Notes on Ingredients

In some cases, these recipes can only be made with liqueurs singled out by brand name. For instance, Chartreuse is a proprietary liqueur, made by a group of French monks. (It's a fascinating story--I recommend "researching" it on wikipedia like I did.) I could substitute something else, but that would defeat the entire purpose. In other cases, Recipes for Mixed Drinks may list, for instance, a particular gin Ensslin favored in 1916. I will feel free to use whichever gin I have on hand should his favorite be unavailable or defunct.

As a rule, I try to use spirits that are good values. That means that these recipes will never be tested with super-premium booze unless someone wants to send me some. They will be strictly mid-shelf, although I will try to track down all the modest liquors that taste expensive. The reasons are two-fold. First is of course my own modest finances, and the shear volume of liquor involved in such an undertaking. (The book lists dozens of different spirits, not even counting all the bitters and mixers I'll have to stock. ) The second justification is that while my palate can generally distinguish good from bad, there are infinite variations within "good" that may be clear to some but often elude me.

I'm also not going to do anything fancy, like buy special ice or freeze spring water. Unless I somehow am convinced otherwise, I'm going to assume that my ice, from New Orleans municipal water in 2010, is at least as good as New York municipal water in 1916. (And my water might even be better. I'd hate to think we've made no progress in the last century.)

I suspect some drinks will simply be impossible. Certain liqueurs have gone out of fashion or out of business, certain bitters have fallen into disregard as well, now that no one thinks they're useful as medicine. Just in the last few years, though, there's been a huge resurgence in interest in some of these old products, so I think in many cases I'll be pleasantly surprised about the kinds of things I can get with a little effort. Some drinks are doubtless lost to us forever, though this is only appropriate. Our trip back to 1916 will necessarily be imperfect. Some mystery will always remain.