The Deluxe Savoy Cocktail Book

by Harry Craddock, Will Bissonnette (Text by)

Overview

The Unabridged Classic--Updated & Expanded

First published in London in the 1930s while the US was still in Prohibition, The Savoy Cocktail Book continues to set the standard for mixology excellence. This enhanced edition from Echo Point Publishing shares those ideals, and goes one step further by encouraging aspiring mixologists to add new creations to their lists.

Harry Craddock was the bartender's bartender who served the distinguished clientele of London's elegant Savoy Hotel. The legendary mixologist captured the spirit of the times in this thoroughly delightful collection of over 750 cocktail recipes. Craddock is credited with popularizing many familiar classic drinks, including several that he invented himself, most notably the White Lady and the Corpse Reviver#2.

This enhanced edition includes important extras from experienced mixologist Will Bissonnette on the topics of:

The well-stocked home bar;

Cocktail philosophy, or how to design and mix your own original creations;

Glossary of ingredients-the original Savoy had an impressive beverage list, several of which are now rare or impossible to find, so included is a list of suitable substitutes;

Glossary of measures.

Period Art Deco design throughout the book reflects the elegance of the 1930s. Readers will recognize many of the drinks-still popular today-and rediscover many more classics worthy of reviving. The Savoy Cocktail Book has been a staple for bartenders the world over for many decades and is a must for beverage connoisseurs and everyone wishing to learn the art of mixing the perfect libation.

This book is also available from Echo Point Books in hardcover (ISBN 1648372120).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781648372131
Publisher:	Echo Point Publishing
Publication date:	06/07/2022
Edition description:	Updated and Expanded ed.
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

English bartender Harry Craddock (1875/76–1963) trained in the United States at Cleveland's grandest luxury hotel, the Hollenden, rising to prominence as one of the top mixologists of the twenties and thirties. During Prohibition, Craddock returned to England, where he worked at the American Bar of London's Savoy Hotel and cofounded the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild. "The Dean of Shakers," he is credited with inventing the dry martini as well as several classic cocktails, including Corpse Reviver No. 2 and the White Lady.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

HISTORICAL NOTE

MOST of the people one meets in places where Cocktails grow have an idea that they know the origin of the word "Cocktail"; none of them. However, agree as to what that origin is, and in any case they are all wrong, as they always put that origin somewhere between sixty and seventy years ago, whereas in The Balance, an American periodical, of May 13, 1806, we read that: "Cocktail is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters — it is vulgarly called bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion." This is the earliest reference to the Cocktail that I have been able to find in print.

Historians have been misled by the word "Cocktail" into imagining that it was once in some way connected with the plumage of the domestic rooster. But this is not so. The true, authentic and incontrovertible story of the origin of the Cocktail is as follows: —

Somewhere about the beginning of the last century there had been for some time very considerable friction between the American Army of the Southern States and King Axolotl VIII of Mexico. Several skirmishes and one or two battles took place, but eventually a truce was called and the King agreed to meet the American general and to discuss terms of peace with him.

The place chosen for the meeting was the King's Pavilion, and thither the American general repaired, and was accommodated with a seat on the Bench, as it were, next to King A. himself. Before opening negotiations, however, His Majesty asked the general, as one man to another, if he would like a drink, and being an American general he of course said yes. The King gave a command and in a few moments there appeared a lady of entrancing and overwhelming beauty, bearing in her slender fingers a gold cup encrusted with rubies and containing a strange potion of her own brewing. Immediately an awed and ominous hush fell upon the assembly, for the same thought struck everyone at the same time, namely, that as there was only one cup either the King or the general would have to drink out of it first, and that the other would be bound to feel insulted. The situation was growing tense when the cup-bearer seemed also to realize its difficulty, for with a sweet smile she bowed her shapely head in reverence to the assembly and drank the drink herself. Everything was saved and the conference came to a satisfactory ending, but before leaving, the general asked if he might know the name of the lady who had shown such tact. "That," proudly said the King, who had never seen the lady before, "is my daughter Coctel."

"Right," replied the general, "I will see that her name is honoured for evermore by my Army."

Coctel, of course, became Cocktail, and there you are! There exists definite unquestionable proof of the truth of this story, but no correspondence upon the subject can in any circumstances be entertained.

So much for the early history of Cocktails. Since those days the Art of the Cocktail has developed very considerably, and in the following pages you will find the essence of the Art of Harry Craddock of the Savoy, the King of Cocktail Shakers, who has inspired, disciplined, ordered and arranged it. There arc few people in the world who can match his vast knowledge of liquids of all kinds, of how to mix them, and of how to create new cocktails for all great or state occasions, so that it is in all confidence that this book is set before you — the confidence that if anything should have been omitted it is in all probability not worth including.

At the same time, a few blank pages have been left at the end of the list of Cocktails for the addition of any new Cocktails that may be invented in the future.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Savoy Cocktail Book"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Harry Craddock.
Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Preface
Foreword

Part I
Cocktails: Historical Note
Sours
Toddies
Flips
Egg Noggs
Tom Collins
Slings
Shrubs
Sangarees
Highballs
Fizzes
Coolers
Rickeys
Daisies
Fixes
Juleps
Smashes
Cobblers
Frappe
Punches
Cups

Part II
Wines
Concluding Remarks
Blank Pages for Additions

Editorial Reviews

"Behind every great bartender (literally) is a roughed-up, stained copy of The Savoy Cocktail Book...it's been an industry must-have since its first edition." —GQ Magazine

"Savoy remains a handy reference for how things should be done behind the bar."  —Culture + Travel

From the Publisher