This post is merely to refer you to another post – sorry about that. Years ago I wrote a post about the differences between orange Curacao and triple sec. I have just significantly updated that post with new information and conclusions.
For SEO purposes I am pointing you to the updated post rather than posting the new stuff on this post. It's Google's world, we just live in it.
Please give it a read:
What's the Difference Between Orange Curacao and Triple Sec?
Ice nerds will recall that directional freezing is a method for making clear ice by forcing the water to freeze in one direction, rather than from the outside-in as in a typical ice cube tray.
It's also pretty similar to, if not the same thing as, freeze distillation – using freezing to separate liquids. Freeze distillation is the method by which early American applejack was made: take a cider and freeze it, scoop off the frozen ice, and then you have a more concentrated cider, higher in alcohol. Keep doing this and eventually you get something pretty high proof.
This was also the process used by BrewDog to make their high-proof Tactical Nuclear Penguin beer.
Experimenting with directional freezing shows that when using the process, the clear ice freezes first and the air and any minerals in the water are treated as impurities, pushed away from the point of freezing. But as many people have found out, it treats everything not pure water in the same way – when you try to add food coloring or a flavoring to the cooler in a directional freezing system, unless you put a ton of it in the color is treated as an impurity and your ice still comes out clear. (The bottom/last part to freeze will be gooped up with the color/flavor. )
Jim Blakey of the ClearlyFrozen ice cube tray found a story in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, that talks about how clear ice less polluted than the lake water from which its formed. I'd assume this is for the same reason.
“clear ice from polluted sources may contain so small a percentage of the impurities of the source, that it may not be regarded as injurious to the health."
Here's the story.
The original reference in Google Books is here.
Behold! Here is my round-up of all the cocktails and spirits books (plus a few others) that were released in 2017. This year, beyond the annual deluge of whisky books, there are books aping the bartender lifestyle (Drink Like a Bartender, Straight Up), more narrative books (I Hear She's a Real Bitch, By the Smoke and the Smell), and recipe books seeking to simplify the process (3 Ingredient Cocktails, The Imbible, Road Soda) rather than reveal the secrets of complex drinks from top bars.
All in all, another great year for reading about drinking.
The links below are to Amazon.com and if you order from there I get a little percentage from the affiliate program. However if you want to be even more awesome, you can buy my book on the Gin & Tonic too!
Cocktail/Bartender Lifestyle Books
The Drinkable Globe: The Indispensable Guide to the Wide World of Booze by Jeff Cioletti
Distillery Cats: Profiles in Courage of the World's Most Spirited Mousers by Brad Thomas Parsons
The Art of the Bar Cart: Styling & Recipes by Vanessa Dina, Ashley Rose Conway
The Bar Cart Bible: Everything You Need to Stock Your Home Bar and Make Delicious Classic Cocktails
Drink Like a Bartender by Thea Engst and Lauren Vigdor
The Cocktail Competition Handbook by Andy Ives
Straight Up: Where to drink & what to drink on every continent by Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley
Meehan's Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan
History Books
Muskets and Applejack: Spirits, Soldiers, and the Civil War by Mark Will-Weber
B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S.: Bars And Saloons, Taverns And Random Drink Stories (Volume 1) by Brian F. Rea
Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft by Shanna Farrell
Bumbershoots: Abridged by Dominic C Pennock
Single Cocktail Books
The Bloody Mary Book: Reinventing a Classic Cocktail by Ellen Brown
The Bloody Mary: The Lore and Legend of a Cocktail Classic, with Recipes for Brunch and Beyond by Brian Bartels
Gin Tonica: 40 recipes for Spanish-style gin and tonic cocktails by David T Smith
Whiskey and Whisky Books
Moonshine Mixology: 60 Recipes for Flavoring Spirits & Making Cocktails by Cory Straub
The Way of Whisky: A Journey Around Japanese Whisky by Dave Broom
The Bourbon Bartender: 50 Cocktails to Celebrate the American Spirit by Jane Danger and Alla Lapushchik
Canadian Whisky, Second Edition: The New Portable Expert by Davin de Kergommeaux
Rum Books
The Curious Bartender's Rum Revolution by Tristan Stephenson
Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World's Spirit by Fred Minnick
Spirit of the Cane by Jared McDaniel Brown and Anistatia Renard Miller
Other Spirits
