Praise for The Cocktail Companion
“This book is a toboggan ride through the history of the cocktail. Packed with wonderful facts and nuggets at every turn. Cheryl has mined some of the leading experts to come up with a compelling story.” —Dale “King Cocktail” DeGroff, The Craft of the Cocktail and The Essential Cocktail
“Cheryl has demystified the cocktail, and made it what it should always be: fun and approachable! She takes us on an entertaining journey into the world of libations and those who serve them; their histories, stories, and antidotes. In the end, we better understand how we have arrived where we are and leave a more educated and appreciative imbiber!” —Tony Abou-Ganim, The Modern Mixologist
“Eureka! Cheryl Charming just made the internet obsolete. The bartending maven once again has done all the digging and delivered the gold on the history of everything bartending, cocktails, and cocktail bars.” —Tobin Ellis, BarMagic of Las Vegas
“Cheryl Charming makes facts fun again! In addition to page-turning chapters on drink evolution through the millennia and the backstory of just about every famous cocktail (I particularly enjoyed her revelations about the Cosmopolitan). This book offers thoroughly entertaining sections on cocktails in film, literature, and television. The ‘Name Your Poison’ list, in which Cheryl cites the favorite drink of celebrities past and present, is alone worth the price of the book.” —Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, Sippin’ Safari; Beachbum Berry’s Intoxica!; Beach Bum Berry’s Remixed; Beach Bum Berry’s Grog Log; and Beach Bum Berry’s Taboo Table
“Cheryl has compiled a wealth of knowledge and experiences from virtually every corner of cocktail culture, and masterfully collated it all into a fun book that ushers the reader along a grand tour of kaleidoscopic indulgence.” —T.A. Breaux, Absinthe: The Exquisite Elixir
“You know what would be valuable? A ten-volume encyclopedia of drink. You know what’s even more valuable? Ten volumes of information condensed into one. And that’s what Cheryl Charming has compiled—a comprehensive resource for both professionals or serious amateurs curious about spirits, cocktails, the history behind them, and how to make ’em.” —Wayne Curtis, And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails
“This book is a comprehensive, thoroughly researched, easy to read compendium of cocktail history. You can open it to any page and find yourself engrossed for the next hour. Buy a copy for your bar, your coffee table, heck, even your bathroom!” —Philip Greene, To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion and A Drinkable Feast: A Cocktail Companion to 1920s Paris
“In her inimitable fashion, Miss Charming, the bartender who is considered by many, myself included, to be the ultimate Queen of the New Orleans Cocktail Scene, has delivered yet another fabulous book, chock-full of all manner of cocktailian splendor. And this one’s a doozy! The world of cocktails flows with fascinating trivia, incredible folklore, accurate historical stories, some tall tales, and lots of straight, hard facts. I believe that Cheryl Charming has detailed near-as-darn-it every single one of these pearls of liquid wisdom in this tome. Skim through it for a few minutes, and see how much time passes before you can even dream of putting it down.” —gaz regan, author of The Joy of Mixology
Copyright © 2018 Cheryl Charming
Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.
Cover, Layout & Design: Morgane Leoni
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The Cocktail Companion: A Guide to Cocktail History, Culture, Trivia and Favorite Drinks
Library of Congress Cataloging
ISBN: (p) 978-1-63353-923-5, (e) 978-1-63353-924-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018956258
BISAC category code CKB006000 COOKING / Beverages / Alcoholic / Bartending
Printed in the United States of America.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.
This book does not advocate or encourage the abuse of alcoholic beverages.
Please drink responsibly and with moderation.
The
Cocktail
Companion
A Guide to Cocktail History, Culture, Trivia and Favorite Drinks
Cheryl Charming
Mango Publishing
Coral Gables, FL
You know how it is. You pick up a book, flip to the dedication, and find that, once again, the author has dedicated a book to someone else and not to you. Not this time. This one’s for you. With you know what, and you probably know why, and with a cocktail in hand.
Contents
1Step Up to the Bar: An Alcohol Timeline
2From Antiquity to America: The History of Alcohol
3The 18th Amendment: All About Prohibition, Bootlegging, and Speakeasies
6Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of…Rum
8Whichever Way You Spell It: A Brief History of Whiskey/Whisky