The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess

Do any of the rest of you have favorite books that you’ve found invaluable to your cocktail research?

Hi, I’m after a bit of help, I had a cocotail once in a bar called The Witches Tavern in Bangkok.  They served cocktails with a dry ice effect coming from the glass.  With halloween coming up I’d like to make some of these drinks but I don’t know what they used to make this effect, can you help me and tell me what they would have used.

thank you

JT,

They do that dry-ice effect with… well… dry ice.

Dry ice itself should not be ingested, and so this sort of trick is not one that is recommended.

-Robert

Hi, i really love your show and i think its very helpful, altough in this episode i noticed something that are so great mistakes i just had to laugh. The recipe and what you are doing doesent match, in the recipe it says 3/4 oz vodka, but at the end of the episode the recipe say 1 oz vodka. And on the method of making this cocktail it says that you should “Shake with ice” but in the episode you stir the cocktail. Im a bit confused right now. Thanks anyway for a great show, hope to see more episodes

Johan,

Thank you for your comment. I went back over the episode and you are indeed correct. I have made changes accordingly with the exception of the video. It would just take too long to re-encode. The site now reflects the proper mixing method.

Keep the comments coming!

How can a guy grab one of the pocket guides you spoke of? They’d make excellent stocking stuffers for the holiday.

Also, have you noticed that with the British books...the recipes are slightly diff. from what we are accustomed to?  For example the Diffords guide (volume 5) has a seabreeze calling for 2 to 1 ratio of cranberry to grapefruit.  Same goes for the bay breeze with a 2 to 1 for cran/pineapple.  Have you noticed this trait in other cocktails from across the pond?

The “Pocket Recipe Guide” won’t be available for this Christmas season unfortunately, we (the Museum) ran out of copies, but have just submitted a second edition to “BookSurge”, which is the “on demand” printing company that Amazon.com uses. So check Amazon in about a week, and they should be available.

As for “British” cocktails, there are some minor differences as well as styles from there to here. One difference is that in London I can usually get a great Old Fashioned… over here, not so often.

i made this drink its very good

Well, here are two of my favorite books.  They are from my website, (so sorry for shameless self promotion, but they are good books).

<a href’=’http://www.buygumbo.com/0762413131/Complete-Guide-to-Single-Malt-Scotch.html’>Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch</a>

and my very favorite bar book:

The Bartender’s Black Book, Eighth Edition: 2,800 New as well as Classic Recipes

Josh - Peace

Great, just what I need - more cocktails books I must buy! Just come onto your site and I love it.

I looked over the A-Z book in the bookstore and it looked great. I esp. love the index by ingredient, not just alcohol. But instead I bought the “New and Revised” edition of one of my favorite books, The Martini Book by Sally Ann Berk. Great book on Martini recipes that was sadly out of print.

I also enjoy New Classic Cocktails by Allan Gage (two cocktails per page, one classic and one a variation, like sidecar and spicy sidecar, using Capt. Morgan), and Shaken Not Stirred by Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, a very nice collection of martini & martini-like cocktails, with nice writing.

Robert,

So many books, so little time....

In addition to the ones you mention in the video, I’ve found the following to be invaluable to my mixology experience:

Esquire Drinks by David Wondrich (OOP)
Imbibe! by David Wondrich
Cocktail by Paul Harrington
The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar book by A.S. Crockett
The Stork Club Bar Book by Lucius Beebe
The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock
Shaken Not Stirred by Anistatia R. Miller & Jared M. Brown
Classic Cocktails by Salvator Calabrese
The Ideal Bartender by Tom Bullock

For great books on the various spirits used in cocktails I recommend:
Kindred Spirits by F. Paul Pacult (In a new edition released last month)
The Complete Book of Spirits by Anthony Dias Blue

For those looking for info on specific spirits, check out the “Classic” series put out by Prion Books in the U.K.  Each volume covers just about everything from Bourbon to Vodka.

By the way, just as a personal triumph; I picked up an original copy of Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tender’s Guide 1887 edition in Near Mint condition last week for $30.  It looks like it was never opened other than to write the owner’s name on the inside!

Blair

Blair, thanks for adding those titles. They are all great books. There are SO many great books, it’s hard to even consider including all of them in any sort of commentary like this.

“Imbibe!” was not out when we filmed this, otherwise I almost would have certainly included it here. And all of the other books you mention are worth picking up as well, and there are countless, countless others as well… sigh…

-Robert

Robert,

I just found out today that The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David
Embury will be reprinted this summer.

Cheers!

Blair

Yes. Greg Boehm of Mud Puddle books was able to track down the person who owned the copyright to “Fine Art of Mixing drinks” (Mr. Embury’s Daughter, Ruth), and was able to get the rights to issue a new edition. He also is publishing reprints of several other long-out-of-print classics, including the 1900 Harry Johnson.

Hopefully we will have these available at “Tales of the Cocktail” in July.

-Robert

I’ll second those vote for
Esquire Drinks by David Wondrich (OOP)
Imbibe! by David Wondrich
Cocktail by Paul Harrington
and for a great view of the San Francisco kitchen-driven fresh ingredients approach, I highly recommend The Art of the Bar by Jeff Hollinger and Rob Schwartz.

Great news about the reprints coming!

I used to be a bartender.  I lent my copy of “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” to a twit I know who could not pass her bar exam and worked as a bartender while she studied for her next attempt.
She never gave it back and when I pressed her about it she said she did not remember receiving the book from me.
Since then, of course, I have seen the book offered at prices from about $110 to $400 for the book.
So I am excited about the possibility of a reprint.  Do you have a timeline for release of the book and information on cost and ordering?  Thank you.

Ray Gibson

Ray,

“The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” should be out by September, if not before (Mudpuddle is hoping to have some copies available for sale at Tales of the Cocktail in mid July).

it should be listed for pre-order on Amazon.com within a week or two.

While it currently is lacking much in the way of info, here is the website for these books:
http://www.cocktailkingdom.com/

-Robert

I just found out today that The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David
Embury will be reprinted this summer.
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