Mezcal: The History, Craft & Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit by Emma Janzen
AKVAVIT - Rediscovering a Nordic Spirit by Sune Risum-Urth and Rasmus Poulsgaard
Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Book of Bitters: The bitter and twisted history of one of the cocktail world’s most fascinating ingredients by Adam Elmegirab
Brand Books
Hennessy: A Toast to the World's Preeminent Spirit by Glenn O'Brien
Fever Tree: The Art of Mixing: Recipes from the world's leading bars by Fever Tree
Brewdog: Craft Beer for the People by Richard Taylor with James Watt and Martin Dickie
Recipe-Focussed Books
The Imbible: A Cocktail Guide for Beginning and Home Bartenders by Micah LeMon
Let's Get Monster Smashed: Horror Movie Drinks for a Killer Time by Jon Chaiet and Marc Chaiet
Code Name: Cocktail by Vicky Sweat & Karen McBurnie
The Modern Cocktail: Innovation + Flavour by Matt Whiley
Road Soda: Recipes and techniques for making great cocktails, anywhere by Kara Newman
The Poptail Manual: Over 90 Delicious Frozen Cocktails by Kathy Kordalis
The Cocktail Guide to the Galaxy: A Universe of Unique Cocktails from the Celebrated Doctor Who Bar by Andy Heidel
Cooking with Cocktails: 100 Spirited Recipes by Kristy Gardner
The Classic & Craft Cocktail Recipe Book: The Definitive Guide to Mixing Perfect Cocktails from Aviation to Zombie by Clair McLafferty
Boston Cocktails: Drunk & Told by Frederic Yarm
Beach Cocktails: Favorite Surfside Sips and Bar Snacks
A Spot at the Bar: Welcome to the Everleigh: The Art of Good Drinking in Three Hundred Recipes by Michael Madrusan and Zara Young
The Wildcrafted Cocktail: Make Your Own Foraged Syrups, Bitters, Infusions, and Garnishes; Includes Recipes for 45 One-of-a-Kind Mixed Drinks by Ellen Zachos
The Cocktail Hour (L’Heure du Cocktail): 224 recipes Collected by Marcel Requien Presented by Lucien Farnoux-Reynaud
3 Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson
Cocktail Chameleon by Mark Addison
Prosecco Cocktails: 40 tantalizing recipes for everyone's favourite sparkler by Laura Gladwin
New York Cocktails by Amanda Schuster
Good Together: Drink & Feast with Mr Lyan & Friends by Ryan Chetiyawardana
Narrative Booze Books
The Angels' Share by James Markert
Breakfast Tea & Bourbon by Pete Bissonette
Pure Heart: A Spirited Tale of Grace, Grit, and Whiskey by Troylyn Ball and Bret Witter
I Hear She's a Real Bitch by Jen Agg
By the Smoke and the Smell: My Search for the Rare and Sublime on the Spirits Trail by Thad Vogler
Wine Books
Note: I don't really cover wine books and these are just a few of them that came out this year. These are merely the ones that showed up in my mailbox.
The Complete Bordeaux by Stephen Brook
Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker
The Dirty Guide to Wine: Following Flavor from Ground to Glass by Alice Feiring
The New Wine Rules: A Genuinely Helpful Guide to Everything You Need to Know by Jon Bonne
Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region by Peter Liem
Beer and Cider Books
Note: Same as wine, this isn't my primary focus but here are a few books.
Best Beers: the indispensable guide to the world’s beers by Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont
Modern Cider: Simple Recipes to Make Your Own Ciders, Perries, Cysers, Shrubs, Fruit Wines, Vinegars, and More by Emma Christensen
Food, and Miscellaneous Related Books
Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating by Charles Spence
Miracle Cure: The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine by William Rosen
Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World by Mitch Prinstein
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories by Laura Shapiro
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Clair
Not Enough Books For Ya?
Here are all the books published in the last three years as well.
More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting
All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting
All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting
I'm still searching for the first book reference to La Paloma, the cocktail with tequila, grapefruit soda, a squeeze of lime, and a dash of salt. However we know enough information about the drink's history – especially the false parts of the drink's history – to push the conversation forward.
Finding the False Lead: Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande
For years, the Wikipedia entry for this drink cited a first reference as coming from Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande, and this reference was cited and spread throughout the internet. Nobody could seem to find a reference to this book though. The answer to this mystery comes from Jeremy Foyd of the Distinguished Spirits YouTube channel. As he mentions in his video entry for the Paloma, the reference is a clearly fake.
