12 Cocktails Good and True
()
About this ebook
Nigel Bob Collins
Nigel Bob Collins is a writer, philosopher, and journalist whose works analyze politics, society, and international relations. Mr. Collins has no fixed place of residence, saying only that he goes wherever he is needed most. Due to the sensitive nature of his work, nothing more about him can be said.
Related to 12 Cocktails Good and True
Related ebooks
Tipsy Texan: Spirits and Cocktails from the Lone Star State Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElevated Cocktails: Volume 2: Craft Bartending With Montanya Rum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGin Cocktails: A Beginners Guide to Gin Cocktail Recipes & Home Bar Basics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Year of Drinking Adventurously: 52 Ways to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Cocktail Book - A Sideboard Manual for Gentlemen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChampagne Cocktails: A Beginners Guide to Champagne Cocktail Recipes & Home Bar Basics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTequila Cocktails: A Beginners Guide to Tequila Cocktail Recipes & Home Bar Basics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForgotten Maryland Cocktails: A History of Drinking in the Free State Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThink Like A Bartender: Recipes for Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBourbon Cocktails: A Beginners Guide to Bourbon Cocktail Recipes & Home Bar Basics. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Cocktail Encyclopedia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Manhattan Cocktail: A Modern Guide to the Whiskey Classic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsW. C. Whitfield's Mixed Drinks and Cocktails: An Illustrated, Old-School Bartender's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Book of Questions on Cocktails Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRum Cocktails: A Beginners Guide to Rum Cocktail Recipes & Home Bar Basics. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCocktail Construction: The Complete Toolkit for Home Bartenders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPittsburgh Drinks: A History of Cocktails, Nightlife & Bartending Tradition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cocktail Hour: Reference to Go: 50 Classic Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst Big Crush: The Down and Dirty on Making Great Wine Down Under Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cocktails for a Crowd: More than 40 Recipes for Making Popular Drinks in Party-Pleasing Batches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCheers!: Cocktails & Toasts to Celebrate Every Day of the Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBartender Magazine's Ultimate Bartender's Guide: More than 1,300 Drinks from the World's Best Bartenders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Mix Drinks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Curious Bartender: An Odyssey of Malt, Bourbon & Rye Whiskies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Old Fashioned: An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey Cocktail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Savory Cocktails: Sour Spicy Herbal Umami Bitter Smoky Rich Strong Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Curious Bartender Volume II: The New Testament of Cocktails Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClassy as Fuck Cocktails: 60+ Damn Good Recipes for All Occasions Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5
Entertainers and the Rich & Famous For You
The Woman in Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Counting the Cost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Me: An Oprah's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fallen Idols: A Century of Screen Sex Scandals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elvis and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Open Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Is This Anything? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scrappy Little Nobody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Around the Way Girl: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taste: My Life Through Food Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mommie Dearest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love, and Baking Biscuits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for 12 Cocktails Good and True
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
12 Cocktails Good and True - Nigel Bob Collins
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 1 (800) 839-8640
© 2016 Nigel Bob Collins. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
Published by AuthorHouse 01/15.2016
ISBN: 978-1-5049-7187-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-5049-7188-1 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016900569
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,
and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
11027.pngContents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I. THE REASON
II. THE BASICS
III. THE COCKTAILS
1. Sidecar.
2. Aviation.
3. Daiquiri.
4. Corpse Reviver #2.
5. Pegu Club.
6. Margarita.
7. The Last Word.
8. El Presidente.
9. The Jack Rose
10. Gin And Tonic.
11. Gin Rickey.
12. French 75.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Cover Art by Anne Blenker, www.anneblenker.com
Cocktail Photography by Denny Culbert, www.dennyculbert.com
Editor: Adrienne Metz
Images:
ABC of Mixing Cocktails, courtesy of Bauman Rare Books;
La Fee Verte, courtesy of DeviantArt
Army of the British East India Company, courtesy of Royal Munster Fusiliers Association
Many thanks to William and Patricia Atkinson, who spent many hours tasting and sampling these cocktails. Their sacrifice is appreciated. Thanks also to Nicole Collier, in whose kitchen the recipes were tested and perfected and who, no matter how busy, always found time to offer constructive criticism.
I(a).tifTwelve good men and true. Jury deliberations from 12 Angry Men, the 1957 drama starring, among others, Henry Fonda, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Bagley and Jack Klugman.
I.
THE REASON
Several years ago, I was seated at the bar of a fashionable restaurant when the barman pushed forward a chilled martini glass filled with a light blue-colored drink, which I later learned was an Aviation cocktail. I took a sip and tasted an icy crisp harmony of herbal and floral flavors, both sweet and sour yet neither sweet nor sour. It was brisk, refreshing and delicious, and something I had not previously experienced.
My first reaction was surprise. I had come there that evening at the invitation of friends, who were going on about the new mixologist, whatever that was, but only reluctantly. I had spent many years tasting, studying and drinking excellent wines, ports, brandies and traditional beers and ales. To me a cocktail was perhaps a shot of cheap vodka or gin mixed with some sort of soda pop, garnished with a dried up lime wedge and served in a plastic cup. This cocktail was disrupting my notions.
As I continued to taste and enjoy this complex drink, my reaction turned to irritation, if not outright anger. How had this happened? How had I gone a lifetime without knowing about true, well-crafted cocktails? Were they the result of some new technology? Had they been there all this time, but I was too blind to see? It was all very bewildering. And so I began to investigate.
I learned that there was a time when cocktails were made with precision and care by craftsmen who had spent years honing their skills, when mixing drinks was an art form, when the people knew and appreciated fine cocktails and would not tolerate the kinds of mixed drinks to which I had become accustomed. Sometime after the end of World War II, however, things began to change. Perhaps because of the war effort and the need to produce vast amounts of supplies and materials as quickly as possible, quantity and efficiency came to be valued over quality and creativity. Soon, the bread was white, pre-sliced and tasteless; the coffee freeze dried into crystals; juices powdered; soups dehydrated; whole diners frozen and insipid. All was homogenized, artificial, instant, plastic-wrapped and convenient, with only the taste and quality sacrificed. It was the dark age of food.
The cocktail suffered mightily as well. Fresh ingredients were replaced with pre-mixes, artificial sweeteners displaced natural and herbs and botanicals disappeared altogether. Before long, the cocktail became little more than a vehicle for the delivery of cheap booze.
Happily, things began to change in the early 1990s. It started with a new found appreciation of good wine. Then, Americans took a renewed interest in dining and cooking. Before long, quality products from coffee to cigars became increasingly available to a newly appreciative public.
In the early years of this century, a few intrepid barmen, like Petrarch atop Mont Ventoux, surveyed the sorry state of the cocktail and began looking to the past for guidance. They dusted off ancient cocktail books from the golden age to rediscover