This is a Vintage episode from 2006.

Why This Episode Matters

How America’s cocktail golden age flourished from the Gilded Age through Prohibition and how it eventually gave way to highballs and vodka.
Why pre-Prohibition whiskey was stronger, more aromatic and dramatically different from much of what followed.
How cocktail historians reconstruct forgotten drinks using antique bar guides, vintage bottles and nearly vanished ingredients.
Why Ted Haigh believes cocktails should engage an adult palate rather than conceal alcohol beneath sweetness.

Banter

Mark Pascal and Francis Schott explore the emerging trend of beer cocktails, from shandies and Black Velvets to some considerably more questionable corporate creations.

The Conversation

Cocktail historian Ted Haigh, better known as Dr. Cocktail, traces the rise, decline and early revival of the American cocktail. He explains how elaborate Gilded Age drinks survived Prohibition, only to be displaced by blended whiskey, highballs and increasingly neutral spirits.

Ted shares how he uncovers forgotten recipes in antique books and newspapers, then searches for the obscure bottles needed to recreate them. The conversation moves from bonded whiskey and Amer Picon to drinks that deserved to disappear, vodka’s reliance on marketing and the disputed 200th anniversary of the cocktail.

Guest Bio

Ted Haigh, widely known as Dr. Cocktail, is a cocktail historian, author and award-winning graphic designer. His research, writing and extensive collection of historic bar books, bottles and artifacts helped introduce a new generation to overlooked drinks from the pre-Prohibition and Prohibition eras. He was also one of the founders of the Museum of the American Cocktail.

Timestamps

00:00 Beer cocktails, shandies and pairing beer with food
08:24 The golden age of American cocktails—and the rise of the highball
12:19 Pre-Prohibition whiskey and the value of acquired tastes
16:31 How forgotten cocktails are discovered and reconstructed
20:05 Amer Picon, obscure ingredients and drinks best left behind
25:20 The cocktail’s disputed anniversary, vodka and raw eggs

Info

Ted’s book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: Prohibition Centennial Edition
Museum of the American Cocktail
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