Jeremy Foyd and I emailed back and forth about it, and here's what Foyd had to say:
In terms of Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande, I really dug into that one. The book was not registered with the Copyright Office and no one named Evan Harrison has registered works. That doesn’t mean anything definitively if it was self-published, but if it was self-published, it may also be a red flag in terms of authenticity.
The references to Rio Grande only date back to when it first appeared on Wikipedia. The first references to Rio Grande popped up almost a year to the day when it first appeared on Wikipedia. The first reference to Rio Grande was Feb 17 2013 and Rio Grande was added to Wikipedia on Feb 16 2012. Its first entry on Wikipedia was not cited in the References and Sources sections. The entry was made at 2am from a cell phone in Connecticut. The location in CT was about 2 hours outside Cambridge, MA.
The subsequent 12 changes to the Rio Grande Wikipedia entry all happened between Nov 9, 2013 and Nov 30, 2013. Each entry, with the exception of one, was made from an IP address in Cambridge, MA. All of the entries embellished, changed and gave more and more elaborate and obviously bogus details to the story. One of the changes was the following:
The first published recipe for The Paloma is attributed to Evan Harrison in a 1953 pamphlet entitled, "Popular Cocktails of The Rio Grande" but it was thought to be created by rival tavern manager Manuel Gonzales who named it for his true love. Manuel had courted her for many years but when Evan published the drink in his pamphlet Manuel in a fit of jealous rage arrived to her small pueblo of La Guadalupe del Tortugas and shot both her and himself in front of her family at her Fiesta de quince años . Legend has it his last words were "con limon, no es pomelo." Which is a crazy story, because is means the rival tavern manager started courting this girl when she was 11, in order to kill her at her 15th birthday party 4 years later. But such was life in 1950's Mexico.
Clearly just spam. Then a moderator pulled the reference to Rio Grande from the Wikipedia page and no one tried to add it back.
There is a bartender who has worked at several bars in the Cambridge area named Evan Harrison. He currently works at two places, one of which, Mamaleh’s, he owns a piece of. Evan’s jokey profile on Mamaleh’s website says, "EVAN HARRISON. OWNER / BAR MANAGER. Is a bartender from Texas with a dual degree in feminist studies and a language he doesn’t speak who, according to some sources, invented the Paloma cocktail fifty years before he was born."
Here’s my hypothesis on this situation, it seems like Evan or Evan’s buddies, put this up on Wikipedia maybe as a joke. Then almost two years later, elaborated on that joke to make it obvious that it was spam. When the adult in the room caught on, they pulled the reference and the pranksters let it die. But by then it had already been cited in a couple blogs and other bloggers just passed along the bogus info.
Anyway, looking at all of that has made me fairly confident that this was a joke that got out of hand and I’m certain that Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande does not exist.
Excellent sleuthing Mr. Foyd.
8/24/18: Update to this story: I received an email about the Harrison Hoax which clears things up. It turns out that wasn't the only drink that lead to some false founder assertions on the internet. A bartender writes:
In 2009 a couple of ridiculous jokesters from Drink [Boston] decided to make changes to some wikipedia pages on cocktails to see who would notice it. No one around us except our friends cared about drinks and we were curious how long it would take to see it changed back (I won't reveal the exact people who made this change). There were some funny consequences. From what I remember the following edits were posted: Misty Kalkofen invented the Margarita,Scott Marshall invented the Mai Tai, John Gertsen the Sazerac, Josey Packard the Old Fashioned, and I was listed as inventing the Bijou (which wasn't edited out until about 2 or 3 years ago).
Don Javier of La Capilla
The other popular theory is that the Paloma was created by Don Javier of the famous bar in the town of Tequila, Mexico, called La Capilla. Don Javier has denied creating the Paloma, according to Jim Meehan in his new Meehan's Bartender Manual.
The Squirt and Grapefruit Connection
Meehan reached out to me a while back as I had done some research on the Paloma for a presentation I gave years ago. Meehan says in his book that he first saw the recipe in David Wondrich's 2005 book Killer Cocktails, and further that "Neither the combination of ingredients nor the name appears in any recipe guides before this, despite Squirt's being imported to Mexico in 1955 and the maker's claim that it became popular as a mixer in cocktails like the Paloma in the 1950s."
The latter bit of information about Squirt came from my research. I found the following curious timeline on the Squirt website. It claims that the soda was used for Palomas in the early 1950s, yet it wasn't exported to Mexico until 1955. (If we take this to be true, that means the Paloma is actually an American drink.)
