Hellmich Mittie - Ultimate Bar Book

The Comprehensive Guide
TO OVER 1,000 COCKTAILSBY MITTIE HELLMICH
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR MOUNT Text copyright 2006 by Mittie Hellmich. Illustrations copyright 2006 by Arthur Mount. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. ISBN 0-8118-4351-3 Manufactured in China.

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This book is dedicated to my father, Nicholas Charleton Pierce, whose passion for playing the piano while enjoying a well-made Sazerac seems to be the perfect alchemy for creating many magical moments. ULTIMATE
Bar Book AH, THE COCKTAIL! Epitomized by the languorous promise of a shimmering Martini, surrounded by glamour and ritual, cocktails are back in style, riding a wave of nostalgia. Savvy establishments offer their own signature concoctions and creatively infused spirits, and swank, retro-style bar equipment and glassware are now hip accessories for home entertaining. However, many of us know little about the finer points of mixing and serving drinksskills that often seem to belong to a bygone era. For our parents and grandparents generations, a savvy finesse behind the home bar was de rigueur, but many of us have not seen the need for those skillsuntil now.

This book is meant to assist a new generation of mixologists and bring the cocktail into the new century. Over the course of the twentieth century, the cocktail evolved into an art form. From the speakeasies of the 1920s to the toasting when Prohibition was repealed, and from the celebrations at the end of World War II through the Martini-chilling atomic cocktail age of the 1950s, the first half of the century saw the creation of many of the cocktails that are now considered classics. Martini innovation ensued in the 1960s and early 70s, with vodka eclipsing gin and high-octane drinks such as the Long Island Iced Tea, novelties like the Harvey Wallbanger, and the sexily named shot drinks were finding a wide audience. Over the next twenty years, a renewed interest in retro cocktails took hold and a few new classics such as the Cosmopolitan and the Lemon Drop were added to the established bar repertoire. With the new millennium, the cocktail, and the art of the cocktail party, have become especially hot.

However, todays cocktail party libations reflect the contemporary preference for high-quality ingredients. The liqueur-heavy, oversweet cocktails made with cheap bottled mixes, which we suffered through in the 1970s and 80s, are being edged out by well-balanced elixirs made with fresh ingredients and quality spirits, resulting in superior variations of old favorites, as well as new combinations. Not surprisingly, all this creative mixology has fueled an enormous interest in mastering basic cocktail techniques, along with the desire to be knowledgeable about spirits, liqueurs, and wine. Ultimate Bar Book is written specifically to help you learn the basic but essential techniques involved in the alchemy of mixing and serving cocktails. Informative and easy to use, it offers a wide spectrum of mixological knowhow, to help answer your queries and fill in the gaps in your knowledge. So whether your interests lie in setting up a great home bar, mastering one of the classic cocktails, concocting a newer contemporary hybrid or your own innovative cocktails, or gleaning tips for entertaining and serving up festive, crowd-pleasing pitchers of Sangria, this tome will give you the confidence to shake and pour with style and ease.

And whatever your tastes, youll find cocktails here to match, from the sophisticated Latin Caipirinha and Mojito to the classic Martini and Old-Fashioned to elegant pousse-cafs and fun and lively shooters and gelatin shots. Salut! and enjoy, Mittie Hellmich CHAMPAGNE COUPE

This comprehensive bar guide is an invaluable reference, not only for home entertaining, but also for bartenders, who will appreciate the A-to-Z drink index for quickly looking up specific drinks. To make navigation easy, this book is divided into two distinct parts. The first section is dedicated to the many basic elements involved in composing, structuring, and enjoying mixed drinks; the second is dedicated to the spirits and the drink recipes. Measurements are given in ounces as well as other common units, such as teaspoons and cups. Dashes are the smallest bar measurement given.

The drinks are organized according to the main alcoholic ingredient, to help you quickly find a particular drink. For example, if youre looking for a specific drink made with brandy, or suggestions for drinks that use brandy, you can simply turn to the brandy section, where the drinks are listed alphabetically. The section on wine includes drinks based on fortified wine, such as port or sherry. However, champagne, although a type of wine, has its own section. Champagne cocktails, popular for many celebratory occasions, are in a festive class all their own and deserve a separate section. A few drink genres hold a uniquely popular niche, namely punches, shooters, hot drinks, and hangover remedies.

These are placed in their own sections, allowing for quick access when the appropriate occasion arises.

At the back of the book is a two-part index to assist you in searching for a subject, specific drink, or drink made with a specific ingredient. This is a key organizational tool. Although the drink recipes are conveniently organized into sections according to their major liquor ingredients, you can use the cross-referenced drinks by liquor type index to find drinks that include a particular liqueur or spirit, or you can use the subject index to quickly find a drink by name as well as basic topics. The glass icon that appears with each drink recipe indicates the recommended glassware. Use these icons not only to determine the appropriate glassware, but also as a reminder to get the glasses into the refrigerator or freezer before you begin making drinks.

All drink recipes make one cocktail, to serve one person, unless otherwise stated. When the drink recipe tells you to Shake the ingredients vigorously with ice, use a standard cocktail shaker to do so. JUICES The recipes in this book almost always call for freshly squeezed citrus juices, but you may certainly substitute bottled juices or juices made from concentrate if fresh juice is unavailable, or if that is your preference. RAW EGGS You will find eggs used frequently in many of the classic cocktails, harking back to a time before salmonella poisoning became a concern. Although raw eggs are included in the classic recipes for authenticity, you have the option of using pasteurized eggs or egg white powder or of omitting the egg altogether.