# Vintage Cocktail Guide Recommendations



## BorderBandit (Apr 16, 2011)

Fellow Members,

I've searched this Forum far and wide and have yet to find an answer, so I decided to let those in possession of greater knowledge than myself have a try at it. 

I am searching for an authentic, and hopefully vintage, guide to making the most authentic and highest quality drinks available. You think this would be an easy task, right? Not so much. It's easy to find a lot of contemporary guides that are usually lacking though in authentic recipes. However, to start, let me specify that for which I am not looking. I do not want something with pretty pictures and glossy captions because the drinks should stand on their own without the flashy marketing. I will burn anything that advocates the uses of mixes. I may damn near have an aneurysm for anything that espouses the perceptible differences of twenty types of vodka martinis but has no idea how to make an original martini with gin. And may God help you if there is any mention of a cran- rasp- apple- whatever faux variation on any classic drink...

I do want something that requires you to actually work to muddle, chop, mix, or make your ingredients. I want something that requires you to have sometimes obscure and unique types of alcohol without ideas of substitution for lesser varieties. I greatly desire something that doesn't skimp on the real quantities of alcohol simply because the times have changed. I know it's hard, but finding a real, classic vintage guide from the 30s-60s that has enough knowledge to be authentic and enough heft to be used as a bludgeon on a drunken house guest is a lot harder to find than you may think.

I've searched eBay, etsy, abebooks.com, etc. etc. to no end simply because there just too much junk! So, after that ramble of someone stuck at work on a Saturday morning with nothing better to do than bloviate on this topic, I hope someone has some advice, or possibly a volume to sell, that could help me out.


----------



## DoghouseReilly (Jul 25, 2010)

My go-to guide is _The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks_ by David Embury. The reason I like this book so much is because he defines a methodology to making drinks and a way to classify them, making mixing less like an art and more like a science. For example, once you realize that a margarita is really just a fancy tequila sour, you are able to start creating new drinks on your own by just varying the ingredients and sticking to a ratio you know works. He also defines what he considers to be six basic cocktails with his suggested ratios, along with information on glassware, barware, liquors of all kinds, and recipes for a myriad of other classic drinks: fizzes, collinses, swizzles, cups, punches, etc. IMO, if you get one book, make it this one. It is available , with a lot of other turn-of-the-last-century books.

The next two books are by 2 very influential authors in the cocktail world, but I have yet to read either (I have been mixing for 4 years and have found Embury to be more than suitable so far). They are:

_Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails_
_The Joy of Mixology_

From what I have seen of these two books, they are very good, although advocate a sweeter approach to mixing than my man Embury. Still worth reading, however.


----------



## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

https://www.amazon.com/Stork-Club-Classic-Cocktail-Books/dp/0974325910


----------



## BorderBandit (Apr 16, 2011)

Thank you both, and especially Doghouse! Any man who has a picture of Hemingway as his avatar must know a thing or two about drinking!


----------



## DoghouseReilly (Jul 25, 2010)

BorderBandit said:


> Thank you both, and especially Doghouse! Any man who has a picture of Hemingway as his avatar must know a thing or two about drinking!


Haha, thank you sir. Once you start mixing, let us know what you're up to at WAYDT. Good luck!



C. Sharp said:


> https://www.amazon.com/Stork-Club-Classic-Cocktail-Books/dp/0974325910


Haven't seen that book before, C. Sharp. I'll have to check it out.


----------



## TommyDawg (Jan 6, 2008)

Borderbandit, I like the way you (and doghouse) think. Good luck on your search for classic cocktails. Whenever I am in a very traditional restaurant/ steak house, etc, I have a quick conversation with the bar manager or tender to determine their pursuit of the classics. Then order accordingly. 

While I dont have a suggestion for a book for you, I did find something interesting today while browsing a book at the store. The author was saying that he was a purist and was tired of ordering a daiquiri and getting something full of fruit and syrup and so on. So he had (what he calls) the original concoction printed on the back of his business card, including the type of glass it should be served in. It said " 1 freshly squeezed lime, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 oz gold rum. Shake with ice, strain into martini glass". I dont know if thats the original recipe, but I want to give it a try. Also, its pretty cool to have that on the back of your business card!

Let us know what you find. Good luck!
Tom


----------



## DoghouseReilly (Jul 25, 2010)

Tommy, you just described my summer drink of choice.  That is indeed a classic daiquiri. Here's a little background information on it:

Link

I highly suggest you try one. You could use gold rum, but the original calls for white and I personally prefer it. Since you mentioned that you like bourbon, I would suggest Cruzan White "Aged" rum; it is aged for a year in oak barrels for a slightly woody taste. My personal recipe, if you are interested, is:

1.5 oz cruzan white rum
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.25 oz simple syrup (or about half a tablespoon of sugar)

Enjoy!


----------



## TommyDawg (Jan 6, 2008)

^ awesome! I am writing it down as we speak...


----------



## DoghouseReilly (Jul 25, 2010)

I should tell you, I prefer mine a little sour/dry. If you find it too much so, increase the sugar a bit.


----------



## Titus_A (Jun 23, 2010)

Well, I'm a bit late to the party. Regardless, I've heard good things about the book DHR recommends. That said, if I am not greatly mistaken, the grandfather of all cocktail books is _The Savoy Cocktail Book_. Amazon has various editions, or you can pick a relatively attractive copy up at, of all confounded places, Anthropologie (I was buying an apron for my wife). The Savoy will give you the original recipe---or at least the 1920s recipe---for all the classics (and a lot of forgotten ones). The only wrinkle is that not all of the ingredients are available anymore, so you'll have to do some research from time to time. And I don't think it has much in the way of the methodology discussion found in _TAoMD_.

There is also an old book, now published under the title _Jigger, Beaker, Glass: Drinking Around the World_, which contains the recipes that the author accumulated from traveling the world in the 1930s and getting sloshed at every port of call. One part of a larger tome originally published as _The Gentleman's Companion_. It probably has some of the same ingredient issues as the _Savoy_. But both are sure to be authentic.


----------



## Binkie Baumont (Jul 30, 2011)

*The Savoy Cocktail* book is pretty good, its hiding behind that shaker with the spout!

https://www.antiquecolouredglass.info/images/savoy cocktail book.JPG


----------



## WBuffettJr (Dec 3, 2008)

To the OP, I noticed you're in the Valley. If you ever make it up to Austin, I'd highly recommend the bar at the restaurant Congress. It is probably the most expensive bar in Austin, but truly remarkable. The bartender was stolen away from another top restaurant to come to David Bull's new establishment, and he designed the drink menu; I think it would be right up your alley. Everything is made in a vintage way as well (ex. if your drink requires crushed ice he hammers an ice block to crush it himself) but you get the impression that it is done with reverence. Nothing comes off as gimmicky, just genuine. It is a free show with your drink and I enjoy it.


----------

