The Ideal Bartender

Bullock, Tom, 1873-1964Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 51K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Ideal Bartender by Tom BullockAuthor: Bullock, Tom, 1873-1964,Language: English, Class: TX: Technology: Home economics, Release Date: Sep 17, 2004

Editor's review

The Ideal Bartender is an old-style bartending guide in which Tom Bullock, writing from a practitioner's perspective, sets out drink recipes and key mixing points; it belongs to the public-domain home economics and technical literature. Its value lies not in literary quality but in the picture it gives of early bartending practice: the way recipes are written, the ingredients favored, and the order of steps all bear the marks of their time, making it a useful reference for readers interested in cocktail history and vintage recipes. The book consists mainly of entry-style recipes, is easy to read, can be dipped into at random, and works well as a reference text for bartending practice. Note that some recipes differ from today's tastes, ingredient availability, and food-safety notions; readers should judge them by modern common sense rather than following them wholesale. Overall, it is a practical book suited to slow browsing, trial mixing, and cross-checking.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Drink enthusiasts interested in cocktail history and vintage recipes
Bartending beginners looking for a recipe reference they can flip through at random
Readers who collect public-domain food and drink e-books
Food-service or bar professionals who want to learn how early bartending was written

Not a good fit for

Those seeking a modern systematic bartending course and the latest techniques
Non-drinkers or readers uninterested in alcoholic drinks
Readers expecting literary narrative or a continuous storyline

Reading tips

Read the preface and classification sections first to understand how the author organizes the recipes, then look things up as needed
Pick two or three recipes with easily available ingredients and try them, noting how they differ from today's methods
List unfamiliar old-style ingredients or measures separately, then consult other sources to understand them
No need to read from cover to cover; use it as a reference book and jump around by drink type or occasion

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for someone with no bartending experience at all?

It can be read as a casual introduction, but it is more a recipe compilation than a systematic course. Complete beginners should first learn basic tools and measuring common sense, then try simple recipes; when encountering old-style wording or unfamiliar ingredients, check modern sources rather than copying them directly.

Can the recipes in the book still be followed directly today?

Most recipe ideas are still worth consulting, but ingredient availability, taste preferences, and food-safety notions have changed. Confirm that ingredients are available and measures reasonable, then adjust to modern standards. Be especially cautious with old-style methods involving raw eggs and the like; do not follow them blindly.

Why is this book classified under home economics?

Sources indicate it falls under the home economics category within technical works, meaning its content is regarded as practical knowledge related to everyday operations rather than literature or history. This also explains why it consists mainly of recipes and operational entries and suits use as a practical reference book.

Comments

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About the author

Bullock, Tom, 1873-1964 Author · American · 1873–1964

Tom Bullock (1873–1964) was an American bartender in St. Louis, remembered in food and drink history for his 1917 book The Ideal Bartender. Public information on his early life and training is limited; what can be confirmed is that he worked as a bartender in St. Louis over many years and produced the book there. The volume sets out methods and recipes for mixed drinks, addressed to both households and professionals, in plain and practical prose typical of bartending manuals of its time. Its significance lies chiefly in its authorship: it is regarded as one of the earliest cocktail books written by an African American, and is therefore often cited in the history of bartending and in food-culture studies. As the representative work among Bullock's surviving writings, The Ideal Bartender remains a modest and valuable record of American bartending practice in the early twentieth century.