Mr. Mixologist has a new book

[beans]

Indeed. Proper mixing is his business, and the subject of his sixth book, "The Art of the Cocktail." Think of the book as a start-to-finish anthology of any drink for any occasion, with colorful pictures to boot. Name a drink (What the heck is a Pousse Cafe anyway?), and it's probably in there. Some are classics, some are contemporaries invented by Reed. Even a well-versed drinker will find the glossary in back helpful in managing the 183 pages and countless recipes. It concludes with a nod to non-alcohol drinkers, as well, with a section called "Mocktails."

Reed, 32, has been bartending around the globe for 14 years (the drinking age in London is 18), mixing drinks for a remarkably diverse constituency in cities such as Hong Kong; Cape Town, South Africa; and London. He wrote a popular column, Barfly, for the London Times magazine, and also had a brief TV stint as star of the BBC show, "Shaker Maker." Now he is one of six partners at IPBartenders, a consultancy firm based in London for bar owners, alcohol brands and events planners.

I see this article lists Sur La Table for a demonstration in San Fran. JAZ, did you get to meet mixologist Mr. Reed and review this publication?

Full article and interview right here.

Cheers!

[JAZ]

Oh yes, I did attend (coordinated the event, actually), and now I remember that as I was posting on the event, my possessed-by-Satan computer crashed, and I never did get back to the post. Thanks for reminding me.

The event was fun – even after trying to accommodate the Vox vodka folks (who sponsored the event), the food caterers and the bar caterers, all of whom appeared never to have communicated at all. Logistics aside, it was a good event -- well attended by press people, a faint scattering of restaurant/bar employees, and other guests. Ben was great -- personable and funny and well spoken, plus he had a bar kit that would make anyone in the business salivate and paw over it. He did a wonderful demonstration with great examples of garnishes too.

As it was sponsored by Vox, the cocktails served were vodka-based – three of the recipes in the article, in fact. The grape one was by far the most interesting: as with the “smoking martini” slkinsey mentions elsewhere, the neutral vodka provided a good backdrop for the wine. The fruits of the forest drink was pleasant if simple, although it did leave guests with odd bits of flowers stuck to their teeth and lips. Sort of cute. Quite frankly, I couldn’t bring myself to taste the melon thing. Sorry.

And I bought the book, naturally. How could I not? As for a review: Well, it’s a great resource to find new and interesting drinks. It's also a beautiful book -- talk about Cocktail Porn! But I think that, somehow, cocktail books are seriously personal, and though I’m very glad to have this one in my collection, it hasn’t inspired me in the way that Paul Harrington’s Cocktails did, it hasn’t given me as much information as Gary Regan’s “Mixology” has, and it certainly hasn’t made me laugh out loud, as has Dave Wondrich’s Esquire Drinks book. But as it’s probably the only trendy sort of drink book I’ll own, it’s a good one for me to have.

[beans]

Why not post about this opportunity?

I would have never missed this chance to interact.

[JAZ]

Since it was Vox's private event (Sur La Table simply provided the venue and we coordinated the logistics), it wasn't really appropriate for me to post about it in advance.