Here is what I found researching grapefruit sodas and grapefruit generally:
Squirt soda was invented in 1938 in Phoenix, AZ. As far as I can find, it was the first commercial grapefruit soda. Other grapefruit sodas are:
Grapefruit production in Mexico didn't take off until the 1960s, according to some citrus research I did.
My belief, based on intuition ab0out how cocktails come to be and the timeline of grapefruits in Mexico, is that the Paloma never existed before grapefruit soda did. I doubt that there is a tradition of fresh grapefruit used in the Paloma, but that's yet to be proven.
Back to David Wondrich, via Jim Meehan's book: "According to Wondrich, 'In the 1940s, you start seeing references in Mexico to 'changuirongo,' which is simply tequila cut with soda- any kinds, from ginger ale to Coke to whatever.'"
This aligns with my beliefs as well – people put spirits into sodas, and eventually someone put squirt with tequila and figured it was delicious. Though I never trust any definitive history of a spirit-and-soda highball, I'd still love to find the first reference to this drink.
A Squirt advertisement from 1963, visible here (the carousel ad), mentions tequila by name (along with other base spirits) with Squirt.
Wondrich responded to this post on Twitter with an ad from 1973, in which Squirt advises you to try it mixed with your favorite drink: gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, or tequila. They don't call out the Paloma by name, but neither do they for any of the others.
This, from the St Louis Post-Dispatch (1973) might be useful: pic.twitter.com/dhlvNrbRMQ
— David Wondrich (@DavidWondrich) November 29, 2017
Wondrich further tweeted that the first reference he's found by name doesn't come all the way until 2001:
Also, the first mention of the drink by name I've been able to find is from a Scripps-Howard article from 2001, on Sacramento.
— David Wondrich (@DavidWondrich) November 29, 2017
And then mid-tweeting, he found an earlier book reference from 2000:
Actually, I see from my notes there's a Virgin Paloma in Cowboy Cocktails, by Grady Spears and Brigit Binns, from 2000 (they say you can also add tequila). Crazy late, as you say.
— David Wondrich (@DavidWondrich) November 29, 2017
So then our goal as researchers is to now find the first reference to the Paloma in a book, ideally before Wondrich's Killer Cocktails from 2005 Cowboy Cocktails in 2000.
Below is what I've found (or rather, not found):
Searching for the Paloma in Vintage Cocktail Books
Jeremy Foyd says, "I’ve got the 1947 Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide and the Paloma is not in that one. The only tequila drink is the El Diablo."
He follows, "I have 4 Floridita books from 1939. I didn’t see any Palomas in them. However, there is a Tequila Cocktail in each one that is basically a Tequila sour. The Tequila Cocktail was the only drink with tequila in it in each book."
I asked Marcovaldo Dionysos, who owns a ton of cocktail books from this era, about the drink. I thought it might turn up in the old Esquire cocktail books, which are a great source of first references to many drinks. He wrote, "
No luck on the Esquire books. 1949 & 1956 have no Paloma. I found a Paloma in a book published in Madrid in 1957 (El Bar en el Mundo), but it’s a different drink (gin, orange juice, Cointreau). No mention in the Trader Vic books, even in his Book of Mexican Cooking (1973).
I think of the Paloma as a Mexican drink with just tequila and Squirt, with maybe a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt, though it has gotten the craft bar treatment in the last 10-15 years or so. I’m not sure when it would have been first mentioned as a proper drink.
So, do you, dear reader, have any cocktail books written between say 1940 and 2005 that you can check for me? I don't know where we'll find the Paloma, but we can certainly eliminate some books. For example:
Let me know if you find anything!
Here's another one that came in over Twitter:
C.2004 Shaken and Stirred, William L. Hamilton, page 63-65. Author's recollection from Sueños, 311 West 17th Street pic.twitter.com/JfZn6HPtOb
— Rich Delorme (@RichardElm) November 29, 2017
Update! David Wondrich found a 1950 Squirt ad, not the Paloma by name but the drink:
The secret history of the Paloma, in three pictures: pic.twitter.com/gdEZZcHIMC
— David Wondrich (@DavidWondrich) September 14, 2020
I'm giving a talk at Tales of the Cocktail on "Bugs and Booze," and in reading up on the vine-killing aphid phylloxera, I came across a point of history I didn't understand.
