The Secret Publisher of Black Cocktail and Cook Books
September 18, 2024
I solved a little mystery (maybe only mysterious to me): Two versions of the 1919 book The Ideal Bartender by Tom Bullock (the first cocktail book by a Black bartender) were republished in 2001 and 2002 by Howling at the Moon Press, which doesn't exist, and co-authored/introduced by author "DJ Frienz" whom I could not locate.
Those books are 173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails: Potations So Good They Scandalized a President, and Classic Cocktails: Over 170 Drinks from Yesteryear that You Can Enjoy Today.
Thanks to this article I learned that DJ Frienz is the pen name of Dianna Joyce Seay, who was also the founder of Howling at the Moon Press. She passed away in 2005. She also republished a cocktail book by a black author.
I have been finding interesting contributions to the craft cocktail renaissance in the years before it really started, with many important books like this one written or published by women.
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