There must be some unwritten law stating that every decent bar at least one copy of David Wondrich’s Imbibe. David Wondrich has long been accepted as one of the foremost authorities in the cocktail world. He takes his place as the fourth master in our Masters Series. 

Firstly, our conversation takes us back to 1850 with the story of Jerry Thomas, the father of American mixology. We are then flung into the future with David’s views on ‘restaurant-style bars’. 

One thing we’re seeing a lot of here is a new relationship between bar and restaurant where the bar is in the driver’s seat. So you’ve got a full bar with a small restaurant menu, as opposed to the usual: small bar with a full restaurant menu.

David Wondrich

We also cover David’s switch from a ‘miserable’ junior professor to regular drinks columnist for Esquire, and how nobody believed that positive change was possible in the bar industry. 

I told my friends I was [writing a drinks column for Esquire] and they laughed and I laughed. And then they’d say ‘What are you getting out of this?’ and I’d say… “What I’m trying to do is make it so I can walk into any reasonable bar in America and get a well-made Manhattan”. Then we really laughed because that was never going to happen.

David Wondrich

But this isn’t the first time David has spoken on the Living Proof Podcast. You can also listen to his original episode with us here, or recap our bartenders in lockdown chat here.

In The Master Series, The Living Proof Podcast will be taking in the advice, stories and opinions of those considered to be legends of the industry.  Stay up to date by following us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.