the future.
August 19, 2023
Good book, but it took me awhile to realize it shouldn’t be read like a book. It’s part cookbook (with the recipes) and part history, but not consistently. That’s perfectly fine, as not every drink has either a fairly well-documented history (like the Old Fashioned) or a mysterious origin story (like the Martini/Martinez). I found it useful to read it like you’d drink a cocktail—some consumption, some consideration, and more consumption, but not too much in one sitting.
May 19, 2015
I give the content 5 stars -- it really is a wonderful historical compendium that can be relied on to try out some classic and long lost drink recipes -- but do not care much for Wondrich's writing style, which is very dense and affected. Filigreed sentences in top hats and tails may be appropriate given the topic and time period, but I find myself zoning out. I wonder if I'll ever finish it.
October 22, 2012
This is the gold standard in the field of cocktail history. On one hand, it's a modern translation of Jerry Thomas' 1862 bon vivant's companion. On the other hand, it's a well-researched history of the cocktail movement pre-prohibition. Not meant to be read as an introductory text..read something by Dale DeGroff or Gary Regan first.
January 19, 2022
Very fun read!
August 31, 2025
Premier book on American cocktail history, well written. Recommend to anyone in the beverage industry or any hobbyist.
April 8, 2018
A beautifully written and endlessly entertaining tribute to the illustrious history and enduring legacy of American mixology. David Wondrich's elegant and witty writing, accompanied by period illustrations, is the perfect celebratory time for those willing to immerse themselves in the finest that Gilded Age America had to offer: the cocktail.
And why focus so heartily on the drinking habits of yesteryear? As Wondrich states: "The old days were hard, but the people who lived them found ways of making them tolerable."
And why focus so heartily on the drinking habits of yesteryear? As Wondrich states: "The old days were hard, but the people who lived them found ways of making them tolerable."
December 15, 2022
Perhaps too much of a good thing. There's some extremely interesting information, but there's also a lot of repetition, digressions, and filler.
December 30, 2022
An excellent summation of American cocktail making in the lead up to Prohibition told with an exquisite turn of phrase
October 10, 2023
Leuk boek over het ontstaan van cocktails in America voor de drooglegging met leuke recepten die ik zeker ga proberen. Veel dingen geleerd die ik nog niet wist.
February 26, 2022
Update: I wrote the review below one month ago, and in the intervening time, I’ve had the occasion to hang with some mixologists and alchemists, and I discovered that the writing style that was a bit of a put-off then ultimately made the content stick. I found myself far more conversant about classic drinks than I thought I would be and with a greater instinct for improvisation among the spirits. The home bar has a lot more in it now. So up by two stars I go.
The January selection for Literati's "Finding Wonder" book club, brought to you (or me, rather) by Atlas Obscura. Last December, we had the pleasure of visiting Max's South Seas Hideaway in Grand Rapids on our anniversary weekend. It was a fantastic place to revel in a host of mid-century cocktails, and the menu had wonderful historical vignettes. Chatting with the bartenders revealed more fun insights about their craft and how the drinks they were producing evolved from their original incarnations. I expected this book to be a bit like that, and to an extent, it was. However, the chatty, exuberant, and Falstaffian quality of the writing is more entertaining in conversation with a mixologist (which I learned here is an old word indeed, not a 21st century coinage) in person. On the page, it just feels affected. There's an inside baseball quality to much of the writing, and at times felt like the expectation was for the reader to have familiarity with a rogue's gallery of 19th century swells and sporting types, as well as operational definitions for several of the cocktail types. Not until well past the halfway point does the historical narrative take on a more traditional linear trajectory that helps the non-specialist reader grasp the context around the material presented in the prior chapters. For my money, it works better as a boisterous reference book, to dig into for a recipe or guidance as needed, rather than a straight-through read.
