In episode six of the Master Distiller’s Book Club, we’re charting the life and times of Harry Craddock, author of The Savoy Cocktail Book. In their 2013 publication, Deans of Drink, Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller unearthed the missing pieces of Harry's life, including his birthplace, final resting spot, and how he came to be the head bartender at The Savoy's American Bar.

Anistatia traced Harry’s final resting spot to Gunnersbury Cemetery. Along with Erik Lorincz, she organised for his lacklustre cemetery marker to be replaced with something more deserving of Harry’s legacy - a gravestone. Further research dispelled the widely held belief that Harry was born in the USA. ‘His birth certificate didn't exist in the US, and there's a good reason for that. His passport says that he was an American citizen; he even had a draft card for the First World War as an American citizen, but his birth certificate was found in England. Harry was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, to a family of weavers.’ says Anistatia.

In America, Harry made a name for himself at the Knickerbocker, which, as Jared explains, ‘was the premier destination for anybody who was anybody.’ In 1920 he moved to London, working in the service well at The Savoy hotel’s American Bar, with Ada Coleman and Ruth Burgess at the helm. ‘When prohibition happened, a lot of Americans started arriving in London because they were getting really thirsty, they couldn't get any over there, so they came over to London to get some. One little minor bit of prejudice, American men did not like the idea of being served by barmaids’ says Jared, and in 1922  Harry was promoted to Head Bartender.

Eleven years later, Harry published The Savoy Cocktail Book, an impressive tome of around 1400 cocktails. One of the most critical and revolutionary cocktail books ever written, it contains some of the first English drinks made using Tequila and Cuban rum and would go on to cement Harry’s place as one of the world’s most influential bartenders.

In episode five of the Master Distiller’s Podcast, we’re getting to know Harry Johnson. As one of the founding fathers of American drinks, you’d be forgiven for thinking Harry was just that - an American. You’d be mistaken, as Jared’s co-author Anistatia Miller explains ‘Harry Johnson is probably the most significant person in the development of what became the golden age of American cocktails, which is a period between 1860 and 1919. What is fascinating about Harry Johnson is that he represents one key point that people forget about the development of the American cocktail. He was German.’

A bar manager and operator and a bartender, Harry Johnson’s Bartenders’ Manual is essential reading for cocktail enthusiasts worldwide. His meticulous approach to running a bar and obsessive care for his craft would lose him his wife but earned him enduring acclaim and a place on bookshelves worldwide. ‘Harry Johnson, I would like to thank you for leaving us such a wonderful legacy in the form of your magnificent book with 135 pages on bar management alone, and then all of your lovely recipes, thank you for breaking ground for us, for paving the way, for giving us great shoulders to stand on.’ says Jared. 

In part two of the Master Distiller’s Podcast, Jared Brown takes us on a deep dive of The Deans of Drink, which he wrote with his wife, drinks historian Anistatia Miller, almost ten years ago. Over three episodes, we’ll be taking you through the trials and tribulations of three of the world’s most influential bartenders and the drinks that made them famous.

Don't forget to join us over at www.theblend.world to read along and be part of the book club!

Up first is William Schmidt, who emigrated from Hamburg to Chicago in 1869. Jared explains, ‘as America entered its golden age of cocktails, a handful of German bartenders helped to shape the profession, introducing a new family of drinks into the cocktail repertoire and inspiring future generations with their attention to detail, service and creativity. Some of these bartenders learned their profession in Germany and brought with them well deserved pride. Such was the case with our first Dean of Drink, the only William, William Schmidt.’

William moved to New York in 1884, where he tended bar at the Bridge Saloon before heading to 58 Bay St, sandwiched between the Twin Towers. Here, he was known to entertain journalists, famously noting ‘give a journalist a drink, you get them drunk, give them content, you put food on their table.’ - a sentiment that still rings true today. William was renowned for making drinks ideally suited to his guests and their moods, often with grand garnishes and numerous complicated ingredients. His most striking of which was touted as ‘the costliest drink ever made.’ This $5  julep-style cocktail contained cracked ice, mint, sugar, brandy, a whole pint of ‘the finest Champagne’, pineapple, banana, citrus, orange, red roses, vanilla ice cream, and berries. ‘The Julep is the king of all mixed drinks. It is to a bar what a beautiful flower is to a ladies boudoir.’ proclaimed William.