David Wondrich
About David Wondrich
Speech topics
On Beyond Zombie: A New Look at Old Drinks
If from time to time you like to sip a little old bourbon on the rocks or a bracingly cold Dry Martini, you’re likely to have at least a glancing familiarity with the main categories of spirits as we generally conceive them, if only to know what you can tolerate and what you can’t. Brandy, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, whiskey; done. If you’ve got a favorite category, you’re likely to know something more than that: some history of distillation, some brand history, something about production, and so on.
As Editor in Chief of the 860-page Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (winner of the American Library Association’s 2021 Dartmouth Medal for reference work of the year), David Wondrich had the job of going beyond all that; of exploring what the whole world drinks, not just the part of it that takes credit cards. In doing that, he has spent the last decade visiting remote distilleries and digging through archives to try to tie together ancient traditions and track technologies and trade routes as they developed. Please join him for a lively look at some of the more obscure corners of the world of spirits and cocktails, considered from the point of view of what’s in our glasses, or could be.
Speaking videos
Books by David Wondrich
“Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar” (2017)
Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar
“Punch” (2010)
An Authoritative, historically informed tribute to the punch bowl, by the James Beard Award-winning author of Imbibe!. Replete with historical anecdotes, expert observations, notes on technique and ingredients, and of course world-class recipes, Punch will take readers on a celebratory journey into the punch bowl that starts with some very lonely British sailors and swells to include a cast of lords and ladies, admirals, kings, presidents, poets, pirates, novelists, spies, and other colorful characters. It is a tale only David Wondrich can tell-and it is sure to delight, amuse, and inspire the mixologist and party-planner in everyone.
“Esquire Drinks: An Opinionated & Irreverent Guide to Drinking With 250 Drink Recipes” (2004)
Do you remember when grown-ups used to drink liquor, whether straight or mixed, with a certain style? Nowadays, as far as Esquire can tell, most people are unsure about how to make the classic drinks that define style. And we wouldn't be Esquire if we didn't offer advice where it's needed. So just in time to save cocktail hour comes Esquire Drinks: An Opinionated & Irreverent Guide to Drinking -- With 250 Drink Recipes by David Wondrich. He will happily tell you how to mix a drink properly and explain the importance of being a savvy bartender. Wondrich first believes that a true cocktail should take the pronounced, even pungent, flavor of a liquor and, through careful blending with aromatics, acids, and essences, transform it, without erasing it, into something smooth and bracing and unlike anything else. In that spirit, he presents terrific ways to mix liquor with maximum joy and minimal fuss. You won't find any bland or flash-in-the-pan concoctions (no rum and Gatorade shots in here), just more than 250 cocktails that will impress anyone who chooses to taste one. Be sure to check out the Variants and Mixology boxes for twists on the traditional recipes. Not only will you learn how to make great drinks, you'll also become a discriminating connoisseur. And because every cocktail tells a story, we also tell some of the myths and lore attached to them. Find out the finer points to serving up Cosmopolitans, Mojitos, Sidecars, Orange Blossoms, Manhattans, Piña Coladas, Hot Buttered Rums, Champagne Punches and many more. Whether rugged or sophisticated, familiar or exotic, light or flavorful, every one of these cocktails is eminently mixable and a pleasure to drink. The bar is open. So what'll ya have?
“Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot, 1843–1924” (2003)
The early decades of American popular music-Stephen Foster, Scott Joplin, John Philip Sousa, Enrico Caruso-are, for most listeners, the dark ages. It wasn't until the mid-1920s that the full spectrum of this music-black and white, urban and rural, sophisticated and crude-made it onto records for all to hear. This book brings a forgotten music, hot music, to life by describing how it became the dominant American music-how it outlasted sentimental waltzes and parlor ballads, symphonic marches and Tin Pan Alley novelty numbers-and how it became rock 'n' roll. It reveals that the young men and women of that bygone era had the same musical instincts as their descants Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, James Brown, Jimi Hrix, and even Ozzy Osbourne. In minstrelsy, ragtime, brass bands, early jazz and blues, fiddle music, and many other forms, there was as much stomping and swerving as can be found in the most exciting performances of hot jazz, funk, and rock. Along the way, it explains how the strange combination of African with Scotch and Irish influences made music in the United States vastly different from other African and Caribbean musics; shares terrific stories about minstrel shows, coon songs, whorehouses, knife fights, and other low-life phenomena; and showcases a motley collection of performers heretofore unknown to all but the most avid musicologists and collectors.Author Biography: David Wondrich is the author of Esquire Drinks and writes about music and cocktails for The New York Times, Esquire, and The Village Voice. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
At a glanceDavid Wondrich
Recommended offer:
Get a custom quote for your event:
Get StartedBrowse Similar Speakers
Speaker Search is a marketplace of speakers designed for talent buyers. We do not represent or manage speakers; instead, we provide event planners with the most comprehensive resource to discover and book the right talent.