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Cocktail Books: The Topic

beans

By beans
in Spirits & Cocktails

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

I just finished Liquid Intelligence. This book may change my life

 

Now you too can reuse your ice.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

  • 4 weeks later...
brinza

brinza

Posted
Posted

I recently got Hawai'i Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber and two of the recipes call for an ingredient referred to as "Daiquiri mixture" written just like that.  But nowhere in the book is there any exaplanation of what that is.  By comparison, there is an ingredient called "honey cream mix," an equal parts combination of sweet butter and honey and they devote and entire page to its description.  But no mention of this Daquiri mixture.  Does anyone have any idea what this might be?  The Cuban Daiquiri and Shark's Tooth recipes call for lime juice, Daiquiri mixture, and rum, so obviously, this would have to be some sort of sweet ingredient, but what?  There is no evidence that it's a commercial product.

Mike

"The mixing of whiskey, bitters, and sugar represents a turning point, as decisive for American drinking habits as the discovery of three-point perspective was for Renaissance painting." -- William Grimes

tanstaafl2

tanstaafl2

Posted
Posted

I recently got Hawai'i Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber and two of the recipes call for an ingredient referred to as "Daiquiri mixture" written just like that.  But nowhere in the book is there any exaplanation of what that is.  By comparison, there is an ingredient called "honey cream mix," an equal parts combination of sweet butter and honey and they devote and entire page to its description.  But no mention of this Daquiri mixture.  Does anyone have any idea what this might be?  The Cuban Daiquiri and Shark's Tooth recipes call for lime juice, Daiquiri mixture, and rum, so obviously, this would have to be some sort of sweet ingredient, but what?  There is no evidence that it's a commercial product.

 

The Daiquiri is a pretty straight forward drink, including the Cuban Daiquiri (which I think of as a daiquiri made with Cuban rum and different from the Hemingway/Papa Doble or Floridita Daiquiri with various combinations of grapefruit juice and maraschino).

 

Short of a rich 2:1 sugar syrup I can't think of what this would be.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. ~Mark Twain

Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...

~tanstaafl2

brinza

brinza

Posted
Posted

The Daiquiri is a pretty straight forward drink, including the Cuban Daiquiri (which I think of as a daiquiri made with Cuban rum and different from the Hemingway/Papa Doble or Floridita Daiquiri with various combinations of grapefruit juice and maraschino).

 

Short of a rich 2:1 sugar syrup I can't think of what this would be.

Yeah, kind of odd.  I just can't figure out why they woiuld list the ingredient like that instead of just saying sugar or simple syrup.  If it's meant to be some sort of lime flavored syrup or something along those lines, they neglected to mention that in the book.  No big deal, It was just puzzling.  I think some knd of omission occured during the editing of the book.

Mike

"The mixing of whiskey, bitters, and sugar represents a turning point, as decisive for American drinking habits as the discovery of three-point perspective was for Renaissance painting." -- William Grimes

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Has anyone compared the 2015 edition of Imbibe! to the older version?  There are a lot more pages.  I am afraid I am about to order.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Haven't compared it, but I just got the new one and it's clear a lot has been updated. Probably worth a purchase.

 

Thanks, it's on its way to me.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

The 2015 Imbibe! has come.  Already I see new things I want to make.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

  • 2 weeks later...
BillBuitenhuys

BillBuitenhuys

Posted
Posted

Ya, I just got the new Imbibe! too and just reading through the front I'm already excited. The old version is littered with margin notes and dog-eared corners so I'll probably be bouncing between the two.

@AZBittersLab

AZBittersLab.com

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence just won the James Beard Award for best book in the beverage category.

 

I am not surprised.  I now always reuse my ice.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Hassouni

Hassouni

Posted
Posted

Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence just won the James Beard Award for best book in the beverage category.

 

Not surprised either. It's unlike any other book in its class - I haven't read Modernist Cuisine but it strikes me as the equivalent for cocktails. If I were not running a pop-up cocktail bar and planning to open a full time one, I might have less use for it, but in my case, it's a godsend.

 

I don't reuse my ice, and to be honest I haven't put into practice a TON of techniques from it yet, but I am strongly considering a carbonation rig, and if/when the Green Zone becomes a brick and mortar bar, centrifuge all day long, and possibly even LN. I do use his iSi infusion technique, but I started that before the book came out (it was on the Cooking Issues blog years ago).

 

That said even before I pick up a carbonation setup, or a centrifuge, or an LN dewar, his coffee infusions will def get some trials for my Turkish Coffee Liqueur, and I did pick up a cheapo manual ice shaver at H Mart (cheap version of his expensive Japanese one), and I've tried his sub-threshold salt in sours trick, and it's great. I also used his technique for orgeat, using some Cooking Issues style hydrocolloids, and it was a breeze, and it's amazing. I also picked up some of his preferred brand of agar-agar powder and plan on doing some test runs of juice clarification soon.

