In the Land of Cocktails

THE Essential Bartender, Dale DeGroff

Posted by Lu Brow on November 11th, 2008

How for­tu­nate are we that Dale DeGroff chose bar­tend­ing as his career.  We all have Dale to thank for bring­ing back fresh juices and mix­ers to this coun­try.  Just think how far we have come and it all started with him and his com­mit­ment and atten­tion to detail.  There are many pro­fes­sion­als in this indus­try, but only one Dale DeGroff.  Pro­fes­sional, hand­some AND a great enter­tainer to boot.

I was for­tu­nate enough recently to have din­ner with Ti Mar­tin, Ella Bren­nan and Dale DeGroff when he vis­ited New Orleans.  I felt so lucky to be included in that group and I don’t think I stopped smil­ing and laugh­ing the entire time.  It only got bet­ter when Ti talked Dale into stand­ing up and singing “Lulu’s Back in Town” (which you get a great ren­di­tion of in our “Smash­ing Cock­tail” seg­ment).  The only thing we were miss­ing was Dale’s lovely wife Jill.

Dale was in town to do a cock­tail demo at the Museum of the Amer­i­can Cock­tail and to talk about his new book — The Essen­tial Cock­tail — A must have for every cock­tail afi­cionado.  I wanted to include a cock­tail from Dale’s first book, The Craft of the Cock­tail.

And remem­ber, some­times the best gar­nish for a great cock­tail is a song…

Melan­choly Baby
(A drink cre­ated at the Rain­bow Room for a lady who had
just ended a love affair…)

1 1/2 ounces Abso­lut Cit­ron
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 ounces sim­ple syrup
1/2 cup chopped can­taloupe (or sim­i­lar)
3 ounces water
Flamed lemon peel for gar­nish
Blend all the ingre­di­ents with crushed ice and serve in a tall glass.
Gar­nish with the flamed lemon peel.