Customer Reviews

The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book (Classic Cocktail Books series)

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

 

 

This is a unique book. It will give you much pleasure to read a brief and humorous history of the Prohibition years in America, with a collection of pre and post-prohibition cocktail drunk at the old Waldorf Bar, followed by a listing of pre-war mixed drinks. For each drink, you are treated with a delightful and humorous anecdote that will make great cocktail conversation.
For historians, there is a brief explanation of the origin and meaning of names given to each drink.
This book will make a great gift for anyone who appreciates a drink at cocktail time.

Albert Crockett's The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book belongs on the shelf of any curious mixologist or cocktail enthusiast. This version is basically a reprint and repackaging of the original 1935 (1934?) edition. The quality of the typefaces and illustrations is pretty decent and the hardcover binding is great. For $10 this is a real value!

Mr. Jasper's review seems to miss one key element: Yes Mr. Crockett sounds a bit old and crusty and like he's telling your grandfather's stories...this book was published in 1935! Not only that, his assumed title on the first page is "Historian of the Old Waldorf-Astoria." And yes, by no means is this a good book for those wishing to mix modern drinks for a run-of-the-mill bar crowd. There are countless others out there for that purpose. However, it is an excellent read on the origin of modern cocktails, and spins some intriguing stories of the pre-Prohibition era. Perhaps it will inspire modern imbibers to seek out things like orange bitters, Benedictine, and a complement of glassware. Oh and by the way, Mr. Crockett recommends rye whiskey for the Manhattan. ;)

A related book (written 60 years later or so) is the excellent Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century (Harrington, Moorhead). It contains small essays on all the classic coktails as well recipes, background information, mixing techniques, etc. For some reason this book is still out of print, leading to ridiculous prices of $65 or more in the used market. If you can't score a copy you can read most of it at the Hotwired Cocktailtime web site.

This beautifully reproduced book brings back a joyful recollection of history wrapped around the practical drink recipes that all my friends enjoy while I make them drinks in my home bar.

A fun book to have on hand. Little gossipy tidbits. Lots of cocktail recipes. This book and others made great stocking stuffers.

Good book for someone who is looking for inspiration to re-create classic concoctions. I don't recommend this book for someone who is looking to copy recipes, as these are truly original recipes geared towards spirits no longer similar to what we have today. Also the proportions of ingredients are geared towards a taste preference rarely seen these days- even by a classic cocktail enthusiast.

This was a fun and informative read. If you like cocktails and history, its a book for you

To start, this book isn't bad - but it's not useful. Basically this is like hearing long stories from your grandfather's "glory days" as a young man. My impression or guesses about the author is that he's an older gentleman who finds today's chain restaurant and trendy, "theme" bars an abomination when compared to the days of "real" cocktail drinking from the early days of the 20th century and those nasty days of prohibition. To some degree, he's right - anyone who orders a chocolate martini should be shot dead on the spot. Many of the acne-scarred kids behind the bar of a Friday's or whathaveyou have no more an idea of what a Manhattan is, other than a big city somewhere in New York State. That said, there are some interesting eye-witness accounts on what it was like to drink during prohibition - who knew? Scary sounding stuff.

On the whole, this is like listening to an older person's windy stories about "when I was your age..." There's much value and merit in that - don't get me wrong. Cocktail recipe-wise, the recipes are too old and outdated to be of any use to anyone, unless you're trying to open a theme bar under the prohibition theme - in which case you're probably more concerned about decor and finding a life-size cardboard Al Capone than authentically mixed cocktails. That brings us to what I took to be the author's point - there are too few "real" bartenders are out there - those who know a Manhattan should be made with bourbon, not blended whiskey and should always use a dash of bitters. Our world has changed and to some degree, sadly passsed the need for that kind of bartender by. People today are too interested in seeing a silly juggling act behind the bar and tastes have changed away from people who enjoy the taste of spirits to those who want to cover up that nasty alcohol taste with candy. Kiddie drinks are now the norm, and this book laments the passing of the real cocktails - those that don't include whole fruit or blenders.

You'll get better history out of Cocktails in New York. This is an archaeological work - you'll need to know your subject before digging in. You won't be gleefully making drinks from this book for your friends - I dare you to find 8 people who will drink any of these without complaint that they're too strong or aren't sweet enough. These are not drinks for anyone who has ever had a frozen anything or mixes anything with Coke, Sprite, etc. If anyone tells you "I like Chambord" or any of the zillion fakey, flavored schnapps, they will not like these cocktails. Cocktail drinker eschew those sugary, candy flavored liquids. I'm a bar manager and refuse to even stock them. Kiddie drinkers can go drink at a kiddies bar.