"david wondrich" news and stories

Well another Tales of the Cocktail has come and gone, and Slashfood made it through relatively unscathed. New Orleans was filled with the world's best bartenders who met to tipple together and share a bit of their mixology wisdom for throngs of (slightly tipsy) fans during the five-day bacchanal.

James Meehan of New York's PDT was named American Bartender of the Year on July 11, while "Imbibe!" author David Wondrich got a nod for his cocktail writing and Dale DeGroff for his latest book offering, "The Essential Cocktail."

Get our favorite moments and more photos after the jump.

Back in October I linked to a drink called The Atomic Cocktail, which is made with Plymouth Gin, Galliano, and Grapefruit juice. Now comes another drink with the same name.

This one is via David Wondrich at Esquire, and he says the drink after the jump was invented in Las Vegas in the early 50s. It's made with vodka, brandy, sherry, and champagne.

David Wondrich, the drinks guy at Esquire, wrote one of the best cocktails books in the past quarter century, Esquire Drinks, and he says that if you want a proper Manhattan, you have to skip the cherries and add more Vermouth. After the jump, his recipe.

Veteran cocktail guru David Wondrich lists the best bars in the United States in the June issue of Esquire (the one with Tom Hanks on the cover).

The magazine looked at several criteria, including great bartenders, beautiful women, no TV, jukeboxes, really expensive, really cheap, weekdays perfect and weekends too crowded, great for daytime drinking, a little rowdy, rowdy in a different way, good conversation, and war-zone location.

Some of those things are quite random, but it's an interesting list, from The Office Bar in Hoonah, Alaska (population 900) to The Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas to No. 9 Park in Boston, the magazine gives a nice mix of bars across the country. And it lays it out in a helpful West Coast to East Coast format.

The magazine realizes that they might have missed a few bars, so they want readers to write in their favorites as well.