• MUSEUM NEWS •

We're ready for Vegas!
By: Livio Lauro

The Museum of the American Cocktail™ will have its first official exhibit in Las Vegas during the World Cocktail Competition. While bartenders and enthusiasts from fifty-three different countries will be meeting for the "World Series of the Cocktail", The Museum of the American Cocktail™ will be situated just seconds away from them in the Capri rooms 101 and 102 of the Riviera Hotel & Casino's convention center.

This exciting event, where the world meets the Cocktail's origins, was possible thanks to the partnership with the United States Bartenders Guild, an association of professional bartenders and members of associated industries who are dedicated to promoting high standards and continuing education on the Cocktail and all that surrounds its craft. Without any doubt this is the first time in history that an American organization has put together an educational venue for the rest of world to learn from.

For more information regarding this exciting event please contact Mr. Livio Lauro at liviolauro@yahoo.com.

New Orleans Cocktail Museum to open in January

It all started simply enough. A casual conversation, a harmless observation, and an innocent remark. Now, just a few short months later, we are fast approaching the January 2005 opening of The Museum of the American Cocktail™ in New Orleans.

The Museum of the American Cocktail will take visitors through the fascinating two-hundred-year history of the American Cocktail. Artifacts include rare books, Multimedia displays will contain an extensive collection of rare books, Prohibition-era literature and music, vintage cocktail shakers, glassware, drink archives, tools, gadgets and all sorts of cocktail memorabilia from the outstanding collections of our founders. Facsimiles of rare and out-of-print books will give visitors and researchers the opportunity to study a deep body of previously inaccessible cocktail and spirit literature. Initially, we will be in a temporary location on the second floor of The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, which provides an amazing look into the origins of the American Pharmacological industry, then later in the year we will move into a permanent location that is yet to be finalized on.

The museum's founders are its greatest asset. They include the country's foremost spirits experts and cocktail historians including Dale DeGroff, Robert Hess, Dave Wondrich, Jared Brown, Anistatia Miller, Lowell Edmunds, Gary Regan, Ted Haigh, Steve Visakay, Robert Plotkin, Steve Olsen and others who are ready to contribute their expertise on the subject as well as loan pieces from their outstanding collections that include rare books, menus, glassware, cocktail shakers, old periodicals, and memorabilia of all kinds. Given their diverse talents, we will be able to create an environment in which ongoing research, professional and consumer mixology education, and special events will keep the museum fresh and dynamic.

For More Information please refer to the following links:

The Museum of the American Cocktail^TM
http://www.MuseumOfTheAmericanCocktail.org

Mixologist: Journal of the American Cocktail

In addition to providing a physical exhibit that will assist visitors in discovering the rich and diverse history of the American Cocktail, The Museum of the American Cocktail™ will also undertake a variety of projects that will provide various other educational resources for bartenders, historians, and interested individuals. The first of these projects will be an annual publication that examines the past, present, and future of mixology.

The first issue of Mixologist: The Journal of the American Cocktail will be a 200-plus-page publication of scholarly research and will be available in January 2005 at the Museum of the American Cocktail, Amazon.com, and select specialty bookstores.

"It's a forum for mixology and barware scholars that long been overdue," says co-publisher Anistatia Miller. "The volume of knowledge and depth of inquiry into the American Cocktail has expanded beyond the walls of cocktail books and bars since the emergence of the modern Cocktail Age. Mixologist offers scholars and the inquisitive a fertile place to read the best research on this spirited subject."

For more information about our Journal, you can refer to our recent Press Release.

• HISTORICAL INFORMATION •

Tombstone Cocktail
By: David Wondrich

Photo by Allen Katz

"Professor" Jerry Thomas, the man who quite literally wrote the book on mixing drinks, was born in Jefferson County, New York on November 1st, 1830 (give or take a day) and died in new York City on December 14, 1885. (This bears repeating because to date the only biography we have of him, in Herbert Asbury's 1928 edition of his book, has him born in 1825 in New Haven, Connecticut and has no idea when or where he died.) Information on Thomas' life has always been hard to find; a sporting character, he moved around a lot and spent a lot of time slipping through the cracks of history.

In death, at least, he stayed put. His death certificate, which I recently managed to track down (it wasn't where it was supposed to be) states that he was buried in New York's

Woodlawn Cemetery. In order to make sure he was still there (you never know), on October 3 of this year I assembled a group of fellow cocktail fiends, including Audrey Saunders, Julie Reiner, Toby Cecchini and Martin Doudoroff, to go up to Woodlawn and check. The cemetery, in the northern Bronx, is a glorious old place, full of magnificent trees and lavish marble tombs. Jerry Thomas isn't in one. In fact, his grave--a few yards south of the northeast corner of the plot marked "Poplar"--has the plainest of tombstones, one which reads simply "J P. Thomas" [sic]. (This in itself is confirmation of the rumors printed in his obituaries that he had lost all his money buying on margin.)