Phylloxera devastated the French (and eventually the world's) wine industry from the 1860s to around 1900. Most absinthe was made with a base of brandy- distilled wine- so it too should have been affected by phylloxera and been less available.
But if that was the case, then why did absinthe sales supposedly soar during phylloxera, and why did the wine industry feel the need to launch a negative PR campaign against drinking absinthe when it recovered? (This PR campaign was successful in getting absinthe banned in France and other countries for nearly 100 years.)
So I posted a question to my smart friends on Facebook:
Absinthe nerds: We always hear that post-phylloxera the recovering wine industry did a negative PR campaign on absinthe so that wine could resume its place on the throne. But wasn't most absinthe originally made with a wine/brandy base? When did it switch to a grain base (if it really did) – during or previous to phylloxera? Does anyone have historical data on this?
Well, many, many comments later, I have some ideas about the impact on absinthe, thanks to experts including Anna Louise Marquis, Joshua Lucas, Brandon Cummins, Gwydion Stone, Jack Crispin Cane, Fernando Castellon, Stephen Gould, Francois Monti, Ted Breaux, Heather Greene, Brian Robinson, Alan Moss, and others!
I'll break down my understanding of it. You'll note that I'm not citing any sources here so it's up to you to fact-check, but this is what I got from listening to absinthe history experts:
The Base Spirit of Absinthe Changed Due to Phylloxera
Absinthe can be made with any base spirit. Legal regulations were proposed in France that certain quality marques of absinthe (such as "Absinthe Superieure") need to contain grape distillate as the base, but these were never put into law as far as I know. (One source said the wine lobby actually worked to block any quality markers for absinthe.)
Not all absinthes were made with a grape-based distillate (but marc/grape was considered the best); and absinthe in general had a problem with low-quality (or even poisonous) brands with additives masquerading as the good stuff.
Sugar beet spirit became a predominant base spirit not only in absinthe, but in most French liqueurs. This is due only in part to the absence of grape spirit during phylloxera: Napoleon had launched a massive campaign to plant sugar beets in France to be more self-reliant. From a post I wrote in my project studying sugar: "Napoleon, due to the economic and real war with England, bet big on sugar beets. In 1811 he supported vast increase in sugar beet production. Within 2 years they built 334 factories and produced 35,000 tons of sugar."
Additionally, column distillation came along in the 1830s, which made it easier to get a high-proof, nearly-neutral spirit from most any base material. So in addition to sugar beets, things like potatoes and grain were used as a base for absinthe.
So there were many reasons that the base of most absinthes changed to sugar beet or grain during phylloxera. Pernod Absinthe's quality selling point was that it never changed its base.
Sales of Absinthe Soared in the Age of Phylloxera
True, from pretty much all accounts. Sales of absinthe were increasing before phylloxera, but absinthe's low price and wide availability during the crisis further helped sales. Then after absinthe was banned, sales obviously dropped a bit. So the 30 year period of phylloxera in France coincided with the glory days of absinthe. This is the heart of the Belle Epoque 1871-1914.
Absinthe was Banned Due to the Wine Industry Running a Negative PR Campaign
Anti-absinthe propaganda began before phylloxera did, promoted by a Temperance movement. Much like in the US, distilled spirits were considered the problem with drinking, while beer and wine were considered healthy. (Francois Monti says that beer/wine were considered 'natural' while spirits were 'artificial'.) So the anti-absinthe movement was already in motion pre-phylloxera.
But certainly the low-quality (and low-priced) absinthes on the market, which surely became of even lower quality during phylloxera when there was less wine to go around, were a problem, and gave anyone who was opposed to absinthe a target. As some people commented, now even the lower classes were drinking absinthe, for shame!
When the wine industry recovered fully or in part, they wanted all their sales back so they engaged in/funded negative PR campaigns about how dangerous absinthe was. These campaigns helped get absinthe banned after 1900 in many parts of the world.
Well, that's a short version of a very long and interesting discussion. I hope I've done it justice.
I'm continually researching topics related to bugs and booze, and went looking for some better information on how scotch whisky sales were affected by the phylloxera plague that took down most of Europe's vines in the late 1800s.
Many sources cite that scotch whisky sales really took off in the same time period as phylloxera killed the wine biz as people switched to spirits, and I was looking for more solid information on that: sales numbers, etc.
I've found that it's true there was a huge scotch boom in this period (30+ new distilleries opened between 1880-1900), but I was seeking more information.
