Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink, Volume Two

A non-academic work written for a general commercial readership, this books continues the exploration of the bartending and cocktail world that began with the publication of Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink. Want to know what famed 19th-century bartender Harry Johnson had in common with Irving Berlin's song Alexander's Ragtime Band and Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz? Ever wonder who Bloody Mary was and who really named the world's favourite brunch beverage? Who really invented blue drinks and Jelly Shots? Who was the original owner of Harry's New York Bar in Paris? As Gary Regan noted in his foreword to the book: In A Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink, Book Two, we see deeper into the mindset of Brown and Miller than in any of their previous works, and this proves interesting in of itself. They reveal themselves pretty well within the first paragraph of the preface, no less, when Brown notes that a successful miner doesn't pass by a vein of silver in search of gold, and explains himself quite neatly by pointing out that drinks historians are well advised to chase after the information [they] are finding rather than what [they] are not finding. Rather, then, than starting with conclusions and looking for corroborating evidence, this pair of researchers do their jobs the way nature intended. The hard way. With a foreword by cocktailian Gary Regan, Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink, Book Two reminds readers that the world of spirits and drinks is more than just a shake, a stir, or a throw. There's pride in an amazing historical record to be found in everything that happens and in everyone who works behind the bar.