 

Dave Arnold is my new God, basically.

  • Like 2

Alchemist/mixologist/proprietor at the Green Zone, serving craft cocktails with the flavors of the Middle East

 

my eG foodblog - Beirut and beyond

My occasionally food-related site

  • 5 months later...
ananth

ananth

Posted
Posted (edited)

hello,

is there any book which teachs to do all basics such as speed pouring, rolling... elegantly as we can see in cocktail bars. I know that practice is the only method but maybe there is a book or maybe videos which explain subtle details. I am not talking about flair bartending, something subtler

 

thank you

Edited by ananth (log)
Rafa

Rafa

Posted
Posted

hello,

is there any book which teachs to do all basics such as speed pouring, rolling... elegantly as we can see in cocktail bars. I know that practice is the only method but maybe there is a book or maybe videos which explain subtle details. I am not talking about flair bartending, something subtler

 

thank you

 

That kind of stuff comes with comfort and practice. The bartenders you see do it have been picking up bottles and pouring drinks hundreds of times a shift for months or years. I'm not saying any of these little tricks take that long to learn--they don't--but they're born of a comfort with and a joy in one's tools and an awareness that as a working bartender you're a performer, and part of your job is to give guests a show while they wait for their drinks. 

 

So I would focus on getting good on the basics, finding a consistent mise-en-place that works for you, and just banging drinks out. You'll find your style. 

 

As Chris mentioned, the Death & Co book gets into technique, while Morgenthaler's book focuses heavily on it. I would also look at videos on the Small Screen Network, particularly those by working bartenders, like Jamie Boudreau, Charlotte Voisey, and Morgenthaler himself. 

  • Like 1

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”In Demerara some of the rum producers have a unique custom of placing chunks of raw meat in the casks to assist in aging, to absorb certain impurities, and to add a certain distinctive character.” -Peter Valaer, "Foreign and Domestic Rum," 1937

FrogPrincesse

FrogPrincesse

Posted
Posted (edited)

I like the videos of Dale DeGroff. A bit old school, but he is elegance personified. So fascinating to look at. :)

 

If you do the Barsmarts online courses, there is a series of videos focusing on technique. It's either free or very cheap, and I found the courses helpful. More info about Barsmarts can be found here.

Edited by FrogPrincesse (log)

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Hassouni

Hassouni

Posted
Posted

Youtube all the way for technique. Or just go to very good quality cocktail bars and watch what the people behind the stick do. You'll notice a lot of habits in common, and just practice them at home.

 

Rafa is right in that most don't require a ton of practice. For example, the industry standard "Japanese" stir is quite easy to master in your dominant hand, and more effort, though not too hard to master in the other hand. Two at once, though...that takes forever!

 

Speed/free pouring comes with practice, consistency, and knowing your liquids. I only do it with spirits I know are pure (no sugared rums, for example, and no juices or syrups), and typically only into a clear glass. One great thing about the Yarai mixing glasses is that you can learn how much an ounce or two ounces is from how far up on the pattern it goes. I never measure anything for Sazeracs and similar drinks, for example, if I'm using a glass like that.

Alchemist/mixologist/proprietor at the Green Zone, serving craft cocktails with the flavors of the Middle East

 

my eG foodblog - Beirut and beyond

My occasionally food-related site

haresfur

haresfur

Posted
Posted

hello,

is there any book which teachs to do all basics such as speed pouring, rolling... elegantly as we can see in cocktail bars. I know that practice is the only method but maybe there is a book or maybe videos which explain subtle details. I am not talking about flair bartending, something subtler

 

thank you

 

Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology is worth a read, too. Not exactly what you are after but he talks quite a bit about the craft of bartending - especially in customer interactions.

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

tanstaafl2

tanstaafl2

Posted
Posted

Oh and speaking of cocktail books, this was the coolest thing to happen last week:

 

12039209_10100435569706981_3232691233862

 

Very nice. Bottoms up indeed!

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. ~Mark Twain

Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...

~tanstaafl2

ananth

ananth

Posted
Posted

thank you for all your answers guys

 

I will check those books.I already have Morgantheler's which I devoured. If Death & Co does not deal with technique as deep as Morgantheler's, it is still OK. I already intend to buy it just for their amazing recipes.

 

Youtube, of course, is an amazing tool. I am not talking about tutorials, which are necessary certainly but quite basic after all, rather about simple videos of great bartenders performing which I can take as example.

 

I know that simply trying to copy them would be foolish but they are great inspiration and that would help me find my own style afterwards.

 

I practice every day and I see progress but I, of course, need to perfect my skills.

 

I am so amazed when I see videos of Luca Cinalli from Nightjar bar for, instance, on Youtube. His rolling style is insane, such dexterity is really unbelievable. His shaking style is also pretty impressive even though it looks like that it quite solicits shoulders.

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