Reading under the influence - Currents

Cheers, Sept, 2002 by Jack Robertiellio

Dale DeGroff is mentioned regularly in the pages of Cheers, which is only right, as he's been a leading figure in the renaissance of both the American bartender AND the creative cock-tail. He's often shared his secrets with professionals before, speaking at the Cheers beverage Conference last year in Miami beach, and he's made bartending videos and still teaches courses in NYC for the cock-tail impassioned. Now, in The Craft of the Cocktail (Clarkson Potter),Dale puts it all down on paper: the cocktail's history; the basic required ingredients, tools, techniques and garnishes; and, of course, recipes and bar stories.

There's lots hereabout spirit styles and how they differ regionally and nationally, and Dalepicks his own favorites in value, premium and super-premium spirit brand categories. But the best part are the recipes and the many stories behind them, including those from Dale's days behind the stick at the Hotel Bel-Air in LA and the Rainbow Room and Blackbird in NYC, and for that alone, The Craft of the Cocktail is worth the price of admission.

John Poister, another man about the bar who once wrote for Cheers, has reissued his own The New American Bartender's Guide (New American Library), flush with more than 2,300 cocktail recipes, as well his own take on the history and important characteristics of individual spirit categories. Poister also sprinkles the book with Bartender's Secrets, like this one: "When making Bloody Marys or other drinks requiring pepper, perceptive bartenders, mindful that a pinch of black pepper on the surface of a drink is about as appetizing as a used cigar, follow the custom of French chefs, who for many years have used ground white pepper in cream soups, salad dressings and light sauces. It is only invisible to the casual observer, but blends better than ground black pepper. The flavoring imparted is about the same. "Good advice, and Poister has plenty or it, as well as that impressive, if a bit unwieldy, recipe collection.

Grossman's Guide to Wines, Beers, and Spirits may be the most-thumbed through book (on our shelf, at least) concerned with getting right the basic facts of the beverage alcohol world. Now there's a smaller, pocket sized version compiled by noted wine and spirits writer Harriet Lembeck called Grossman's Cyclopedia: The Concise Guide to Wines, Beers, and Spirits (Running Press). With an expanded wine section and lots of info about the basic facts of the making, serving and history of the wine, beer and spirit industry, this little book might be just the right thing for the bar shelf, next to Bill James' Baseball Abstract and the World Almanac to help settle future arguments.