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Happy New Year!
Wishing you an amazing 2024. I hope all your dreams for this year come true. A huge thank you for all your support last year — both launches for The Unofficial Lebowski Cocktail Book and A Booze & Vinyl Christmas were some of the best yet.
I’m looking forward to a lot in this year, including two book launches - Cowboy Cocktails (Quarto) releases April 2 and Forbidden Cocktails (Running Press/Turner Classic Movies) May 7. These are two of the most exciting projects I’ve ever done, both deep historical dives into 1) Cocktail culture along the cattle trails in the post-Civil War era and 2) Pre-code Hollywood. I am incredibly pleased with how the books turned out, from recipes to photography. I can’t wait to share them with you.
With publication a few short months away, I’d like to reveal the cover of Cowboy Cocktails!
COVER REVEAL
Take a swig of the Wild, Wild West with 60 historically inspired cattle kingdom cocktails. Based on trail life after the Civil War, the cow towns at the time, and on the drinks enjoyed there, Cowboy Cocktails gives you a true taste of the cowboy lifestyle. With charming sidebars throughout, learn some surprising history about cowboys and their experiences in the Wild West.
With whiskey-, tequila-, and gin-based cocktail recipes complemented by some serious cowboy lore, this cocktail book is full of captivatingly photographed drinks will transport you to the rough and wild times of the American Old West. Every cowboy enthusiast who enjoys a good drink needs this book in their cocktail-recipe arsenal....
JANUARY COCKTAIL
The drinks in Cowboy Cocktails are some of the best yet. It may be because I warmed up on the John Wayne book, and so was able to push further into Western cocktails territory. Whatever the reason, you’ll find captivating recipes for cowboy libations that feature period ingredients. One of my favorites is the Tombstone Tonsil Painter:
By 1881, Tombstone, Arizona, was a boomtown boasting two dance halls and
twenty saloons. In October of that year, marshal Virgil Earp, joined by his younger
brothers, Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, prevailed over the Clanton Gang at
the O.K. Corral. Tonsil paint, or tonsil varnish, was a cowboy nickname for whiskey.
Being a prosperous town, Tombstone bars would have featured more than a few
liquor bottles for making fancy cocktails. Holliday, a dandy, would have liked this
particular concoction.
1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey
1 ounce tawny port
1/4 ounce Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry, for garnish
Directions
Stir the whiskey, port, Benedictine, and bitters with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Excerpted from Cowboy Cocktails: 60 Recipes Inspired by the American West Available from Quarto Group. André Darlington. Copyright © 2024.
THE 2024 CALENDAR (so far)
January 17-22- Palm Springs, CA - Just Fabulous, Event/Signing - TBA
Tuesday, April 2 - National - Cowboy Cocktails: 60 Recipes Inspired by the American West - BOOK LAUNCH
Tuesday, May 7 - National - Forbidden Cocktails: Libations Inspired by the World of Pre-Code Hollywood (Turner Classic Movies) - BOOK LAUNCH
THANK YOU FOR READING - SEE YOU NEXT MONTH FOR THE FORBIDDEN COCKTAILS COVER REVEAL!