Once we found his grave, we held a brief ceremony. I brought a bottle of Wild Turkey Rye, a little thick simple syrup, a bottle of Angostura bitters and some ice, all of which went into a huge cocktail shaker (well, not all the bitters; here's the precise formula: 25 oz rye, 2 oz rich simple syrup, made 2-1 with demerara sugar, 24 dashes Angostura bitters). Everyone gave it a ritual shake or two and then we poured it out into cocktail glasses (not plastic cups), distributed twists, and all had a drink--Jerry Thomas included. We read from Asbury's account of his life and from the interview he gave the New York Sun in 1882. Ms. Saunders contributed some very scarce Aboott's Bitters for a second round and left the Professor a Tom & Jerry mug and a copy of the recent reprint of his book. It was a good day to drink.

• AROUND THE NATION •

Reviving a Presidential Spirit
By: Jared Brown

In addition to his duties as father of our country, George Washington ran a successful distillery at his Mount Vernon home. Since 1999, archeologists-funded in part by generous donations from the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America-have been excavating the distillery site.

Although this is the first eighteenth-century distillery to be excavated in the United States, for Mount Vernon, it's only the first step toward a much larger goal. On September 28, 2004, DISCUS and Historic Mount Vernon announced to a crowd sipping freshly made

If you have news or information that you would like to submit for inclusion in a future edition of "The Cocktailian Gazette", please forward it to Robert Hess (RobertHess@msn.com).

whiskey, the creation of the George Washington Distillery which will be a complete on-site replica distillery.

Between 1797 and 1799, the distillery was a large-scale commercial operation that produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey in one year. The spent grain from the stills was fed to the 150 hogs and cattle he had penned at the site.

Once it is completed, the distilling museum will serve as the gateway to the newly-formed Whiskey Trail tourism initiative that highlights historic distilling and drinking establishments in five states. These include: The George Washington Distillery at Mount Vernon; the George Dickel Distillery; Jack Daniel's Distillery; the Jim Beam Distillery; the Maker's Mark Distillery; the Wild Turkey Distillery; the Woodford Reserve Distillery; the Bacardi Visitor Center; the Cruzan Rum Distillery; Fraunces Tavern Museum in Manhattan; Gadsby's Tavern in Virginia; Woodville Plantation; The Oliver Miller Homestead in Pennsylvania; The Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown; and the West Overton Museum in Scottsdale.

For More Information please refer to the following links:

Discus
http://www.Discus.org

The American Whiskey Trail_SM
http://www.AmericanWhiskeyTrail.com

George Washington's Mount Vernon Distillery
http://www.MountVernon.org/learn/pres_arch/index.cfm/sss/82

• OTHER ORGANIZATIONS •

The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum is housed in the 1823 Creole townhouse of Louis J. Dufilho, Jr., America's first licensed pharmacist. It was a working pharmacy for 50 years in the 19th century. Guests to the Pharmacy Museum can visit two floors and see exhibits on 19th century epidemics, bloodletting and questionable medicine practices, 19th century opium use and addiction and the development of patent medicines and soda fountains to name a few.

The Museums current exhibits include "19th Century Epidemics in New Orleans", and "Life on the Fringe" which consists of 19th century artifacts from the Iberville and St. Thomas Housing Project Areas - including Storyville artifacts and information. In January they will welcome a new exhibit "History of the American Cocktail" which is being presented as part of The Museum of the American Cocktail.

Throughout the year, the Pharmacy Museum hosts various events, seminars, and tours. Here is a list of their upcoming events for the rest of the year:

November 12th, 2004 :
"The Rx Gala Ball", held at the Royal Orleans Hotel - This is an anual fundraiser for the Museum, and includes dinner, dance, and a silent auction.

December 11th, 2004 :
"Christmas New Orleans Style" - Six French Quarter museums and historic homes will each host an open house for the evening tour. Tickes are available through French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (504) 522-5730.

December 17th, 2004 :
"Tonic & Tinsel Tour" - An evening holiday tour of the Pharmacy Museum.

Museum Info:: New Orleans Pharmacy Museum; 514 Chartres Street; New Orleans, LA 70130; between St. Louis & Toulouse Streets in the French Quarter; (504) 565-8027 or www.pharmacymuseum.org

• LINKS OF THE MONTH •

Southern Food and Beverage Museum

http://www.southernfood.org

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of the food, drink and the related culture of the South. The Museum will examine and celebrate all the cultures that have come together through the centuries to create the Souths unique culinary heritage. It will bring all races and ethnicities to the table to tell the tale, from the farmer and the homemaker to the line cook and the celebrity chef. And it will be fun, with tastings and other food-centered events that capture the essence of Southern foodways.