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Ardent Spirits e-letter
Volume 9, Issue 15, November 26, 2007
by Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan
© 2007 Reganomics, Inc.
This issue of the Ardent Spirits e-letter is sponsored in part by each
of these fine products.*
So click on ‘em why doncha? Help us keep ‘em happy
We'll be short and to the point here. Imbibe is the best book
ever written on the subject of cocktails and mixed drinks. Plain and
simple. Best Ever.
Not only does Wondrich dispel lots of myths about Jerry Thomas, and many, many
cocktails--the birth of the Sazerac, for instance--he does it with such wit,
turning phrase after phrase in the manner of a master wordsmith. It's a
bloody delightful read.
Buy this book for yourself, and buy this book for anyone and everyone you know.
Even if they have no interest in the main subject matter--and what are you doing
hanging out with people like that, anyway?--if any of your friends has the
slightest interest in American social history they will be absolutely spellbound
as they travel back in time with Dave and watch illustrious quaffers of the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries doing what they did best: Imbibing.
Wondrich also translates recipes from Thomas' books, and from other
books of the same period. He takes them to pieces, examines them
thoroughly, and puts them back together so that we can sip a taste of the past.
Our copy of the book is already splashed with bitters . . .
Wondrich has shown us all how it can, and should be done.
Congrats, Dave.
Buy Imbibe Here
November 23, 2007
This was a real toughie for Gary. Wanna see what he
picked?
Lookie Here
The Cocktailian
image courtesy of the good folks at
quanya
The Tuscan Sidecar
October 26, 2007
The Professor, our cocktailian bartender,
is still missing in action. He was in Peru when he last contacted the bar, but
that was months ago, and nobody has heard from him since. The Boss is as
frustrated as all heck, and he has just about given up hope of his bartender
ever returning, so he hired Eric, a Frenchman who is looking into moving to San
Francisco, to help out for a while.
Hot Links
Yep, it's Robert Hess again. That boy's getting to be a regular TeeVee
Star, ya know?
We had the great pleasure of sitting down with the owners of
the world famous Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle, Washington, Kacy Fitch and Ben
Dougherty. They were gracious enough to discuss the history of this fantastic
establishment as well as let us in on some classic and original cocktail
recipes. Look for the recipes in future episodes.
Potent Quotables
We all love Bertie Wooster, right? Here's a positively
spiving quote from the old chap:
“I have never been in the West
Indies, but I am in a position to state that in certain of the fundamentals of
life they are streets ahead of our European civilization. The man behind the
counter, as kindly a bloke as I ever wish to meet, seemed to guess our
requirements the moment we hove into view. Scarcely had our elbows touched
the wood before he was leaping to and fro, bringing down a new bottle with each
leap. A planter, apparently, does not consider he has had a drink unless it
contains at least seven ingredients, and I'm not saying, mind you, that he isn't
right.
“The man behind the bar
told us the things were called Green Swizzles; and, if ever I marry and have a
son, Green Swizzle Wooster is the name that will go down in the register, in
memory of the day his father's life was saved at Wembley.”
The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy by
P. G. Wodehouse, 1967.
Bar Crawl
Jonathan's Big Adventure
Jonathan Pogash, a guy who has worked with us here at ardent
spirits for a bout, oh, 17 years or so, we think, recently flew over to London
to drink gin. Bombay Sapphire to be precise. The gin Gary fessed up
to liking in the last issue. Here are some pics from his tour.
Here's Jonathan (your left) with Jamie Walker, Bombay
Sapphire's Global Brand Ambassador, and Jackson Cannon, bar manager
extraordinaire at Eastern Standard
in Boston. Gary just had a wild afternoon with Jackson and Friends at
Eastern Standard. We'll tell you all about it in an upcoming issue.
This guy's a bit intense, doncha think?
Jon was hanging at the bar at the Savoy in London with the
Rolling Stones, no less. Did he get pics of Keith and the boys? No.
He just got this exterior pic. Bloody typical.
It might look as though these guys are in a limo, but no,
they're in a helicopter, and one of them had a stomach that can't stomach
helicopters. Was it Gilles from Bacardi USA? Jacqueline from
Deussen
Global? Tara from Newsweek? Jonathan ain't telling.
Here's Ago Perrone from
Montgomery Place in London fixing
something or other with Punt e Mes. When Ago's behind the stick there's no
need to ask questions.
And this is one of Ago's Bombay Sapphire Singapore Slings.
Looks good, huh?
Jonathan would like to thank the good folk at Bombay
Sapphire, and Deussen Global, for dragging his sorry ass to London to whoop it
up with the Stones, and worship at the feet of the legendary Ago Perrone.
TV Watch
Our good friend Brian Rae, bartender to the stars (wudja
believe David Embury?), and all around good guy, recently sent us this link to a
commercial for a very interesting bartender school. We think it might get
a following: Bartender
School on You-Tube
Worldwide Bartender Database
If you haven't joined yet, you won't know about the gigs we're letting our
members in on, will you?
You might want to join now so you don't miss the next issue
of the Worldwide Bartender Bulletin.
Join the
Worldwide Bartender Database
Wanna see where some of our members work?
Click
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