EPHEMERA: Plain and Fancy Drinks

The other day, while rummaging around the seemingly bottomless suitcase of family ephemera that had originally contained the Mixing Master manuscript, I came across this little book:

I’d seen it before, of course, and had tossed it aside because it looks exactly like any number of prayer books and missals  — Heavenly “How-To” books, basically — already in my Caulkins inventory.

(The Caulkins were Irish Catholics; couldn’t swing a pint of Guinness without hitting a prayer book. Or. . .something like that.)

Anyway, this time I actually took the time to look inside The Reminder. It is indeed a “How-To” book, just not one of the religious variety:

JACKPOT! It’s a mini mixing guide from 1917.

One that promises “Clear and Practical Directions for Mixing the Most Popular Plain and Fancy Drinks”.

Obviously, this little volume written by J.A. Didier had served as an inspiration to my 2x Great Uncle for his mixing guide (it’s got his handwritten notes sprinkled throughout); just as my Uncle’s manuscript would then inspire me to start this blog.

Cyclical thing, this universe of ours.

I started going through Didier’s guide, looking for similarities. I was curious to see if and where it intersected with Caulkins’ manuscript — I admit to a slight niggly worry that perhaps my Uncle had just lifted all his recipes from The Reminder.

He didn’t.

Many of the same cocktails do appear in Didier’s and Caulkins’ guides; both promised the most “popular” (Didier) and “standard” (Caulkins) drinks, after all.

But the ingredients and techniques differ, often just slightly — for fizzes, Didier dissolves a bit of sugar into a few dashes of pure lemon juice, where Caulkins muddles an entire half lemon and sugar together.

Sometimes the recipes are completely different — for a Derby Cocktail, Caulkins uses gin, peychaud bitters, mint, and an olive garnish. Didier’s version consists of whiskey, curacoa, angostura bitters, and a slice of lemon. They both sound good to me. I’m looking forward to dipping into Didier’s guide  periodically and trying out some of his recipes. Further vintage cocktail enjoyment awaits!

So let’s give a warm welcome to Mr. J.A. Didier (“publisher and professional bartender”). His presence here at FizzyCocktail has expanded our drinks menu considerably. I mean who doesn’t want to try a Florodora Fizz? A Blonde Widow? A Charlie Chaplin?