Boudreau Jamie - The canon cocktail book: recipes from the award-winning bar

J amie Boudreaus Seattle bar canon: whiskey and bitters emporium has achieved unprecedented, worldwide acclaim in just a handful of years since opening. Esquire named it one of the Best Bars in America, it received Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards for Worlds Best Drink Selection in 2013 and Worlds Best Spirits Selection in 2015, and Drinks International included it on their prestigious Worlds 50 Best Bars list. With just seven tables and thirty-two seats in the 450-square-foot dining room, only part of the story is told upon entering. There are three menus: the seasonal cocktail menu, which changes about every two months; the extended cocktail menu, which is over one hundred pages long; and the spirits list, which is 165 pages long with more than 3,500 spirits available, all hidden behind the scenes.

This book is, first, a collection of cocktail recipes. Youll find best-ever versions of traditional drinks, like the French 75, which Boudreau explains is even better served over ice in a Collins glass rather than in a flute. There are also his riffs on classics like the Manhattan and Corpse Reviver, and the bars lineup of original house drinks, such as the Truffled Old Fashioned and the Banksy Sour. Other drinks have to be seen to be believed, like the Campfire in Georgia, which is served under a smoke-filled dome. For satisfying a sweet tooth, there are dessert cocktails including the Movie Night Float, made with root beer, frozen bourbon, and popcorn ice cream (recipe included), and served with a red licorice straw.

In addition to the recipes, Boudreau lends you his experience by including a thorough guide to opening and operating a bar that covers everything from leasing a space to designing the menu. There are also master tips on equipment and mixology techniques, all of which make this book required reading for both aspiring professionals and home bartenders who want to learn how to make drinks properly.

Copyright 2016 by Jamie Boudreau and James O. Fraioli

Photography by Brittany Marshall, Andrew Fawcett, and Jamie Boudreau

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

www.hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-0-544-63103-8 (hardcover);

978-0-544-63159-5 (ebook)

Book design by Rachel Newborn

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J amie Boudreau would like to offer his gratitude to the following:

My sweet, gorgeous, and infinitely patient wife, Erin.

Andrew Fawcett (partner and photographer extraordinaire), without whom this may have never happened.

Pegu Club and Milk & Honey for inspiring me to go nuts and open my own bar.

Vessel and those involved for ripping me from my homeland and allowing me the opportunities that have come.

All of my peers throughout the country and abroad who keep me hungry but never leave me thirsty.

My talented coauthor, James O. Fraioli, who helped me get my book written and published.

Andrea Hurst, my agent.

Photographer Brittany Marshall.

And of course, I must not forget my extremely talented staff, without whom canon would just be an empty shell, devoid of soul.

the story of canon: whiskey and bitters emporium

W hile canon is only a handful of years old , the story really begins twenty-nine years ago, when I was forcibly shaken and poured into this industry I have grown to love.

I was just sixteen when first introduced to the restaurant industry. It was my birthday, and my mother had given me this ultimatum: Get a job by your sixteenth birthday or get out of the house. Forever the procrastinator, I didnt find a job until the day of my birthday; and they started me that very evening, so I missed my birthday/going-away party.

This first job was at a little fish n chips joint in Vancouver, where I started off as dishwasher, a job I did not relish. It was hot, dirty, and I was constantly soaked with dishwater and splattered with fish guts. It paid minimum wage with no tips, but there was a saving grace: pretty waitresses. They were confident, pleasant, and a little older than me. They seemed to have real mastery over their jobs, so much so that they were often bossing the owners around to make sure their tables received hot food in a timely manner. This was magical! They could actually yell at the owners, glide around the room like they owned the place, and with no fear for their jobs. I knew I had to get on the other side of the dish-pit window, for I believe it is always better to yell than to be yelled at.

That opportunity came just one month later. I had already left the dishwasher pit, proudly promoted to prep, when right in the middle of a shift, one of the two servers walked out, leaving the entire section to fend for themselves. With the remaining server extremely busy, the owner sent me out there to serve the abandoned section. And there I was, barely sixteen, zero training, and now suddenly Im the waiter?

I dont remember much from that night, but I do remember one particular table. They began their order with two Caesars followed by halibut and chips. I promptly brought waters and set about making their salads. Like at many Italian restaurants, this fish n chips place had servers make all the salads, desserts, and drinks for their station. When I presented the salads, the customers looked at them blankly, then at me, and asked, Where are the Caesars? I pointed proudly at their salads. Then, very calmly, they explained to me that a Caesar is a drink, a riff on the Bloody Mary, except made with Clamato juice instead of tomato juice. The complete name is a Bloody Caesar, but no one calls them this. Remember that procrastination thing I mentioned? Well, I hadnt had a sip of anything alcoholic yet, let alone a fancy Bloody Caesar. So I found the other waitress, who quickly taught me how to build the Caesar cocktail. I was hooked.