Robert Simonson (1)

Craft cocktails have absolutely exploded in my lifetime, if you (quite reasonably, in my mind) define "lifetime" as "my life once I turned drinking age". If it seems like liquor drinks have gotten way more complicated than a simple gin and tonic since the turn of the millennium, it's because they have: the dramatic surge in the quality, variety, complexity, and popularity of craft cocktails is a very recent phenomenon with a surprisingly international backstory. Simonson reaches all over the planet to profile the bars, drinks, ingredients, and bartenders who transformed cocktail drinking from the sullen refuge of depressed midcentury businessmen into the performative artisanal showcase for trendy young people that we know it as today. If you've wondered why there's suddenly so many Prohibition-themed bars popping up near you or why there's so many baffling variations on a French 75, look no further than this book.

While craft cocktails have only really come into their own in the 21st century, the seeds were sown in the late 80s. You won't be surprised to read that the classic Tom Cruise movie Cocktail did a lot to raise the profile of bartending, but I was shocked that TGI Friday's of all places helped incubate an entire generation of skilled drinkmakers, which eventually became crucial as mixology standards became higher and more widely spread (though I should have remember that Tom Cruise even starts the movie working in a TGI Friday's). Simonson doesn't detour into how Friday's, at one point the premier female-focused singles bar in New York, went from its formerly high standards - "To become a bartender you had to learn four hundred drinks and pass a test. Twenty-five of those drinks you had to make blindfolded, in a certain amount of time, knowing through muscle memory where each bottle was." - to the kitschy flair overload punchline it is today, but it's an object lesson in how poorly-handled popularity can transform an intimate, unique, special place into just another bar (the comparison with Southern California's tiki craze, a recurring interest of mine, is well-made). That trendiness cycle is a common theme in the book, as many of these bars - Milk and Honey, Pegu Club, Death & Co, PDT, WD-50, Aviary, Hotel Monteleone - featured genuinely talented and compelling bartenders adept at crafting interesting drinks, yet they consistently struggled to support their distinctive visions at scale once the masses started showing up, in part egged on by surprisingly influential restaurant critics.

They seem really cool while they lasted, though, and Simonson's war-story depictions of each bar's atmosphere at their peak are a real pleasure to read, as he's able to bring out the artistry and energy of the various drinking scenes, making even the most hectic night seem like just the place you'd want to be right before last call. He's also very attuned to the often-goofy philosophizing of the drinkmakers, always sympathetically presenting the diametrically opposed opinions of some very opinionated people - whether to use jiggers for precision or to free-pour for effect; if one needs to master arcane tricks like the Japanese hard shake or if it doesn't matter how you shake as long as the customers like it; if people should be able to order what they want or if the customer is always wrong; if one should use only the very freshest ingredients or if aged cocktails are where it's at; if it's best to innovate exciting new drinks or if nothing beats a well-executed classic. And most of all, he makes you want to have a drink in their bars. While his jumps back and forth between cities like NYC, London, San Francisco, Melbourne, Boston, and so on can seem haphazard, it comes off a really fun barhop in space and time, getting to talk to and about legendary bartenders like Dale DeGroff, Sasha Petraske, Dick Bradsell, David Wondrich, Audrey Saunders, and Julie Reiner. I could read bartenders rhapsodizing about why you need to use the exact right type of lime at the exact right hour of the day for a long time; you can practically taste the drinks they're describing.

My only minor complaint is that he didn't lengthen the book by including more background context, both on why the craft cocktail movement started at this specific time and not another, and how it relates to other, similar transformations. The craft beer explosion started around the same time, and it would be interesting to see what overlap if any exists between the two movements, since I'm not sure there's a comparable "craft wine" movement as a control variable. Many of the same people like to drink both craft beer and craft cocktails, but I'm not sure the same people like to make both of them. Did society simply become rich enough in the 80s to make luxury cocktails affordable for a critical mass of discerning consumers, or was it more akin to an artistic revolution that drove consumer tastes rather than the market finding the producers? The high-end restaurant scene would also be a good reference point - Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Grant Achatz's Alinea in Chicago are two restaurants he mentions which influenced craft cocktail designers in their use of fresh ingredients and innovative preparation techniques, respectively, but does the craft cocktail movement parallel similar changes in what people expect from their food, or is nightlife distinctive enough from eating out that the two are mostly unrelated? Also related is why hotels were so innovative in midcentury, both in food and drink, but seem to have lost their primary place these days: why are the Reuben sandwiches and sazeracs of today invented outside of hotels?

