Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar

Imbibe! traces the life and influence of Jerry Thomas, a pioneering 19th century American bartender who helped establish cocktail culture. Through extensive research and historical documentation, author David Wondrich reconstructs Thomas's journey from his early days to becoming the most famous bartender of his era. The book presents recreations of Thomas's original cocktail recipes, adapted for modern ingredients and measurements while maintaining historical accuracy. Wondrich includes detailed notes on period-appropriate spirits, techniques, and barware, allowing readers to reproduce authentic 19th century drinks. Historical context forms a core element of the narrative, with insights into the development of American drinking culture, social customs, and the evolution of bars and saloons. The text incorporates primary sources, including newspaper articles, advertisements, and personal accounts from the era. This work serves as both a biography and a practical manual, highlighting the intersection of American cultural history with the development of cocktail craft. The book demonstrates how the foundations of modern bartending were established through innovation, showmanship, and the codification of recipes and techniques.

Readers appreciate the deep historical research and storytelling about 19th century cocktail culture. Many note it functions both as a recipe book and engaging history text. Bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts value the authentic period recipes and detailed instructions for recreating historic drinks. Likes: - Thorough citations and primary sources - Entertaining writing style and humor - Clear recipe adaptations for modern ingredients - Historical context behind each drink Dislikes: - Dense academic tone in some sections - Limited cocktail photos/illustrations - Some recipes require hard-to-find ingredients - Focus on pre-1890s drinks only One reader noted: "Wondrich manages to be both scholarly and highly entertaining" while another said "the historical tangents can make it drag." Ratings: Goodreads: 4.26/5 (1,738 ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (454 ratings) LibraryThing: 4.1/5 (89 ratings) The book won a James Beard Foundation Book Award and Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award.

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🍸 Jerry Thomas, the book's subject, performed a signature drink called the Blue Blazer which involved passing flaming whiskey between two mixing glasses, creating an arc of blue fire. 📚 Author David Wondrich was originally a jazz critic and English professor before becoming one of the world's foremost cocktail historians. 🥃 The book won the James Beard Award in 2008, marking the first time a beverage book had won in the Writing and Literature category. 🍹 Many of the original cocktail recipes in the book had to be extensively tested and modified for modern ingredients, as items like "plain syrup" and "Santa Cruz rum" no longer exist in their 19th-century forms. 🏆 Jerry Thomas's 1862 "Bar-Tender's Guide" was the first cocktail recipe book ever published in the United States, and original copies now sell for thousands of dollars.