New Books from Mixellany

The folks at Mixellany (Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller) have released two books:

A French book of American and British Cocktails

Mixellany's Annotated BARIANA: A Practical Compendium of All American and British Drinks by Louis Fouquet, Translated from the Original 1896 French Edition and Annotated by Charles Vexenat

Originally published in 1896, Bariana: Recueil pratique de toutes boissons Americaines et Anglaises by Louis Fouquet is regarded as the second French cocktail book ever published. But there is no question that Bariana is the first heralded French cocktail book: Unveiled in the 1898 edition of the popular Almanach Hachette encyclopaedia, a handful of Fouquet's recipes were published along with the comment that "Thanks to Mr. Louis Fouquet, the skiilful barman from the Criterion (121 r. St-Lazare) American and English beverages can now be prepared by everyone as easily as combining anisette and water."

This book is released October 3rd.

An international history of booze

Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink, Book One, by Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller

This initial volume opens with the surprising discovery that ancient Arabic term "al kol" had two appropriate definitions long before Europeans learnt to distill alcohol: "1: a genie or spirit that takes on varied shapes (a supernatural creature in Arab mythology). 2: Any drug or substance that takes away the mind or covers it." From there, the authors trace the birth of spirits from China, to India, to Persia, through Europe and on to the New World.

What did people do with these potent potables long before the Cocktail was ever heard of? Miller and Brown explore the centuries-old origins of classic mixed drinks. Spirits and the drinks made with them have close ties to some of civilisation's landmark periods including the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Mongol, and Persian Empires as well as major historical events including the Crusades, Little Ice Age, The Black Death, the American Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution.

You can purchase the books at the Mixellany shop here or on Amazon.com here