Regardless, whether you're someone questing for the perfect Manhattan or willing to try any take on a Moscow Mule, Simonson's account of why you've heard about those drinks in the first place is incredibly useful. Best of all, there's plenty of famous drink recipes in the book exactly as they were originally concocted, so even if you can't have a particular drink at one of the now-closed bars which made it legendary, from the hands of the mixologists themselves, you can still enjoy them in the comfort of your own home. Even the story about how they came to be called "cocktails" in the first place is pretty great.… (lisätietoja)

A Proper Drink, by Robert Simonson, is a journey through the development of the modern cocktail. Through alcoholic literature, there are more books recommended than I thought would be mentioned in this book that is a discussion of alcohol, and personal anecdotes, Simonson walks the reader through every stage of this development.

An excellent start to an alcohol book collection, this does leave a bit of a pretentious aftertaste in the reader’s mouth. While those personal anecdotes add to a story, there were times where is felt like the writer had no personality and was simply listing off what bartenders were saying in regards to one another and various drinks and bars. This book is a story of the bartenders and enthusiasts who made the mixed drink world what it is today, but I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of the author at times. While reading I was able to understand some of the hipster trends, the desire to be different and still through-back to the classics. Cocktails, today, are about refining drinks that have proven their worth based on ingredients, not their cheap price tag. Which is to say that these drinks are expensive, and it may be worth it to read a book that describes them a bit before buying them.


Be prepared to mourn your inability to go to many of these bars, be that because of location or the fact that they no longer exist. Simonson shines a light on the arguably most influential locations around the globe including Melbourne, NY, San Francisco, LLondon, and New Orleans. Most of these bars would truly fall under the “speakeasy” umbrella, if for nothing more than the size of them. These are the locations that you don’t readily ask for a beer at. How I wish I could venture there.

If you are not interested in drinks beyond “give me the cheapest,” don’t open this book. But, if you are intrigued by the speakeasy world and all those mixed drinks, this is a great place to begin. A definite must read for anyone who drinks more than beer, and any bartender. Bartenders all have their own stories, and within these pages there are a few of the more interesting.


I was given this review copy by Penguin Random House for an honest review.… (lisätietoja)

Ever give any thought as to why you’re starting to see variations of Moscow Mules everywhere? Why craft distilleries are taking off across the country? Why suddenly your local bar has started carrying more than Pepe Lopez and Burnetts Vodka in their well?

Well wonder no more! Simonson, a writer for the New York Times, has put together a detail-rich history of the craft cocktail movement over the last two decades. The renaissance we are currently experiencing is largely due to the efforts of a handful of bartenders and their proteges in cities like New York, London, and San Francisco. Eschewing the sour mix in favor of fresh ingredients, quality liquor, and classic (sometimes extinct) recipes, these guys (and girls) have literally changed how most of the Western world drinks.

Simonson’s history is ordered by chronology and geography, and each chapter focuses on one or two trendsetters. As a bonus, each chapter also features a drink recipe or two (which I cannot wait to try!).

This book is more aimed at aficionados, and those with a more casual interest might find themselves drifting at some points. But in all this is an exhaustively researched and interesting look into the origins of craft cocktails and the modern drink renaissance.

A copy of this book was provided by the Publisher via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. A Proper Drink is currently available for purchase.… (lisätietoja)

I received this book nearly two months ago, but just was able to finish it. This was not because I was busy, or didn't like the book, but more because Javaczuk, my ex-bartender husband, who lived in NYC for a bit, and who still holds a fascination for the art of spirits tucked it away to read. (To be fair, I knew he would, and as I had other books to occupy me, and a good bit of art as well, I was fine. My only qualm was that it delayed my thoughts on the book for Blogging for Books, and the publisher, from whom I got my copy.) This review is a combination of both our thoughts: the expert and the novice.

For both the mixologist and the lover of fine cocktails who knows nothing about making a proper drink, this was an interesting book. It is praiseworthy for its comprehensiveness, Simonson's ability to make the reader feel as if they are observing these pioneering mixologists with short, simple descriptions, and its ability to put the modern cocktail movement in historical context. From my point of view, I was happy it spurred Javaczuk on to try some of the recipes provided. It also was just plain interesting reading, introducing the novice (me) to some of the finer nuances in crafting a cocktail. The general index, and the index of people interviewed/corresponded with were also helpful, but made me realize this was essentially just one (plus a few outliers) city, which made me wonder who else was out there, in untapped regions. It also made me realize that my personal slap-dash method of making a drink would make most people shudder.

Only thing other thing that would have been nice to have seen would be some pictures of the bartenders and bars, as some of Simonson's media articles have done, but understand that there are cost considerations in publishing a book.

This certainly will hold a place of esteem (and be a point of reference) in our collection of Mixology books.To end with Javaczuk's thoughts, for he certainly knows far more on the subject than I do; "As far as I know, this is the best book existing on the subject. Brilliant piece of research.

2016-read, blogging-for-books, foodie, heard-interview-with-author, made-me-look-something-up, nonfiction, places-i-have-been, read, taught-me-something… (lisätietoja)