The January selection for Literati's "Finding Wonder" book club, brought to you (or me, rather) by Atlas Obscura. Last December, we had the pleasure of visiting Max's South Seas Hideaway in Grand Rapids on our anniversary weekend. It was a fantastic place to revel in a host of mid-century cocktails, and the menu had wonderful historical vignettes. Chatting with the bartenders revealed more fun insights about their craft and how the drinks they were producing evolved from their original incarnations. I expected this book to be a bit like that, and to an extent, it was. However, the chatty, exuberant, and Falstaffian quality of the writing is more entertaining in conversation with a mixologist (which I learned here is an old word indeed, not a 21st century coinage) in person. On the page, it just feels affected. There's an inside baseball quality to much of the writing, and at times felt like the expectation was for the reader to have familiarity with a rogue's gallery of 19th century swells and sporting types, as well as operational definitions for several of the cocktail types. Not until well past the halfway point does the historical narrative take on a more traditional linear trajectory that helps the non-specialist reader grasp the context around the material presented in the prior chapters. For my money, it works better as a boisterous reference book, to dig into for a recipe or guidance as needed, rather than a straight-through read.
May 14, 2009
Great book covering the early days of American cocktail mixing, writing and drinking, from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. Lots of interesting cocktail recipes, with discussions about how they came about, what the ingredients were like and what some variations might have been. He tracks down the earliest mentions of many of them, and tries to pin down the inventors, with varying degrees of success.
I also really liked the discussion of early bar tools and what the liquor was like back then. Sadly, the most glaring ingredient that isn't available at all any more is "Old Tom Gin", which was, presumably, a sweeter, heavier gin than the "London Dry" we have today. Another very hard to get gin is the Holland Gin, which is a genever of even thicker purpotions. It's good to see that a real Plymouth gin is more widely available these days. Wonder if any of the boutique distillers will take a crack at an Old Tom gin?
While I enjoyed the recipes, I have to say that for some reason, I found them very hard to follow. I think part of it is that he uses the original quotes from the various groundbreaking books of the day, which means the measures are much more vague. While he puts equivalents in, I'm still not sure if they are exact equivalents or his adjustments to the recipes. And while he more clearly describes each, I think he goes back and forth himself as to which way the reporting is done.
Other than that minor nitpick, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was wonderfully colorful, with an almost 19th century feel to it. You can tell Wondrich really loves his research! I'm dying to try some of the recipes. As a bonus, there's a very nice appendix on his online research notes and I'm going to be looking into all of them.
I also really liked the discussion of early bar tools and what the liquor was like back then. Sadly, the most glaring ingredient that isn't available at all any more is "Old Tom Gin", which was, presumably, a sweeter, heavier gin than the "London Dry" we have today. Another very hard to get gin is the Holland Gin, which is a genever of even thicker purpotions. It's good to see that a real Plymouth gin is more widely available these days. Wonder if any of the boutique distillers will take a crack at an Old Tom gin?
While I enjoyed the recipes, I have to say that for some reason, I found them very hard to follow. I think part of it is that he uses the original quotes from the various groundbreaking books of the day, which means the measures are much more vague. While he puts equivalents in, I'm still not sure if they are exact equivalents or his adjustments to the recipes. And while he more clearly describes each, I think he goes back and forth himself as to which way the reporting is done.
Other than that minor nitpick, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was wonderfully colorful, with an almost 19th century feel to it. You can tell Wondrich really loves his research! I'm dying to try some of the recipes. As a bonus, there's a very nice appendix on his online research notes and I'm going to be looking into all of them.
December 13, 2012
As far as history goes, nothing is as murky as the history of specific types of foods and beverages. Consider, for example, the chili cheese dog or the margarita. Most mixed drinks have about eighteen different people who claim to have invented them. Bullshit origin stories abound on the web, and some of these tall tales are printed with gravitas in actual reference books. I guess it makes sense. I mean who wouldn't want to lay claim on inventing the margarita?
Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar soothes my soul by reconciling the two parts of my character, the bon vivant and the extreme nerd. Not only is this book all about booze, but it's also packed with arcane information. Better yet, Wondrich actually explains how he came by the arcane information. In other words, he doesn't just state facts, he also debunks all the stories he sifted through in order to get to them. Sometimes Wondrich falls into the trap of taking the whole mixology business a little too seriously, but he also has a great eye for the idiosyncrasies of history, and most of the text is quite funny. Also, it's loaded with good drink recipes. And if Wondrich is a little too serious about the art of the cocktail sometimes, I can forgive him. Drinking is a serious business, is it not?
Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar soothes my soul by reconciling the two parts of my character, the bon vivant and the extreme nerd. Not only is this book all about booze, but it's also packed with arcane information. Better yet, Wondrich actually explains how he came by the arcane information. In other words, he doesn't just state facts, he also debunks all the stories he sifted through in order to get to them. Sometimes Wondrich falls into the trap of taking the whole mixology business a little too seriously, but he also has a great eye for the idiosyncrasies of history, and most of the text is quite funny. Also, it's loaded with good drink recipes. And if Wondrich is a little too serious about the art of the cocktail sometimes, I can forgive him. Drinking is a serious business, is it not?
September 7, 2023
There lived heroes before Agamemnon,
Yet all unwept in shadow lie, for want
Of poets to enshrine their deeds in song.
-- Horace
February 1, 2022
I feel like I give a lot of books four stars, but the reasons vary widely. This book gives me a whole new reason.
First the positive: Wondrich is a great storyteller, and hits just the right balance of a deep dive into history peppered with funny lines and light observations. If I could've stopped myself from reading every recipe I probably would've flown through this book. It's a bit of history that I've never given much thought. If you asked me when the Manhattan was invented for instance I'd have absolutely no idea. I also didn't know there were so many key figures in the development of the cocktail. I went down a good number of rabbit holes looking up old hotels and people.
The downside though is that there are a LOT of recipes, and after a while they all seem to be the same recipe. Maybe this one has a different bitters or has a twist of lemon but it's the same as the last one. Oh, this one introduces absinthe to the last one. I do think having the recipes in the flow of the text is preferable to constantly flipping back and forth to an appendix, but there could've been some efficiency here for the sake of readability. In spite of myself I was counting pages at the end instead of enjoying it as much as I should've.
This goes on the bookshelf though for future reference if we ever have a bar to start experimenting with some of the more interesting drinks.
First the positive: Wondrich is a great storyteller, and hits just the right balance of a deep dive into history peppered with funny lines and light observations. If I could've stopped myself from reading every recipe I probably would've flown through this book. It's a bit of history that I've never given much thought. If you asked me when the Manhattan was invented for instance I'd have absolutely no idea. I also didn't know there were so many key figures in the development of the cocktail. I went down a good number of rabbit holes looking up old hotels and people.
The downside though is that there are a LOT of recipes, and after a while they all seem to be the same recipe. Maybe this one has a different bitters or has a twist of lemon but it's the same as the last one. Oh, this one introduces absinthe to the last one. I do think having the recipes in the flow of the text is preferable to constantly flipping back and forth to an appendix, but there could've been some efficiency here for the sake of readability. In spite of myself I was counting pages at the end instead of enjoying it as much as I should've.
This goes on the bookshelf though for future reference if we ever have a bar to start experimenting with some of the more interesting drinks.
January 31, 2022
Read as the January selection of the Atlas Obscura book club.
I can safely say I would never have picked up this reference guide/micro-history on pre-Prohibition Era mixed drinks on my own. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to reading what looked mostly like a recipe book, but I’m glad I did because it was fascinating.
The short histories of common life in 19th century America, centered around the bar room and the people who populated it, were often hilarious and always interesting. I like history books like these, whose subjects are narrowly focused and feature insight into day-to-day living for most people (a break from the deep dives into events and movements that feature the wealthy and the powerful). I learned a lot about American culture at the turn of the last century and how it compares with our lives now (unsurprisingly, very similar).
