Customer Reviews

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie 100 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails" is a cocktail recipe book, but--as far as recipe books go--is quite readable and is both easy to digest in part or to read cover-to-cover, depending on your mood. Ted Haigh provides detailed (and interesting) back stories on most of the drinks featured in the book, as well as sidebar sections on many of the lesser-known spirits that the recipes call for. In addition to the main parts of the book, Haigh includes an introduction that covers the resurgence of classic cocktails, a glossary, a bibliography, and a resource guide to help you find many of the rarer ingredients he mentions throughout the text. Haigh clearly put a lot of thought and effort into compiling such a comprehensive guide, and it shows: The book is nicely put together and is wonderfully cohesive, with many of the recipes including references to other, similar or related recipes that can be found elsewhere within the book.

I do have a few complaints about the book: First of all, it's spiral-bound, which makes it nice as a recipe book and not so nice as something to sit down and read through. Second, the recipes are often not updated to modern tastes and are geared towards the sweet palates of those who originally created the drinks. For example, try the first cocktail listed, the Almagoozlum, which is virtually undrinkable given its syrupy combination of 1.5 ounces of both Chartreuse and simple syrup, with no citrus to balance. Make sure to carefully review the recipes before pouring and shaking, in order to avoid pouring expensive ingredients down the drain. Finally, the resources section at the end of the book, while a great addition, generally favors a few extremely overpriced Internet retailers. Google around and you'll easily find better options.

All in all, despite these few issues, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the hows, whys, and whens of classic cocktails. I suspect that many of these recipes were forgotten for a good reason (certainly the Almagoozlum!), but just as many deserve to be revisited so that they can once again grace drinkers' glasses. And even if you find the recipes to be entirely without merit, the background stories will still make this book a worthwhile purchase.

The 21st century cocktail drinker owes as much to Ted Haigh as the 19th century drinker owed to Jerry Thomas. Dr. Cocktail has been feverishly researching and recreating forgotten, century-old drinks since the early days of the internet and is probably the single biggest force behind the cocktail renaissance happening today in New York, London, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and other cities around the world. The first edition of this book is the reason I can walk into bars across the country and order a Corpse Reviver #2 without encountering dumbfounded stares, the reason there dozens of bottles of cocktail bitters in my liquor in my cabinet, and the reason Creme Yvette (among other lost ingredients) will soon again grace shelves in bars and liquor stores.

I've read the first edition, cover to cover, perhaps a dozen times; with each reading hoping to eke out just a little more information than I retained from the previous endeavor. This new and vastly expanded edition is a banquet of new recipes, additional historical information, and more tasting notes. While there are many books of great interest to those fascinated with classic cocktails (check out the reprints from Mud Puddle Books), I can think of no other introduction to the subject as broad reaching or as enjoyable to read than Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails. I have no doubt I'll pour over this edition time and again, just like the last, in an effort to extract as much of the Doctor's wisdom as I can.

Designed from the get go by a graphic artist with full artistic control and an obsessive and loving attention to detail this book delights at least four of the five senses - okay, all five if you like the smell of good ink) done with exhaustive attention to subject material, layout, paper, printing and virtually every other aspect one could think of.

This is a must have classic tome on mixology and of course on classic mixology.

While there are many new reprints of classic bar and mixing manual today this one is especially useful from a practical and entertainment standpoint. The wire binding, relatively spill proof paper , backstories and type size/font make it extremely easy to read and use- unlike many of its competitors.

Covering 100 extremely hard to find but very worthwhile recipes and the back stories to regale your audience while preparing said recipes.

So rare is it to find a book that is written exactly as you hoped for.... I found this to be the case with Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.

If you care about the history as well as the drink mix this is for you!

If you're only going to own one cocktail recipe book make it this one. I have perhaps three dozen in my collection but none is better at providing clear instruction and fascinating history for each drink. From alternatives to hard-to-find ingredients to stories of who really invented the French 75, you'll keep coming back to this one for more. (One side effect for me was that it turned me into a collector of old mixology books and a seeker of rare ingredients. I make my own grenadine now, by hand, because Ted made me realize the commercial products I have access to are all terrible.) Reading-- and frequently using --this book will not only make you a better mixologist, it will make you a better person.

The book contains a large number of classic cocktails. We get some fun and interesting history behind the cocktails, but the focus is on the classic, best recipe for each cocktail. Sometimes the author steps in and make some comments regarding the recipe and might suggest some changes. He might also suggest specific high quality ingredients to scout for. In addition, the book is very well illustrated. That is not essential, but it makes it more fun to read and browse. I just hope the bartenders will have read this book when it is time to order a cocktail. Book highly recommended

I am a professional bartender at a high end(4 diamond)resort.

Part of my job is to create new seasonal drinks as well as perfect the proposed signature drinks, resort-wide.

i truly LOVE my job and do extensive research to be the best at what i do.

my wife and children gave me this book as a birthday gift this year (it's been on my wish list for a long time).

It is without a doubt 1 of the very best books that I have come across on this subject and highly recommend it to all bartenders (pro or not).

10 stars if I could do it!!!

It is a MUST have for any aspiring mixologist!!!

This is a great book for the nostalgic mixologist. Not only are the recipes fun to create, the history makes for a great discussion. It's been fun creating syrups and tonics from scratch and sourcing several of the vintage ingredients. Very well structured.

Beautiful spiral bound book encased in hardcover. Glossy, thick paper with pictures of cocktails and vintage "graphics" outlining the history, as well as preparation, of cocktails. It's a nice size book too. It's just so...pretty.

Aside from aesthetics, everything is measured out in ounces (with the equivalent in gills and centiliters in parenthesis). There are notes for preferred brands as well. The author likes Marie Brizard orange curacao, and Apry for example, and Parfait Amour instead of just any Creme de Violette. Good luck finding some of this stuff though. I live in California and Marie Brizard fruity liqueurs are hard to come by.
If BevMo doesn't have it, check out Beverage Warehouse in Los Angeles or online at beveragewarehouse[dot]com. Then, as a last resort, I go to drinkupny[dot]com because they have free shipping on orders over $99.99.

This is a great book, however, expect to drop a few hundred dollars on your bar if you're a novice like me.

Bringing the recipes, the stories behind them and what tips are available for their making, Ted Haigh's passion for these lost cocktails is well noticed throughout the book. The drinks are very old and very forgotten, giving a perspective of balance, ingredients and history that is very hard to come by elsewhere and obviously had seen a lot of effort in the making.
I'll admit to enjoying several drinks from this book, but it is rare to find guests knowing them - or easily appreciating them, but to a discerning or interested guest - choosing a drink from this book is a very unique experience.