The Canon Cocktail Book: Recipes from the Award-Winning Bar

by Jamie Boudreau, James O. Fraioli

Overview

“Integrates modern cooking technique with innovative classical cocktail preparation . . . invaluable for aspiring mixologists looking to go pro.”—Jim Meehan, author of The PDT Cocktail Book
 
Home to the Western Hemisphere’s largest spirit collection, Seattle bar Canon: Whiskey and Bitters Emporium has achieved unprecedented, worldwide acclaim. Named Best Bar in America by Esquire, Canon received Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards for World’s Best Drinks Selection (2013) and World’s Best Spirits Selection (2015), and Drinks International included it on their prestigious World’s 50 Best Bars list. 
 
In his debut, legendary bartender and Canon founder Jamie Boudreau offers 100 cocktail recipes ranging from riffs on the classics, like the Cobbler’s Dream and Corpse Reviver, to their lineup of original house drinks, such as the Truffled Old Fashioned and the Banksy Sour. In addition to tips, recipes, and formulas for top-notch cocktails, syrups, and infusions, Boudreau breaks down the fundamentals and challenges of opening and running a bar—from business plans to menu creation. The Canon Cocktail Book is poised to be an essential drinks manual for both the at-home cocktail enthusiast and bar industry professional.
 
“If you’re lucky enough to have drunk at Canon, the bar, you’ll find reading Canon, the cocktail book, remarkably similar: rich in detail, surprising, sometimes challenging, and always delightful. If you haven’t been to Canon, at least read the book. A few pages in and you’ll be on your phone, booking a flight to Seattle.”—David Wondrich, author of Imbibe! and Punch
 
“The collection is unassailable . . . This terrific resource is sure to send armchair bartenders scurrying to their shakers.”—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544631595
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	06/11/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	357
Sales rank:	738,037
File size:	32 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

JAMIE BOUDREAU started tending bar at age of 16. In 2011, after stints as a bartending consultant and writer, he opened Canon: Whiskey and Bitters Emporium, a bar that houses the world's largest collection of American whiskey, in Seattle.JAMES O. FRAIOLI is an award-winning cookbook author and a 2014 James Beard Award winner for Culinary Birds: The Ultimate Poultry Cookbook. He has 20 cookbooks to his credit, with additional cookbooks in production.

Editorial Reviews

07/04/2016
Seattle’s Canon: Whiskey and Bitters Emporium has won numerous high-profile awards; those who’ve never had a chance to check out the bar can see what all the fuss is about in this collection of 100 of their best cocktail recipes. With the grating exception of using a gritty, lowercase typewriter-like font to display the bar’s name whenever it’s mentioned, Boudreau is a humble and enthusiastic host, generous with his cocktail tips (including some terrific practical advice on opening a bar of one’s own) and freely giving credit where credit is due in regard to each cocktail’s origin. As for the cocktails themselves, the collection is unassailable. The usual suspects (the old-fashioned, Tom Collins, daiquiri, etc.) are all here, as are riffs (the Cubed Old Fashioned adds complexity via additional liquors and bitters) and some of the painfully specific cocktails one has come to expect from this genre. The Khaleesi Cocktail, for example, requires Blanton’s Single Barrel Whiskey, Punt e Mes, Amaro Meletti, Giffard strawberry syrup, Angostura bitters, and an ascorbic acid solution. Fortunately, Boudreau is more than happy to pull back the curtain and break down cocktail recipes into a simple formula (which he calls the golden ratio), allowing readers to substitute or add flavors for variety and complexity in order to come up with their own creations. This terrific resource is sure to send armchair bartenders scurrying to their shakers. Agent: Andrea Hurst, Andrea Hurst & Associates. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

If you’re lucky enough to have drunk at canon, the bar, you’ll find reading Canon, the cocktail book, remarkably similar: rich in detail, surprising, sometimes challenging, and always delightful. If you haven’t been to canon, at least read the book. A few pages in and you’ll be on your phone, booking a flight to Seattle.” —David Wondrich, author of Imbibe! and Punch   “Ever since Jamie Boudreau first opened the doors to canon, the bar has been the brightest star in Seattle’s cocktail constellation. Now, The Canon Cocktail Book promises to blast you into this whiskey-laced firmament, offering everything from insights into the bar’s day-to-day to the intricacies of preparing canon’s best drinks. Grab a shaker, and buckle up—it’s gonna be a boozy ride.” —Paul Clarke, executive editor of Imbibe magazine and author of The Cocktail Chronicles   “The Canon Cocktail Book memorializes the ceaseless curiosity and tenacious efforts of its bitters-loving, pyromaniac author Jamie Boudreau, whose recipe catalog deftly integrates modern cooking technique with innovative classical cocktail preparation. Much more than a drink primer, Boudreau’s book is the first bar owner’s manual of the century, written by one of the world’s most celebrated publicans, whose open, honest, hard-earned wisdom is invaluable for aspiring mixologists looking to go pro.” —Jim Meehan, author of The PDT Cocktail Book "Boudreau is a humble and enthusiastic host, generous with his cocktail tips (including some terrific practical advice on opening a bar of one’s own) and freely giving credit where credit is due in regard to each cocktail’s origin. As for the cocktails themselves, the collection is unassailable... This terrific resource is sure to send armchair bartenders scurrying to their shakers." —Publishers Weekly —

From the Publisher

10/15/2016
Even by the impractical, labor-of-love standards of the world's great cocktail bars, Canon is an ambitious place. Boudreau's Seattle bar boasts more than 3,500 bottles of spirits on the shelves and offers a 100-page leather-bound tome for a menu, which is all the more remarkable given that the establishment is a tiny, 32-seat space: the tip of a very boozy iceberg. This book is for those who are up for a challenge, offering some blunt, if not especially original, advice for anyone inspired to open a bar of their own. Its compendium of 100 recipes will stretch enthusiasts beyond the usual retreads of the classics. To make Canon's signature drink, whip up a foam of bloomed gelatin, egg whites, and citrus, and layer on top of a Manhattan variation of rye and vermouth. The complexity and creativity of the drinks is offset by Boudreau's straightforward writing and explanations of the fundamentals, such as his "Golden Ratio"—a safe structure of spirit, vermouth, liqueur, and bitters that allows his bartenders, and now readers, to riff almost endlessly. Once that's been mastered, it's a matter of creativity and amassing that library of booze. VERDICT For serious cocktail nerds; the recipes are the draw here.—Joanna Scutts, Astoria, NY

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