Author: Camper English
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Did the Original Cocktail Sauce Contain Angostura Bitters?
I am researching Prohibition and a search for “cocktails” in the San Francisco Chronicle turned up a story from 1920 on the origin of the “oyster cocktail” that I think is what today we call “cocktail sauce” that is used more on the shrimp cocktail. (I am a 30+ year vegetarian so I could be…
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A Good Bar Needs Good Ice
I gave some quotes about ice for a story on the website Shortlist. They also interviewed other people who are correct in saying that better ice makes a better drink, and that attention to quality of ice signifies attention to quality of cocktails. I have the final quote in the story, in response to the…
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November and December 2025 Drink Books
Below are new cocktails and spirits books coming out in the last months of 2025. To see all the drink books that have come out in 2025, click on over to this post.
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Camper English on the Curious Bartender Podcast
I was a guest on Tristan Stephenson’s The Curious Bartender Podcast last week, talking for nearly two hours about.. a lot of stuff. You can find the podcast on your favorite service from The Curious Bartender website, or to go directly to the YouTube video of it click here.
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From Blocks to Rocks: How Fancy Ice Cubes Get Made
In my latest story for Food & Wine, I tell how those big clear ice cubes you find in cocktail bars are made. They don’t just pop out of a machine – every big clear cube you’ve had has been hand-harvested or hand-cut. Check out the story at this link.
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David Wondrich & Me Nov 12 in SF
Cocktail historian David Wondrich’s latest book is the terrific Comic Book History of the Cocktail. He’ll be in SF on Nov 12, in conversation with me at Omnivore Books on Food. Here are the details of the event. It’s free to attend. If you haven’t picked up a copy of the book yet, order one…
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A Review of The Eighth Rule, Steph Curry’s Cocktail Bar in San Francisco
The new Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina in the St. Francis hotel in San Francisco’s Union Square is a huge deal. Attached to it is a smaller bourbon lounge, created in partnership with Warriors’ basketball superstar Stephen Curry. For my first story for SFGate.com (a website that was formerly the website of the SF Chronicle…