A delightful romp through America’s Golden Age of Cocktails The decades following the American Civil War burst with invention—they saw the dawn of the telephone, the motor car, electric lights, the airplane—but no innovation was more welcome than the beverage heralded as the “cocktail.” The Gilded Age, as it came to be known, was the Golden Age of Cocktails, giving birth to the classic Manhattan and martini that can be ordered at any bar to this day. Scores of whiskey drinks, cooled with ice chips or cubes that chimed against the glass, proved doubly pleasing when mixed, shaken, or stirred with special flavorings, juices, and fruits. The dazzling new drinks flourished coast to coast at sporting events, luncheons, and balls, on ocean liners and yachts, in barrooms, summer resorts, hotels, railroad train club cars, and private homes. From New York to San Francisco, celebrity bartenders rose to fame, inventing drinks for exclusive universities and exotic locales. Bartenders poured their liquid secrets for dancing girls and such industry tycoons as the newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst and the railroad king “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cecelia Tichi offers a tour of the cocktail hours of the Gilded Age, in which industry, innovation, and progress all take a break to enjoy the signature beverage of the age. Gilded Age Cocktails reveals the fascinating history behind each drink as well as bartenders’ formerly secret recipes. Though the Gilded Age cocktail went “underground” during the Prohibition era, it launched the first of many generations whose palates thrilled to a panoply of artistically mixed drinks.

""Roaring Twenties" America boasted famous firsts: women's right to vote under the Constitution's Nineteenth Amendment, jazz music, talking motion pictures, Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Flapper fashions, and wondrous new devices like the safety razor and the electric vacuum cleaner. The decade opened, nonetheless, with a shock when Prohibition became the law of the land on Friday, January 16, 1920. American ingenuity promptly rose to its newest challenge. The law, riddled with loopholes, let the 1920s write a new chapter in the nation's saga of spirits. Men and women spoke knowingly of the speakeasy, the bootlegger, of rum-running, black ships, blind pigs, gin mills, and gallon stills. A new social event-the cocktail party staged in a private home-smashed the gender barrier that had long forbidden "ladies" from entering into the gentlemen-only barrooms and cafés. The drinks, savored in secret, were all the more delectable when the cocktail shaker went "underground." The danger of the illicit liquor trade was also memorialized in drinks like the "Original Gangster," the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre," the "Tommy Gun," and others. Crime rose, fortunes were amassed, and a slew of new cocktails were shaken, stirred, and poured in hideaways to brand the "roaring" 1920s as the era of "Alcohol and Al Capone.""--

Shaken or stirred, on the rocks or straight up, every cocktail has a unique history. Bringing this rich lore to life, An Illustrated Guide to Cocktails showcases the often romantic origin of classic and modern mixed drinks and the fascinating characters who made them famous. From the crooked gangster who inspired the Jack Rose (a drink often served in Manhattan's gilded Astor mansion during the Jazz Age) to the legendary Margarita (associated with the Tijuana dancer now known by her stage name, Rita Hayworth), the spirited blend of alcohol and alchemy is showcased on each beautifully illustrated page. The drink recipes include favorite classics (such as Old Fashion, White Russian, Sidecar) alongside forgotten standards such as the Blood and Sand. With guides to various spirits, suggestions for stocking your home bar, and mixing tips and techniques, An Illustrated Guide to Cocktails brings the marvels of mixology to every home bartender.

From the bestselling Calligraphuck line! Classy as Fuck Cocktails is a cocktail book that celebrates the fine arts of drinking and swearing. Feeling classy as fuck? Have a Bellini. Life kicking your ass? Try a Corpse Reviver. Expecting company? Batch that shit! • Includes more than 60 recipes ranging from the fucking classics to fancy-ass twists • Features dozens of variations including low and non-alcohol options • Covers the basics on glassware, hardware, spirits, and methods This cocktail collection is a fucking must for beginners and experienced mixologists alike. • Makes a great pick for cocktail enthusiasts of all skill levels—from beginners to experienced mixologists—who don't shy away from cursing • Pair it with a cocktail shaker, shot glasses, coasters, or other barware for an extra-special holiday or birthday present. • You'll love this book if you love books like The Little Black Book Of Cocktails: The Essential Guide to New & Old Classics by Virginia Reynolds, Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist by Tim Federle, and Big Bad-Ass Book of Cocktails: 1,500 Recipes to Mix It Up! by Running Press.