I will say that I wonder how many people have a pallet discerning enough to find all the different permutations of “sugar, alcohol, water, and lemon” endlessly interesting. And I wouldn’t recommend it as a narrative read - though I don’t think it was really intended to be read that way.
But I would recommend it to anyone interested in 19th century America or the current craft cocktail movement/revival. So…a lot of dudes with mustaches and hipster vests, I guess?
I can safely say I would never have picked up this reference guide/micro-history on pre-Prohibition Era mixed drinks on my own. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to reading what looked mostly like a recipe book, but I’m glad I did because it was fascinating.
The short histories of common life in 19th century America, centered around the bar room and the people who populated it, were often hilarious and always interesting. I like history books like these, whose subjects are narrowly focused and feature insight into day-to-day living for most people (a break from the deep dives into events and movements that feature the wealthy and the powerful). I learned a lot about American culture at the turn of the last century and how it compares with our lives now (unsurprisingly, very similar).
I will say that I wonder how many people have a pallet discerning enough to find all the different permutations of “sugar, alcohol, water, and lemon” endlessly interesting. And I wouldn’t recommend it as a narrative read - though I don’t think it was really intended to be read that way.
But I would recommend it to anyone interested in 19th century America or the current craft cocktail movement/revival. So…a lot of dudes with mustaches and hipster vests, I guess?
September 10, 2013
9-4-13. I haven't finished but this is clearly a 5-star read: I love the history, the subject, the style of language: densely authoritative, with a lovely wit that doesn't distract from the details. I find it fascinating that our obsession for information in this age, at least as far as recipes and technique, was disregarded in theirs, in favor of imbibing rather than documenting. Perhaps you could say it was the age of living in the moment, being present and all that, but it's alcohol, so . . . anyway, from the evolution of bar tools to the ambiguous-to-this-day origins of the term and definition of "cocktail" to the bartender whose life is mostly threads except for this opportunity he had to write a recipe book for the ages, this book is filled with fascinating stories and conjectures. If I had a time machine, I know I'd go back just to see Professor Thomas in action.
9-10.
Such a delicious read.
9-10.
Such a delicious read.
January 3, 2022
Excellent historical treatise on the drinks of the mid-1800s up to the Prohibition era. The amount of work that went into chasing down the history of all the different drinks such as cobblers, smashes, slings, and cocktails is nothing short of amazing. As someone who has done some bartending and managed restaurants and bars, it put some things in context that puzzled me for years such as some of the standard stocked liquors that never seem to get used. Apparently, they are relics of by-gone drinks. It was also interesting to see the differences between what a drink was originally and what its modern version looks like. I did not make any of the recipes, but I will be trying a few in the near future. I will say that the book probably works best if you read the big historical narratives and then scan through the drinks that you find most interesting as reading each drink in detail can be a bit of a slog. This will stay on my cocktails reference shelf.
November 11, 2012
I recently relocated from Pittsburgh, Pa to Leeds. Pittsburgh, during my final years there, had finally caught on to the craft cocktail craze, and I was pleasured to be a customer of some of the finest mixologists the nation had to offer. Once here, I found myself missing their delectable creations and needed to resort to shaking my own (or stirring depending on the ingredients).
This book, recommended to me by one miss Maggie Meskey (of Salt of the Earth fame). is terrific. Not only is it full of fantastic recipes from the pre-prohibition golden age of the cocktail, but they are all spun into a thrilling narrative of the life of Jerry Thomas, legendary sailor turned bartender who invented or popularised many perennial favourites.
If you like to drink (and who doesn't like to drink?) I'd give it a shot. pun intended.
This book, recommended to me by one miss Maggie Meskey (of Salt of the Earth fame). is terrific. Not only is it full of fantastic recipes from the pre-prohibition golden age of the cocktail, but they are all spun into a thrilling narrative of the life of Jerry Thomas, legendary sailor turned bartender who invented or popularised many perennial favourites.