Anyway, my office is located above the spectacular Mechanics Institute Library, a membership library dating back to 1854. I have plenty of whisky books in my office, but the library itself has some unique books I've not seen elsewhere. I went to see what I could learn.
I happened across a book called The Whiskies of Scotland by RJS Mc Dowall from 1967. It didn't have any information on phylloxera except for this one fun fact about the Gilbey's wine/gin company: they saw phylloxera happening so invested in scotch whisky. Smart.
Today Gilbey's is owned by Beam Suntory.
Anyway, just thought I'd share.
My friend gifted me a 1967 "Friendly Host" calendar from a liquor store in upstate New York. On the backs of the calendar months are helpful advice for cocktailing and hosting.
The dates from 1967 align with this year, though the drinks are a little bit different to what we enjoy now…. or are they? (Yeah, for the most part they are.)
This page is for Summer Coolers. I'm not sure I would categorize a Jack Rose or this "Five-Legged Mule" as summer drinks, but hey I'm just a guy living in 2017.
Plus as a bonus, here's the calendar's Party Preparation Guide. The Tips for "Good Mixing" start out well and then…. you'll see.
This year my pal Mike gave me a 1967 calendar from a liquor store. The dates from 1967 align with 2017, and it turns out the liquor store is from my hometown, so as far as gift-giving goes, Mike knocked it out of the park.
On the backs of the calendar months are helpful advice for cocktailing and hosting.
Here is the page for Scotch Drinks to Please Your Fancy. I haven't heard of most of these.
Here is the calendar front.
The bar Elixir was recognized this weekend as being the second oldest (known) drinking location in San Francisco by the wacky historical/drinking club E. Clampus Vitus (aka The Clampers).
The oldest is the Old Ship Saloon, which was literally a ship dry-docked in what is now the Financial District that was turned into a bar.
Elixir dates back to at least 1858 and it has been continually operated as a drinking establishment since then (we know this thanks to the thorough research by The Clampers) - with the exception of the 1906 earthquake and fire when it burned down and was rebuilt, and during Prohibition when it was a soda fountain.
The Mission seems pretty far out for an old drinking establishment, but keep in mind that Mission Dolores nearby is the oldest surviving building still standing in SF dating back to 1791.
I attended the event and took a couple of snaps. It was fun because The Clampers are ridiculous and also because the bar's owner, H. Joseph Ehrmann, has been a long-time Clamper himself. Also, there were two-dollar shots of whisky so I didn't get much else done that day.
Throughout the year I post new drink books to Alcademics, because I love drinking and books. Below is all of them put together so that you can make your holiday wish list for yourself or see them all together to pick presents for friends and family.
Know of a book I missed? Let me know and I'll add it.
Culture and Fun
You Suck At Drinking: Being a Complete Guide to Drinking for Any and All Situations in Your Life, Including But Not Limited to Office Holiday Parties, Weddings, Breakups and Other Sad Times, Outdoor Chores Like Deck-building, and While in Public, Legally and Illegally By Matthew Latkiewicz
Toasts: The Perfect Words to Celebrate Every Occasion By June Cotner and Nancy Tupper Ling
Party Like A President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery, and Mischief from the Oval Office By Brian Abrams
The Field Guide to Drinking in America By Niki Ganong
You Deserve a Drink: Boozy Misadventures and Tales of Debauchery by Mamrie Hart
A Visual Guide to Drink by Pop Chart Lab: Ben Gibson, Patrick Mulligan
Vintage Reprints
The Ideal Bartender By Tom Bullock
W. C. Whitfield's Mixed Drinks and Cocktails: An Illustrated, Old-School Bartender's Guide by W. C. Whitfield (Author), Tad Shell (Illustrator), Joaquín Simó (Foreword)
Shaking Up Prohibition in New Orleans: Authentic Vintage Cocktails from A to Z
By Olive Leonhardt and Hilda Phelps Hammond
Historical Books
Cocktail Noir: From Gangsters and Gin Joints to Gumshoes and Gimlets by Scott Deitche
Lost Recipes of Prohibition: Notes from a Bootlegger’s Manual by Matthew Rowley
To Have and Have Another Revised Edition: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion by Philip Greene
Gone with the Gin: Cocktails with a Hollywood Twist by Tim Federle
