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The Fabled Pour

The library

Cocktail history, shelved by era

Where drinks came from, told from the record. Where the record runs out and the stories begin, we say so.

  1. The professional bar 1830 to 1900

    • The professional bar · 1830 to 1900

      Jerry Thomas and the Bar-Tender's Guide

      In 1862 a showman from Sackets Harbor published the first American book of drink recipes. Twenty years later a Prussian rival wrote the first manual on how to run a bar. Between them they made bartending a profession.

      5 min read · 9 sources