If you like to drink (and who doesn't like to drink?) I'd give it a shot. pun intended.
October 5, 2021
From a newbie cocktail enthusiast *and* a person with truly zero interest in the era this book covered (early Americana), this was still a very engaging and clearly well-researched read.
Recipes are clearly true to their sources and in many cases a bit out of step with modern day norms like simple syrup, but it all still provides a thorough basis for understanding how mixed drinks came into being and then transmuted into all their varying forms today.
One of my favorite quotes lends some color to the kind of "sporting man" who enjoyed drinking gin fizzes: "Of course, he was "the champion gin fizz drinker in America," as he used to bill himself while he went around the Williamsburg bars cadging drinks, so he was perhaps exceptional (and not an example to be emulated, seeing as he died from internal hemorrhaging after betting he could drink a Fizz and eat the glass, too)."
Recipes are clearly true to their sources and in many cases a bit out of step with modern day norms like simple syrup, but it all still provides a thorough basis for understanding how mixed drinks came into being and then transmuted into all their varying forms today.
One of my favorite quotes lends some color to the kind of "sporting man" who enjoyed drinking gin fizzes: "Of course, he was "the champion gin fizz drinker in America," as he used to bill himself while he went around the Williamsburg bars cadging drinks, so he was perhaps exceptional (and not an example to be emulated, seeing as he died from internal hemorrhaging after betting he could drink a Fizz and eat the glass, too)."
August 4, 2010
Although this was an interesting history of bartending and specific drinks, I put it down because I was losing interest. I don't fault the book for that, just that my desire to read it waned as I went on.
The author has done considerable research, and the book is equal parts history and recipes. Perhaps it would work better as a bar companion book, where you could learn how to make a drink while also learning some historical anecdotes about it. I enjoyed that there were notes for every drink about how to best replicate the historic drink using modern restrictions/conveniences.
I'm glad I read as much as I did, and I'm not at all adverse to reading more. I just didn't feel like continuing to read it straight-through like one would a normal book.
The author has done considerable research, and the book is equal parts history and recipes. Perhaps it would work better as a bar companion book, where you could learn how to make a drink while also learning some historical anecdotes about it. I enjoyed that there were notes for every drink about how to best replicate the historic drink using modern restrictions/conveniences.
I'm glad I read as much as I did, and I'm not at all adverse to reading more. I just didn't feel like continuing to read it straight-through like one would a normal book.
June 23, 2021
Wondrich does thorough research and is a delightful writer. The work to translate ingredients and measurements in cocktail recipes from the 19th century is extensive and has yielded wonderful results. He includes fun stories throughout. Ultimately, the book reads as a list of recipes, which is fine and great, but diminishes the reading experience somewhat. I also don't think I'll reproduce many of these old recipes as I find that the adaptations provided by others to suit the modern palate appeal to my modern palate more. These are small criticisms, however, as this is an enjoyable and valuable book for understanding how Americans created the cocktail.
January 22, 2022
This has been on my list for quite some time and I was finally able to get a copy from the library.
I liked the book. Wondrich has a distinct style that conveys a bit of informality without getting in the way of (or overwhelming) the substantive content.
There were a fair number of recipes, all of which benefit from Wondrich's "translation" of the ingredients and amounts so that they are useful to tipplers in 2022.
But I found the non-recipe information much more interesting. He provides a great deal of background on American culture as it intersects with alcohol and also introduces the reader to a lengthy list of bartenders who influenced (or documented) American drinking tastes.
I liked the book. Wondrich has a distinct style that conveys a bit of informality without getting in the way of (or overwhelming) the substantive content.
There were a fair number of recipes, all of which benefit from Wondrich's "translation" of the ingredients and amounts so that they are useful to tipplers in 2022.
But I found the non-recipe information much more interesting. He provides a great deal of background on American culture as it intersects with alcohol and also introduces the reader to a lengthy list of bartenders who influenced (or documented) American drinking tastes.
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