Cocktails of the Movies: An Illustrated Guide to Cinematic Mixology by Will Francis , Stacey Marsh
Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to “Professor” Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar (Updated and Revised Edition)
By David Wondrich
Contraband Cocktails: How America Drank When It Wasn't Supposed To by Paul Dickson
Narrative Cocktail Books
The Cocktail Chronicles: Navigating the Cocktail Renaissance with Jigger, Shaker & Glass by Paul Clarke
Drinking the Devil's Acre: A Love Letter from San Francisco and her Cocktails by Duggan McDonnell
Ten Cocktails: The Art of Convivial Drinking by Alice Lascelles
Cocktails from Specific Bars
The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual: Secret Recipes and Barroom Tales from Two Belfast Boys Who Conquered the Cocktail World by Sean Muldoon, Jack McGarry, Ben Schaffer
Experimental Cocktail Club: Paris, London & New York by Romée de Goriainoff, Pierre-Charles Cros, Olivier Bon, Xavier Padavoni
Cuban Cocktails: 100 Classic and Modern Drinks by Ravi DeRossi, Jane Danger, Alla Lapushchik
Tujague's Cookbook: Creole Recipes and Lore in the New Orleans Grand Tradition by Poppy Tooker
Cocktails for Dingdongs Vol. 1. by Dustin Drankiewicz and Alexandra Ensign
Themed Cocktail Books
Summer Cocktails: Margaritas, Mint Juleps, Punches, Party Snacks, and More! By MarТa del Mar Sacasa and Tara Striano
The Negroni: Drinking to La Dolce Vita, with Recipes & Lore By Gary Regan
Cocktails on Tap: The Art of Mixing Spirits and Beer By Jacob Grier
The Tippling Bros. A Lime and a Shaker: Discovering Mexican-Inspired Cocktails by by Tad Carducci & Paul Tanguay with Alia Akkam
Classic Cocktails by Salvatore Calabrese
Tea Cocktails: A Mixologist's Guide to Legendary Tea-Infused Cocktails by Abigail R. Gehring
The Mason Jar Cocktail Companion by Shane Carley
Tiki Drinks: Tropical Cocktails for the Modern Bar by Robert Sharp and Nicole Weston
The Manhattan Cocktail: A Modern Guide to the Whiskey Classic by Albert W. A. Schmid
Paris Cocktails: An Elegant Collection of Over 100 Recipes Inspired by the City of Light by Doni Belau
Wild Drinks & Cocktails: Handcrafted Squashes, Shrubs, Switchels, Tonics, and Infusions to Mix at Home by Emily Han
The Periodic Table of COCKTAILS by Emma Stokes
Forager's Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients by Amy Zavatto
Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails, and Elixirs by Warren Bobrow
The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails by Steve Reddicliffe
Good Things to Drink with Mr Lyan and Friends by Ryan Chetiyawardana
The Craft Cocktail Party: Delicious Drinks for Every Occasion by Julie Reiner
Whisky and Whiskey
Whiskey: What to Drink Next: Craft Whiskeys, Classic Flavors, New Distilleries, Future Trends By Dominic Roskrow
Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker by Fred Minnick
Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey by Reid Mitenbuler
Spirit of Place: Scotland's Great Whisky Distilleries by Charles MacLean
The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose by Richard Betts
The Birth of Bourbon: A Photographic Tour of Early Distilleries by Carol Peachee
American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye (New Edition): A Guide to the Nation's Favorite Spirit by Clay Risen
Other Spirits
Bitterman's Field Guide to Bitters & Amari: 500 Bitters; 50 Amari; 123 Recipes for Cocktails, Food & Homemade Bitters by Mark Bitterman
How the Gringos Stole Tequila: The Modern Age of Mexico's Most Traditional Spirit By Chantal Martineau
Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal, and the Politics of Production by Sarah Bowen
Gin: The Manual by Dave Broom
Vermouth: The Revival of the Spirit That Created America’s Cocktail Culture by Adam Ford
Branca: A Spirited Italian Icon by Niccolo Branca di Romanico
Science-Minded
Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson: Recipes for Innovation from IBM & the Institute of Culinary Education
Hidden Scents: The Language of Smell in the Age of Approximation by Allen Barkkume
Miscellany
Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and other Treats By Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall
The River Cottage Booze Handbook by John Wright
The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth
Cider Made Simple: All About Your New Favorite Drink by Jeff Alworth
Discovering the New York Craft Spirits Boom by Heather D. Dolland
Branding: Distilled by Cynthia Sterling
