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David Wondrich

Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar Featuring the Original Formulae Hardcover – November 6, 2007

by David Wondrich (Author), Dale DeGroff (Foreword)

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Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar (TARCHERPERIGEE)
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A lively, historically informed, and definitive guide to classic American cocktails.

Cocktail writer and historian David Wondrich presents the colorful, little-known history of classic American drinks-and the ultimate mixologist's guide-in this engaging homage to Jerry Thomas, father of the American bar.

Wondrich reveals never-before-published details and stories about this larger-than-life nineteenth-century figure, along with definitive recipes for 100 punches, cocktails, sours, fizzes, toddies, slings, and other essential drinks, plus twenty new recipes from today's top mixologists, created exclusively for this book.

This colorful and good-humored volume is a mustread for anyone who appreciates the timeless appeal of a well-made drink-and the uniquely American history behind it.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Perigee Trade
Publication date

November 6, 2007
Dimensions

5.82 x 0.94 x 8.56 inches
ISBN-10

0399532870
ISBN-13

978-0399532870
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

cofounder of the Museum of the American Cocktail, Wondrich delivers a well-researched chronicle of Professor Jerry Thomas's life and times as late 19th-century bartender extraordinaire. From gold rush saloons in San Francisco to last calls in lower Manhattan, Thomas collected material for The Bartender's Guide, the seminal 1862 collection of cocktail recipes. Wondrich offers up 100 classic cocktails from Thomas's guide and other period sources, along with 16 new drinks that recall those golden days. Old-time tools, ingredients and measurements are conveniently converted to their contemporary equivalents, as julep strainers and toddy sticks are hard to come by. Fortunately, many of the concoctions transcend time in their simplicity. General Harrison's Egg Nogg, for example, calls for hard cider, sugar, an egg and some lumps of ice. For the newly minted offerings, Julie Reiner of New York's Flatiron Lounge conjures up a Cherry Smash that includes brandied cherries, cognac and Orange Curaçao, and Wondrich weighs in with a glass of rye, simple syrup and Angostura bitters, which he calls a Tombstone. The result is a lovely homage to Thomas's indomitable spirits. B&w illus. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"{Jerry} Thomas finally gets his due in Imbibe!....Mr. Wondrich puts the drinks in context, with their ingredients explained, their measurements accurately indicated, and their place in the overall cocktail scheme clearly mapped out. At the same time, Thomas himself appears, for the first time, as a living presence: a devotee of bare-knuckle prize fights, a flashy dresser fond of kid gloves, an art collector, a restless traveler usually carrying a fat wad of bank notes and a gold Parisian watch. A player, in short."
--William Grimes, The New York Times

"This book will leave you shaken and, I hope, stirred. Wondrich, one of the top spirits writers in the country, delves into the rich and fascinating history of mixology in America."
--USA Today

"Imbibe brings back the delicious forgotten cocktails created by a pioneering American bon vivant....This book is a model for food history writing....{Wondrich is} always an enjoyable writer, curious, eager, mildly opinionated and with a taste for the amusing."
--The Los Angeles Times

"Cocktail connoisseurs and history buffs will find this book an essential addition to their reference libraries." --The San Francisco Chronicle

"Wondrich offers what amounts to a history of industrial-age America writ in booze, covering everything from punches, fizzes, and sours to toddies, slings, and juleps."
--Saveur, Top Ten Reads

"How and why America rose to world preeminence in mixology is explained zestfully in Imbibe!."
--Forbes

"With Imbibe!, David Wondrich's biography of 19-century mixologist Jerry Thomas, cocktails do the time warp."
--New York Daily News

"Wondrich delivers a well-researched chronicle of "Professor" Jerry Thomas's life and times as late 19th-century bartender extraordinaire...a lovely homage to Thomas's indomitable spirits."
--Publishers Weekly

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Perigee Trade (November 6, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399532870
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399532870
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.08 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.82 x 0.94 x 8.56 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #425,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #487 in Cocktails & Mixed Drinks
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Customer Reviews:
110 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Bottoms Up!

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

The last 10 years has seen a renaissance in cocktail making and consuming. It is driven by several underlying trends: a. rediscovering the knowledge from the misty past of the golden age of cocktails, b. innovation in cocktail recipes and chemistry, and c. microdistilleries.

David Wondrich gives us a fascinating and informative book that falls squarely in category a. He narrates a history of cocktails, and then brings us into the Classical Age (as he labels it), letting us know the tools and techniques. Then, Wondrich provides not just recipes for these classic drinks, but the more intriguing history behind such colorful names as East India Cocktail, Weeper's Joy, Stone Fence and Florodora.

This is a fun book to read, but more importantly to experiment with. These drinks and recipes brings inspiration and imbibition from the past into the present with an eye to the future.

