André Darlington - Booze Cruise: A Tour of the Worlds Essential Mixed Drinks

Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.

Kurt Vonnegut

When drinks writer Charles H. Baker Jr. traveled around the world in pursuit of cocktails in the 1920s and 30s, he visited a number of remote locations connected by steamship. Some of his stops were hardly more than refueling stations, and the drinking landscape he discovered was one of lonely outpostshotel bars and private clubswhere thirsty expats huddled around precious bottles of familiar spirits. In the record he made of his trips, The Gentlemans Companion, Baker recounts how he and his fellow travelers were often forced to make their own cocktails using whatever they had brought with them. Because for every well-stocked Raffles Bar in Singapore, there was a bungalow out in Ballygunge where the Martini-parched had to fend for themselves. The portrait of the world drawn by Baker, one in which mixed drinks were confined to exclusive oases sparsely dotted around the globe, is an accurate depiction for much of cocktail history.

How things have changed.

Now, long sea travel has been replaced by quick airport connections. When eager cocktail aficionados depart for top drinking destinations, they do not head to well-worn ports but to fast-growing major cities. Mixed drinks have firmly taken hold in the commercial centers of the worldat restaurants, nightclubs, rooftop bars, speakeasies, cafs, taverns, and the occasional grocery store. There are serious cocktail establishments in even medium- and smaller-sized cities all over the globe, with many towns boasting full-fledged cocktail scenes.

Today the planet is experiencing a mixed drinks renaissance, and it has all happened relatively recently. Since the new millennium, a cocktail revolution fomented in London and New York has spread to all continents except Antarctica. Not only are classic cocktails now available in large supply, but there are craft bar programs combining honed skills, quality ingredients, and new technology to help reshape mixed drinks as we know them. Add to this a gigantic distillery boom, and there has truly never been a better time to imbibe on Earth.

The book you hold in your hands is a snapshot of cocktailing around the world, of where to drink, what to order, and why. Plus, a little history and necessary how-tos for reproducing each locations signature drinks. The collection is a result of time I have spent as a roving drinks writer, culminating in a circumnavigation of the globe in order to conduct liquid field research. Like Charles H. Baker Jr., I have traveled in pursuit of exciting potations. I am also interested in how local drinking cultures are making this current global second cocktail wave their own. That research is stirred into these pages.

From the worlds established and emerging cocktail cities, I have been forced to choose the most distinctive, exemplary, and alluringwhether because of quality, size, value, or vibrancy. Section headnotes explain more about specific traits of major geographical areas. Forty-four cities are represented, a huge endeavor that nevertheless remains just a sampling of the contemporary tableau. Inevitably, there were deserving places I love that were left out.

I hope the selections here will give you a taste of the dizzying variety and creativity of todays cocktail world, and I am excited to share a number of recipes that otherwise would require a voyage around the globe to sample. Above all, I hope this book will inspire you whether you are a drinks maker, adventurer, armchair traveleror a happy combination of all three.

Within the five geographic areas listed in this book, I have organized cities alphabetically. In the entry for each city there are two drinks. These are must-try cocktails while in the city or good representations of the drinks found there (the ones that are reproducible). Some cities have multiple signature drinks, and in these instances, I mention the other notables. In some cases, the first selection is historical and the second is a drink that shows what is currently happening in that location. I have included food recipes for a number of cities because nosh helps contextualize liquid culture. Occasionally, I have profiled bartenders around the globe who I think are doing fascinating work. There are also notes on local spirits, what to look for, and, also, what to beware of. When ingredients may not be widely available, I have suggested alternatives. General notes on what craft cocktails are and how to make them are in the Appendix ().