Anyone for Cocktails?
David Embury’s book "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks" is the best book I have ever read about the science and art of cocktail making. It has now acquired cult status: Embury is as significant a figure to the world of cocktails as Elizabeth David is to cookery.
My own copy was a present some years ago but I note that it carries the price tag of £2.95. Trying to find this book on the internet today you will be doing well to find a copy for less than £100.
David Augustus Embury was born in 1886 in Pine Woods, New York. He was not a bar-tender or any sort of professional in the drinks trade but was in fact (surprise, surprise) a lawyer! For many years Embury was a senior tax partner with the respected Manhattan law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle. He died in New York in 1960.
What is so special about his book is that it is not just a list of cocktail recipes but he actually explains what a cocktail is and how the creation of a cocktail works. Chapter headings include “To Stir or to Shake”; “And a Twist of Lemon”; “Chilling and Frosting the Glasses”; “When is a Martini Strong”; “Roll Your Own” as well as the more philosophical “Alcohol and Feeble-Mindedness”; “Is Mixing Drinks Fatal” and “Alcohol, the Inevitable Concomitant of progress”.
The liqueur that Embury nominates as ‘the absolute king of all liqueurs … unsurpassed … for sheer excellence of flavour’ is Grand Marnier. So here is my own ‘roll my own’ tribute to the great DAE: not from a recipe of his, but according to his principles.
In a cocktail shaker put in one measure of Grand Marnier. Add two measures of orange juice or lemon juice (the latter will produce quite a ‘sharp’ drink). Then add eight measures of good quality gin (Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray). Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Turn out into a previously chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy – and raise a toast to the memory of David Embury!
My own copy was a present some years ago but I note that it carries the price tag of £2.95. Trying to find this book on the internet today you will be doing well to find a copy for less than £100.
David Augustus Embury was born in 1886 in Pine Woods, New York. He was not a bar-tender or any sort of professional in the drinks trade but was in fact (surprise, surprise) a lawyer! For many years Embury was a senior tax partner with the respected Manhattan law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle. He died in New York in 1960.
What is so special about his book is that it is not just a list of cocktail recipes but he actually explains what a cocktail is and how the creation of a cocktail works. Chapter headings include “To Stir or to Shake”; “And a Twist of Lemon”; “Chilling and Frosting the Glasses”; “When is a Martini Strong”; “Roll Your Own” as well as the more philosophical “Alcohol and Feeble-Mindedness”; “Is Mixing Drinks Fatal” and “Alcohol, the Inevitable Concomitant of progress”.
The liqueur that Embury nominates as ‘the absolute king of all liqueurs … unsurpassed … for sheer excellence of flavour’ is Grand Marnier. So here is my own ‘roll my own’ tribute to the great DAE: not from a recipe of his, but according to his principles.
In a cocktail shaker put in one measure of Grand Marnier. Add two measures of orange juice or lemon juice (the latter will produce quite a ‘sharp’ drink). Then add eight measures of good quality gin (Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray). Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Turn out into a previously chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy – and raise a toast to the memory of David Embury!
posted by Alnwickian at 4:23 pm
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