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Subject: Bartending Books
From: angus
Posted: Mon Feb 12. 2007, 18:39 UTC
I found this article I wrote many years ago (hence omissions) and thought some 
may find it useful, more for ideas than examples.

aside I recently got a copy of our own Cheryl Charming's book "Guide for 
Hip..." and have to say it is every bit as excellent as I thought it would be 
... am recommending it to all and sundry tho... well done CC! (and not merely 
as she liked my video...)

anyway...

"Ask any bartender worth his salt and they will have a favourite bar book. It 
might be The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (Dick Bradsell, Alex Turner and John 
Humphries), the Savoy Cocktail Book (Paul Martin) or the Waldorf Astoria Bar 
Book (Paul Harrington). I myself am a fan of the 1971 Playboy Host and Bar 
Book but the less said about that the better. Books are knowledge and 
knowledge is power and be you  hardened professional or young upstart a 
reference manual is paramount for mixology. I took a long hard look at the 
books available today and found that there are broadly three types of book. 

	Firstly you have what I call the 'Ingredients' books. These are aimed at the 
professional bartender who already knows many of the techniques of bartending 
and needs a large reference library to use (surreptitiously) when asked for a 
drink off the beaten track. Also there are the 'Process' books that are aimed 
at the professional mixologist and go into much more detail about bartending 
and making drinks in a professional way. There is some muddling of the two 
which often produces the best balance between the technical nature of the pro 
and the enthusiasm of the novice. Finally there are the old cocktail books 
that were written in gentler times but contain a wealth of cocktails 
guaranteed not to have been made for decades. In general the professional can 
learn from all of them, whereas the keen amateur or young bartender should 
start off with process orientated tomes first. 

	One of the oldest (commonly available) Ingredients works is the legendary Mr. 
Boston's Official Bartenders and Party Guide. Dating back from 1935 and 
reprinted every three or four years since with over 11 million copies sold. 
Contains all of five pages on supplies and methods before the 260 page drinks 
list, all organised by spirit type. It has long been considered a classic but 
its omissions make it unreliable for today's bar. Gary Regan's Bartenders 
Bible is similarly exhaustive with recipes (over 1000) including some rare 
oddities but with far more information about products and techniques. Another 
classic recipe book is Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails written and expanded by 
the MacElhones of Harry's Bar fame. With over 369 cocktails listed 
alphabetically, including the Sidecar, the White Lady and the Bellini ( all 
invented at Harry's) it is concise and clear. Rather too many pages on the 
history of Harry's but I like its call that "while there are really very few 
rules by which a bartender may be governed, the new man in the business should 
have some guide".

	The International Guide to Drinks ( compiled by the UKBG) should be the 
definitive book for any English bartender but somehow just fails to succeed. 
It has the regulation pages on glassware, the history of the cocktail and 
other folderol but a relatively short list of cocktails, still organised with 
such archaic terms as Crustas and Daisies. Though it is nice to see cocktails 
from other bartender guilds around the world, with the differing  national 
tastes I'm not sure how many are relevant. Whilst talking of definitive works 
the bravely titled Drinks Bible for the 21st Century (Paul Harrington a.k.a. 
The Alchemist) is a true classic waiting to happen. If you are looking for 
classic cocktails with history to baffle even the most knowledgeable punter 
then this is the book for you.

	For the professional bartender who cares about more than just the drink 
(heresy!) then there are a range of process books to choose from. The Art Of 
Bartending (Barrett) and The Harvard Student Agencies Bartending Course are 
great books on the industry of bartending. These contain the basic recipes 
that every bartender should know (and there are only 35 according to most US 
books) as well as useful sections on how to apply for a job to how to get tips 
out of tight customers and how to spot mystery shoppers… You could also try 
The Pour Man’s Guide ( Burton) or Bartending Inside Out (Marcus) to get some 
real insight into bartending as a career.

	Finally there are the old bartending books. With delightful titles such as 
“How to mix drinks in the  new Fancy Style” (Byron) to The Bon Vivants 
Companion (Thomas) and even “The Exotic Drinking Book or, Around the World 
with jigger, beaker and Flask” (Baker) these books take on back to a more 
stylish age where the basic rules of bartending and Mixology were being 
formulated and laid down. Such books tend not to be available easily and 
websites such as www.abebooks.com are a godsend for the intelligent bartender. 
In books such as “The Fine Art of Mixing drinks” (Embury) the rules of 
Mixology are stated and bartenders need to know and understand these before 
breaking new ground. Although it is said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks 
these books can certainly teach a new dog old tricks and much of the content 
is more than relevant today. In the Stork Club Book (Beebe) for example they 
describe the owners signals to his staff about the importance of each guest 
and how they should be treated (“ a stroke of the right eyebrow meant give the 
table a bottle of champagne and some perfume for the lady”! This is high level 
stuff for bartenders and managers at the top of their game and will guarantee 
a host of new cocktails to experiment with.

	With all these to choose from which one should you buy? I would use this 
simple test: choose your favourite three drinks then check what each book 
lists as a recipe and make it accordingly. If it works, buy it. 369 drinks may 
be too little and 2500 is probably excessive but of course too much of a good 
thing can be wonderful and if you believe that you should probably just buy 
them all and any others you can find! "

cheers

aw


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