W. C. Whitfield’s Mixed Drinks and Cocktails: An Illustrated, Old-School Bartender’s Guide

"We may go to Europe for our chefs, but Europe comes to us for our bartenders." --W. C. Whitfield

In the Gay Nineties, the American bartender was considered an institution--his fame spread across the globe and, according to Whitfield, visitors to America "bowed before his skill in concocting tempting mixtures."

Whitfield felt this attraction and admiration of the American bartender was because Americans "will try anything once." We enjoy experimenting and, when it comes to mixing drinks, "we stop at nothing." This led to much creativity behind the bar.

W. C. Whitfield's Mixed Drinks & Cocktails combines two fully-illustrated books of recipes from this time period--Just Cocktails (published in 1939) and Here's How: Mixed Drinks (1941)--to teach readers everything they need to know about mixing drinks. In addition to information about equipment and measurements, this collection includes more than six hundred recipes, including:

The Bronx Express
Ladies Delight
Corpse Reviver
Brandy Blazer
Uncle Sam Highball
And many more

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W. C. Whitfield was born in 1879. He was the author of Here’s How: Mixed Drinks and Just Cocktails, both originally published by Three Mountaineers, Inc., a small woodshop in Asheville, North Carolina.

Joaquín Simó has done it all in his fifteen years in the food and beverage industry. He spent more than five years at New York’s acclaimed cocktail bar Death & Company, serving guests the colorful stories and hallowed history of classic spirits and cocktails. He served as deputy editor for the 2009 and 2010 Food & Wine Cocktail books, was named one of Playboy’s Top 10 Mixologists in 2009, and was awarded the 2012 Spirited Award as American Bartender of the Year. Joaquín is also currently a partner in Alchemy Consulting and can be found behind the stick at their NYC New York City flagship bar, Pouring Ribbons.