Foreword
Brian Bartels. The name alone evokes the alliterative, all-American alter ego of a Golden Age comic book superhero, and in The United States of Cocktails Brian accomplishes a heroic task: crisscrossing the country like a powerful locomotive to chronicle the spirited adventures across the frontier of America’s drinkways.
Brian has never met a cocktail den, tavern, corner tap, or dive bar that wasn’t worthy of exploration, and his always-curious egalitarian approach to drinking, along with the stories shared every day and night behind the bar, makes him the perfect candidate to tell this story. Brian is as American as a Bruce Springsteen song, but on his version of the album cover of Born in the U.S.A. instead of a dusty red ball cap you’ll find a well-worn Moleskine notebook tucked into the back left pocket of his Levi’s 501 jeans. And he’s filled those pages with the memories, observations, folklore, recipes, and a few tall tales from countless journeys. To me, Brian has always been a bartender cast from the working-class hero mold. Sure, he’ll make you a perfect Daiquiri or a bespoke Boulevardier without blinking, but he also has the heart and soul of an old-school bartender. One who knows that being able to make a connection is why so many of us go to bars. Sharing a story, having a laugh, or, most importantly, just listening is a memory that will be remembered long after that glass is empty and the tab has been settled. Keeping my already well-worn copy of The United States of Cocktails within reach ensures that I’ll always be armed with this entertaining almanac of cocktail trivia, recipes, history, and trivia—whether it’s checking off a bucket list bar when I’m traveling to a new city, learning more about a regional spirit, or stirring up a delicious cocktail.
One of my biggest regrets was waiting so long to introduce myself to Brian. All those wasted years when we could have been running buddies, mixing it up in the Big City. For the past few years, whenever I found myself in New York’s historic West Village neighborhood, I knew I was always within walking distance of one of Brian’s bars, and posting up in a courtside seat to catch up with him, watch him work, listen to his stories, and hear that great laugh of his is one of life’s greatest pleasures. My favorite wildcat is now back in Wisconsin, where he’s running his own tavern, one that over the years will carry a well-earned patina of the memories and stories of everyone who passes through the doors, like many of the bars in this very book. I miss that wildcat more than you know, but I’m comforted knowing that when I find myself in Madison there will always be a bar with cold Miller High Life ponies and Marty Robbins crackling on the speakers, and we’ll pick right up where we left off.
—BTP
