This is a Vintage episode from 2010.
Why This Episode Matters
- Greg Boehm explains how obscure pre-Prohibition cocktail books became useful again as ingredients and serious bartending returned.
- He shares how Mud Puddle Books reproduced historic cocktail books in painstaking detail — right down to the paper, binding and gold stamping.
- The conversation captures an important moment in the rise of Japanese bartending in the U.S., including Kazuo Uyeda, the Hard Shake and the English-language release of Cocktail Technique.
- Boehm also opens up his remarkable 2,800-volume cocktail collection to bartenders, writers and researchers.
Banter
Mark and Francis make the case that if you're going to eat a doughnut or a donut, it had better be worth it.
The Conversation
Greg Boehm joins The Restaurant Guys to discuss Mud Puddle Books and the revival of historic cocktail literature. He explains how once-obscure bartending manuals became valuable resources during the cocktail renaissance and why he began reproducing classics by Jerry Thomas and Harry Johnson.
The conversation turns to Japanese bartending traditions, from specialized bar tools to precise stirring, shaking and ice techniques. Boehm also previews the English-language release of Kazuo Uyeda’s Cocktail Technique and its potential influence on American bartenders.
Guest Bio
Greg Boehm is a publisher, cocktail-book collector and the founder of Mud Puddle Books and Cocktail Kingdom. His collection of thousands of historic cocktail books became both the source for meticulously reproduced editions and a working research library for bartenders, writers and cocktail historians.
Timestamps
00:00 — Donuts worth the calories
07:55 — Greg Boehm and the lost literature of cocktails
10:30 — When antique cocktail books became useful again
12:00 — Choosing which of 2,800 books to reproduce
16:00 — Japanese bar tools and Cocktail Kingdom
18:00 — Angel's Share, Kazuo Uyeda and the Hard Shake
20:35 — Preserving and sharing cocktail history
Info
Cocktail Kingdom
https://cocktailkingdom.com/
Oct 23, Friday - Winemaker Dinner w/ Neri Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Winery
Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar
Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party
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