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No matter how pretentious it may sound, but history is our everything. If a society does not have a common history, then it is not a society at all. The profession of a bartender also rests on history, because bartending classics are nothing but a manifestation of a long history of the development of alcohol culture. Today on therumdiary.ru I will tell you about the legendary bartenders of the last century. Centuries, when, in fact, this culture was born. Centuries of bartending classics. These guys have already made their names in history, which means that they are part of any society where alcohol culture is welcomed, that is, absolutely any.
The most significant personalities in the bar industry
Well, some legendary bartenders are already inscribed in the Bible of bartenders, which is constantly updated with new names. I’ll start with those who started the cult of the bartender.
Frank Meyer
The Austrian is the epitome of a legend. It is he who is the father of psychological nuances in the work of a bartender. His words went down in history:The bartender must be a chemist, physiologist and psychologist“. He built his career at the legendary French Ritz Hotel, working in the Cambon bar. It was the 20s, the golden years of cocktails. His guinea pigs were the entire bohemia of France until his death in 1947.
His Bee’s Knees and Royal Highball cocktails have survived in a modified form to this day. His clients were kings and princes, Russian princes and hundreds of Yankees who sailed to France only to take a drink from Frank’s hands. He is the author of the exclusive book “The Artistry of Mixing Drinks” (The Art of Mixing Drinks), which was published in a modest edition of 1300 books. For these books there is a fierce struggle at auctions between bartenders around the world.
Constant Ribalaiga
Constante is the magician, Constante is the king of cocktails and, finally, Constante is the lord of the Daiquiri. The Catalan worked in the Florida bar, which was located in Cuba. It was here that the beau monde gathered from all over the world in order to taste “Daiquirifrom Constante himself. Thanks to his professional qualities and the ability to prepare the ingenious Frozen Daiquiri, Constante became the owner of the bar in 1918, which he renamed Floridita in 1940. Ribalaiga died at the height of his popularity in 1952.
Harry Johnson
Strangely, little is known about this bartender, who left a rather tangible mark on history. He was born in 1843 in Koningsberg (today’s Kaliningrad). Harry worked in San Francisco and then opened one of the most famous US bars of the time in Chicago. But in 1871, terrible fires swept through the city, which burned down his bar. As a result, Harry Johnson was forced to start a new life and he began by working in the world’s grand hotels, in particular, hotels in Europe. He began teaching the secrets of mixing drinks. For bartenders around the world, he became a model of the ideal representative of his profession.
Due to his teaching activities, he was given the nickname “Dean”. It is known that in 1869 Harry became the Champion in the preparation of cocktails in the United States.
All his knowledge is placed in the book “Harry Johnson’s Bartender’s Manual” (Harry Johnson’s Bartender’s Manual). This book is recognized as the most significant creation that has been created for a professional bar. Oddly enough, but it is the advice of Harry Johnson that is relevant to this day.
Jerry Thomas (Jeremiah P Thomas)
Here he is, the daddy of the bartending industry. On merit, he was given the nickname “Professor”. He was one of the first mixologists and a celebrity worse than President Grant himself, who treated Jerry to a cigar for his legendary cocktail, which I will write about below. Thomas worked in San Francisco, in the Western Hotel and received $ 400 a month for his work, which at that time exceeded the salary of the Vice President of America (and I want it so much). Jerry was born in 1825. At 20, he began his career as a bartender in his hometown of New Haven. He moved to San Francisco in 1849, where he sailed after long wanderings at sea as a sailor.
After working in a gold mine, he earned his first bar at home, and then opened establishments in New York and New Orleans. In Liberty City, he worked at the most prestigious bar on the east coast, the Metropolitan. And on Broadway, he was in charge of the legendary bar No. 1239. From 1859, Jerry traveled around Europe, bringing his legendary silver bartender’s set.
In 1862, Thomas published How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion, where he described the fundamentals of mixology at the time. In 1872 a sequel to this book, The Bartender’s Guide or How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks, was published.
From fun facts: while working at the Eldorado restaurant in San Francisco, Jerry got drunk on a gang of gangsters who broke into the restaurant to robbery and robbery. Jerry was not at a loss and offered them a drink, but they were not at a loss either – they took it and drank, which made them numb and as a result surrendered to the police. Here is such here he, “Professor. In the same restaurant, they invented a cocktail Blue Blazer (Blue Blazer), which today there are few places to try.
The cocktail recipe is simple, but difficult to prepare:
- 60 ml scotch tape
- two spoons of sugar
- 60 ml hot water (boiling straight)
- lemon peel twist
From the dishes you need a beer mug and 2 metal cups.
It is necessary to warm up the iron cups, and pour boiling water into one, and scotch tape into the second. Whiskey needs to be set on fire and pour both liquids several times between cups. Then we extinguish the flame, pour sugar into it and pour it into a beer mug, decorate it and go =).
Jerry’s fans of this cocktail got it there, that he changed the serving of the drink by adding a secret ingredient – minus 10 degrees of temperature outside. Since then Blue Blazer became only a winter cocktail.
Giuseppe Cipriani
He worked in Venice at the Harry bar, where he successfully composed the Bellini cocktail in 1943, which became a classic among classics. You will be surprised, but carpaccio is his creation too. Hemingway, the Rothschilds, Maugham and many others visited his Harry’s Bar, and Prince Charles and Lady Dee also visited his bar.
Fernand Petio
In the 20s, a strange cocktail began to circulate around Paris – a mixture of 50:50 vodka with tomato juice. Yes, yes, this is the same legendary Bloody Mary and it was invented by Petio. It happened in the New York bar, which was located in Paris. The French did not appreciate Bloody Mary, but the Yankees were much friendlier. In 1934, Cipriani was already in the city of New York, working at the King Call bar. There the Bloody Mary began to gain momentum. The first name of the cocktail is Red Snapper (Red Snapper), but one of the bar visitors accidentally called the drink a modern name and it stuck to it.
Today there are many variations of Bloody Mary and I will talk about this cocktail in future articles.
Johnny Brooks
This guy was the first to survive in a martini lemon peel, and you know what that means? This means that Brooks became one of the co-authors of the legendary Martini cocktail, which every bartender must prepare correctly. I will talk about the cocktail later, maybe even with Bloody Mary =). Johnny worked at the Stork Club bar in New York, where the same drunkard Hemingway, Kennedy himself and his wife, and almost all the drinking Roosevelts regularly dropped in.
A few words about the place of his work. Even in dry law, the most exquisite drinks were served at the bar counter. A 14-carat gold chain hung at the entrance, and balloons filled with notes fell from the ceiling on New Year’s Eve. Various prizes were inscribed in the notes, up to a luxurious car. This is how it was, the Aist bar.
Well, these are the guys who made bar classics. Of course, these are only a few, and I will still write about such legends with great pleasure. Thank you for your attention. Read, learn, comment on therumdiary.ru and subscribe to email updates!