Thread: Vintage bartending manuals

The NY Times has an article discussing the difficulty some folks have locating ingredients for classic (1920s, etc) cocktails. The ingredients have disappeared, and modern equivalents aren't the same. For people set on making classic drinks from the old manuals, this is a serious problem.... QUOTE But mixing drinks from their recipes can be a different matter. There are the old-fangled measurements — a pony of this, a gill of that. But...

This is an area covered in Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails . He has an RIP section for brands and ingredients that have died and will never return. However, the recent resurgence in cocktail popularity has helped with some ingredients, notably flavoured bitters. And places like Sonoma Syrup Company are producing high quality flavoured sugar syrups, similar to the person mentioned in that article. I am enjoying...

In Seattle, we have an apothecary - Tenzing Momo , where we can source just about every ingredient that is listed in the old bartending manuals. Erik Ellestead at the blog Underhill Lounge and who also works at Heaven's Dog in SF is working his way through the Savoy book and has recreated a lot of items as well. Then there are the guys like Eric Seed at House Alpenz who are trying to revive old product categories as well. Rocky