David Wondrich’s Imbibe! traces the career and drinks of pre-prohibition bartender, and author of one of the first reference books on cocktails, Jerry Thomas. One need not know much about Jerry Thomas to enjoy the book, and the author provides a vivid description of this larger-than-life personality, and his swashbuckling around the US of the late 1800’s perfecting his craft. Wondrich also attempts to recreate and modernize The Bartender’s Guide, Thomas’ seminal collection of American cocktails, providing current measurements and equivalent ingredients where necessary, while staying as faithful to the originals as possible. He also frequently discusses historic bartending equipment, and its evolution or more recent equalivent.

While Thomas provides a cohesive theme to tie the book together, I read it more as a chronicle of pre-Prohibition drinking life in the US, at a time when the country was growing explosively and full of possibility, and as major cities like New York and San Francisco began to take their dominant roles as American cultural centers. The author uses a highly-readable informal tone, so don’t expect a dry history text.

The recipe section, a bit unwieldy on the Kindle version I read, provides an interactive window to the period, as well as some modern takes on old classics. Don’t expect flavored vodkas or bubble-gum cocktails here, most are robust traditional cocktails. There are also interesting “throwback” drinks that are rare today, like many of the punches (the predecessor to the cocktail) and egg-based drinks, something uncommon in today’s cocktail bar.

Recommended.