A richly illustrated romp with America’s Gilded Age leisure class—and those angling to join it Mark Twain called it the Gilded Age. Between 1870 and 1900, the United States’ population doubled, accompanied by an unparalleled industrial expansion, and an explosion of wealth unlike any the world had ever seen. America was the foremost nation of the world, and New York City was its beating heart. There, the richest and most influential—Thomas Edison, J. P. Morgan, Edith Wharton, the Vanderbilts, Andrew Carnegie, and more—became icons, whose comings and goings were breathlessly reported in the papers of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. It was a time of abundance, but also bitter rivalries, in work and play. The Old Money titans found themselves besieged by a vanguard of New Money interlopers eager to gain entrée into their world of formal balls, debutante parties, opera boxes, sailing regattas, and summer gatherings at Newport. Into this morass of money and desire stepped Caroline Astor. Mrs. Astor, an Old Money heiress of the first order, became convinced that she was uniquely qualified to uphold the manners and mores of Gilded Age America. Wherever she went, Mrs. Astor made her judgments, dictating proper behavior and demeanor, men’s and women’s codes of dress, acceptable patterns of speech and movements of the body, and what and when to eat and drink. The ladies and gentlemen of high society took note. “What would Mrs. Astor do?” became the question every social climber sought to answer. And an invitation to her annual ball was a golden ticket into the ranks of New York’s upper crust. This work serves as a guide to manners as well as an insight to Mrs. Astor’s personal diary and address book, showing everything from the perfect table setting to the array of outfits the elite wore at the time. Channeling the queen of the Gilded Age herself, Cecelia Tichi paints a portrait of New York’s social elite, from the schools to which they sent their children, to their lavish mansions and even their reactions to the political and personal scandals of the day. Ceceilia Tichi invites us on a beautifully illustrated tour of the Gilded Age, transporting readers to New York at its most fashionable. A colorful tapestry of fun facts and true tales, What Would Mrs. Astor Do? presents a vivid portrait of this remarkable time of social metamorphosis, starring Caroline Astor, the ultimate gatekeeper.

Originally published in 1937 by the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild, Cafe Royal Cocktail Book compiled by William J Tarling offers a rare glimpse into the wide array of drinks offered in London bars between the two world wars. Tarling, head bartender at the Cafe Royal during had two goals. He wanted to extend this resource to consumers. He also wanted to raise funds for the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild Sickness Fund and the Cafe Royal Sports Club Fund. Thus, he drew from the recipes previously compiled for Approved Cocktails, and added more of his own. He also collected many more original recipes from his contemporaries. The result was an outstanding and timely book. It did more than gather recipes, it captured a boom time in the history of cocktails, glass by glass. Sadly, there was only one printing and it became an unobtainable rarity, locking away a time capsule of drinks and knowledge. Reproduced in collaboration with the UKBG, Exposition Universelle des Vins et Spiritueux, and Mixellany Limited, this facsimile edition unlocks that knowledge for a new generation of consumers and bartenders around the world. Within these pages are some of the earliest known recipes for drinks made with tequila and vodka as well as memorable concoctions made with absinthe and other recently revived ingredients-an essential addition to every cocktail book library.

Dale DeGroff is widely regarded as the world’s foremost mixologist. Hailed by the New York Times as “single-handedly responsible for what’s been called the cocktail renaissance,” he earned this reputation during his twelve years at the fashionable Promenade Bar in New York City’s Rainbow Room. It was there in 1987 that he not only reintroduced the cocktail menu to the country but also began mixing drinks from scratch, using impeccably fresh ingredients instead of the widespread mixes used at the time. Known especially for crafting unique cocktails, reviving classics, and coaxing superior flavor from his ingredients, DeGroff has selected his 100 essential drinks and 100 of their best variations—including many of his signature cocktails—for this premier mixology guide. The Essential Cocktail features only those drinks that stand out for their flavor, interesting formula, or distinctive technique. These are the very ones every amateur and professional bartender must know, the martinis, sours, highballs, tropicals, punches, sweets, and classics, both old and new, that form the core of a connoisseur’s repertoire. Throughout the book are DeGroff’s personal twists, such as a tangy Grapefruit Julep or a refreshing Yuzu Gimlet. To complement the tantalizing photographs of each essential cocktail, DeGroff also regales readers with the fascinating lore behind a drink’s genesis and instructs us on using the right ingredients, techniques, glasses, and garnishes. As Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking was the classic compendium for home chefs and gourmands, so The Essential Cocktail will be the go-to book for serious mixologists and cocktail enthusiasts.