François Monti is what you call a polymath. We used to call them Renaissance Men, but polymath is the terms for a Twitter and Facebook age. A polymath is someone who is very good at very many things, often things that vary widely in their intellectual content.
François was born in Belgium, has traveled extensively and has called Madrid home for almost ten years. He writes for French, Spanish and English audiences. His passion is cocktails: their creation, their history, their evolution. 101 Cocktails to Try Before You Die is his must list of things you do want to try. Now. He says upfront this is not a list of the 101 best all time cocktails [and there are missing items here like the Singapore Sling]. With his years of experience in tasting and creating, he does think these are the drinks you ought to try.
His cutoff for these cocktails is 1806. Nothing earlier than that. But the 101 beverages here roll from that date on. Cocktails are an American invention, amplified so greatly by Cuba and then extended exponentially in the cocktail revolution of the past 20 years. New York and London have led that revolution, but cocktail innovation is worldwide: Singapore, Tokyo, San Francisco, Seattle, Spain, and Northern Italy. We all love to drink and that love, with its history, is depicted in this essential book.
The cocktails are presented in alphabetical, and not historical, order. There are two pages for each beverage. Page One is a picture and the recipe. Page 2 gives brief info on preparation, type of glass, presentation or garnish, difficulty to make, style and dominant taste. The bulk of Page 2 is a very, very detailed history of the cocktail with François’ often quite personal assessment of cocktail value. For example, he is quite fond of the Golden Age of cocktails: 1870-1920. He laments the impact of Prohibition on the United States though it gave birth to the first London burst of cocktail wonder. And almost equally awful, in his opinion, was the period from 1960 to 1980 where insanity intruded into cocktail creation. Bad ideas like the Blue Hawaii:
Actually, you might like the Blue Hawaii. For me, this drink brings back memories of bad music, bad clothing and, I guess, bad girls. I’m posting the recipe right after this book review.
François is very specific about the ingredients. A third of the cocktails here use gin and for several of these gin-based beverages he specifies the brand you want to use: Aviation or Citadelle for example. In some cases, he just says “gin” and I think that mean Hedricks. No two gins are the same and the flavor spectrum across the array of gins in your liquor store is immense. Reading this book may convert you into an amateur mixologist. There is no better guide to the chemistry of cocktails than 101 Cocktails to Try Before You Die.
Oh, you’ll love this book for its history of the Bee’s Knees, the Aviation, the Dark ‘n’ Storm, and … Well, gee, all 101!