Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie 100 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them

In this expanded and updated edition of Forgotten Cocktails and Vintage Spirits, historian, expert, and drink aficionado Dr. Cocktail adds another 20 fine recipes to his hand-picked collection of 80 rare-and-worth-rediscovered drink recipes, shares revelations about the latest cocktail trends, provides new resources for uncommon ingredients, and profiles of many of the cocktail world's movers and shakers. Historic facts, expanded anecdotes, and full-color vintage images from extremely uncommon sources round out this must-have volume. For anyone who enjoys an icy drink and an unforgettable tale.

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining and Informative

By Adam Machanic "Data Dude" - July 3, 2009

"Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails" is a cocktail recipe book, but--as far as recipe books go--is quite readable and is both easy to digest in part or to read cover-to-cover, depending on your mood. Ted Haigh provides detailed (and interesting) back stories on most of the drinks featured in the book, as well as sidebar sections on many of the lesser-known spirits that the recipes call for. In addition to the main parts of the book, Haigh includes an introduction that covers the resurgence of classic cocktails, a glossary, a bibliography, and a resource guide to help you find many of the rarer ingredients he mentions throughout the text. Haigh clearly put a lot of thought and effort into compiling such a comprehensive guide, and it shows: The book is nicely put together and is wonderfully cohesive, with many of the recipes including references to other, similar or related recipes that can be found elsewhere within the book.

I do have a few complaints about the book:... read more

Dr Cocktails somehow improves on perfection

By Christopher Carlsson "Spiritual Advisor" - October 5, 2009

Designed from the get go by a graphic artist with full artistic control and an obsessive and loving attention to detail this book delights at least four of the five senses - okay, all five if you like the smell of good ink) done with exhaustive attention to subject material, layout, paper, printing and virtually every other aspect one could think of.

This is a must have classic tome on mixology and of course on classic mixology.

While there are many new reprints of classic bar and mixing manual today this one is especially useful from a practical and entertainment standpoint. The wire binding, relatively spill proof paper , backstories and type size/font make it extremely easy to read and use- unlike many of its competitors.

Covering 100 extremely hard to find but very worthwhile recipes and the back stories to regale your audience while preparing said recipes.

The Originator

By John D. Hearn - June 28, 2009

The 21st century cocktail drinker owes as much to Ted Haigh as the 19th century drinker owed to Jerry Thomas. Dr. Cocktail has been feverishly researching and recreating forgotten, century-old drinks since the early days of the internet and is probably the single biggest force behind the cocktail renaissance happening today in New York, London, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and other cities around the world. The first edition of this book is the reason I can walk into bars across the country and order a Corpse Reviver #2 without encountering dumbfounded stares, the reason there dozens of bottles of cocktail bitters in my liquor in my cabinet, and the reason Creme Yvette (among other lost ingredients) will soon again grace shelves in bars and liquor stores.

I've read the first edition, cover to cover, perhaps a dozen times; with each reading hoping to eke out just a little more information than I retained from the previous endeavor. This new and vastly expanded edition... read more