Straub’s Manual of Mixed Drinks: A Facsimile of the 1913 Edition

Mr. Jacques Straub was the manager of the famed Pendennis Club of Louisville, Kentucky, and later the wine steward of the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago until Prohibition. According to The Hotel Monthly (1920), Notwithstanding Mr. Straub’s knowledge of wines and liquors, he never drank. He was a most abstemious man in this respect, but his judgment from smell and taste was always infallible. Straub’s Manual of Mixed Drinks contains nearly 700 clear and accurate directions for mixing all kinds of popular and fancy drinks that were served in the best hotels, clubs, buffets, bars, and homes of the early twentieth century. You’ll find recipes for such classics as the Mint Julep and the Absinthe Drip alongside some more unusual selections, including the Tit Float, topped with whipped cream and a cherry, and the Diarrhea Mixture, made with peppermint and blackberry brandy-is it a cocktail or a cure? This facsimile of the 1913 edition of Straub’s Manual of Mixed Drinks is part of the Classic Cocktail Guides and Retro Bartender Books series published by Kalevala Books.