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Chuck Grimmett

This is much more than a recipe book. David ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2017

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This is much more than a recipe book. David Wondrich goes unwinds the intricate history of classic American cocktails and provides stories and detailed mixological notes along with the 100+ definitive recipes for classic drinks. He covers all the bases: Punches, cocktails, sours, fizzes, toddies, and slings.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

caliboy

I am obsessed with this book.

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

I am surprised at how effective Wondrich's passions are transferred to the readers of IMBIBE. I am simply obsessed with this little book. I wish it were three times as long. I ran out immediately and bought Bols Genver (Gin originally manufactured in 1820 and recently re-introduced (in 2008) due to this book I am certain) and Laird's Apple Brandy and I am regularly filling my friends with concoctions from the mid-19th century and they're loving it. Tom and Jerry (that seasonal (and quite lovely) egg nog on steroids) is a particular favourite. Wondrich has a seductive, learned, sly, and wonderfully trenchant writing style. The man is a bloody wonder. Where have you been all my life?

One person found this helpful

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sarusa

Great, but the drinks are the real characters

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2011

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There's just not enough known about Jerry Thomas to sustain a full book - he's only about a quarter of this one. Which is fine, because Wondrich has made the drinks the real subject of the book, and goes into satisfying detail on each one and how they've evolved for the better or the worse.

If nothing else, like Vintage Cocktails will teach you that refrigerated non-oxidized vermouth actually tastes good (unlike a big bottle of martini & rossi left to oxidize), this will teach you the pleasures of freshly grated nutmeg and the real pros and cons of shaking vs stirring.

This book convinced me to buy a about $100 worth of equipment, including a real ice crusher - I think it might light a fire in you too.

Helpful

Michael Rooney

A Great Read for Anyone Interested in Cocktails, History or Both

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2012

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David Wondrich has a new fan! I started with this book and quickly took to his magazine of the same name -- Imbibe! In this book, he provides a wonderful snapshot of cocktailing, as it has grown in America over the past three centuries. The focus on Jerry Thomas is well-justified, but he goes further into the lore by detailing the undocumented eras that preceded the legendary Thomas. With smart provisions for bar essentials and methods that are key to being a well-rounded bartender, and a fantastic chapter on the Sporting culture of that bygone era, Wondrich invokes a sense of pride in a lost profession. His attention to detail and mission to maintain the originality of the recipes provides a great foundation for those looking to wax intellectual about the culture, from behind the bar or in front of it. Know thy bartender.

2 people found this helpful

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Robert Hess

Required Reading for any Cocktailian

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2007

Verified Purchase

The cocktail has had a glorious 200 year history, much of which unfortunately has gone unheralded for far too long. Thankfully, one of the most diligent cocktail historians of today's milieu has taken it upon himself to rectify this problem.

Using the illustrious "Jerry Thomas" (famous bartender from the mid 1800's and author of the first known bartenders guide) as a focal point, Mr. Wondrich introduces us to the birth and evolution of the cocktail as well as a variety of other categories of "mixed drinks" from that era. With insightful, and often witty explanations he steps carefully through both the drinks and the attitudes of the time which formed the foundation for all that was to follow.

Cocktail recipe books, which cram as many recipes as possible within their pages, are a dime a dozen. To truly understand the cocktail, whether you are a bartender or bar-attender, requires that you have a grasp of the history which preceded our current landscape. For this reason, this book is perhaps the most important book of its kind, and fills a huge void which has surrounded this topic for virtually its entire history.

26 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tony Deblauwe

Fantastic journey of spirits and tradition

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2013

Verified Purchase

As a fan of spirits and the new movement back to traditional cocktails and bar scenes, Imbibe! provides a wonderful overview of the craft of drinking and context into the origin of many time-honored recipes and other magic elixirs. Of course the best part is the variety of old school recipes – many I have mixed at home or had the pleasure of sampling from expert mixologists. Like good wine, a well-crafted cocktail has just as much complexity, beauty, and history. This book is a treat for people looking to broaden their knowledge of classic American drinking culture.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Eugene

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Lili

The must have !

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

Really interesting book.
Well structure.
One of my favorite and a great tool for a bartender !
It takes you back in time and give you much more information about Jerry Thomas.
It also contain some great cocktails recipes.

Alex

Read, enjoy and learn...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2013

Verified Purchase

reading this book you would certainly know few more stories about some classic and more than few recipes of bitters, bottle cocktails and much more.

Cliente Amazon

Libro in perfette condizioni

Reviewed in Italy on March 5, 2021

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Un po travagliata e lunga la spedizione, però libro in ottime condizioni.

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Patrick

Cocktail Time

Reviewed in Canada on November 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

A must have for your bar collection. I appreciate the history of the cocktail and detailed recipes.

antonio de meo

il sancta sanctorum del bartender

Reviewed in Italy on June 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

Che dire? Forse una bibbia per chiunque voglia intraprendere o semplicemente conoscere il lavoro del barman. Wondrich fonde in questo libro la sua passione per i cocktail con il suo lavoro di giornalista. Assolutamente da leggere

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