Jazz Age Cocktails: History, Love, and Recipes from America's Roaring Twenties by Cecelia Tichi delves deeply into the history of cocktails. The book was published by New York University Press and is 168 pages, which includes some illustrations. I read the ebook version, which is 165 pages. This is decidedly more of a history book than a cookbook, but there are recipes for various cocktails included at the end of nearly every chapter.

The Eighteenth Amendment banned "intoxicating liquors" in America as of mid-January, 1920. The United States was officially a "dry" country for thirteen years. At least on paper. But there were tons of loopholes. In 1928, the New York Telegram published a list of 37 places where Americans could obtain and/or imbibe alcoholic beverages, including at restaurants, drug stores, malt shops, fruit stands, and laundries. That seems like a lot of places that had alcohol in a "dry" nation.

Something I never really thought about before was how gender barriers that had previously forbade "ladies" from attending gentlemen-only bars and cafes were broken during the era of the speakeasy and elaborate cocktail parties staged in private homes. I learned so much by reading this book and I'm very excited to try my hand at some of the 78 cocktail recipes that are included.

I have always enjoyed books and movies of about the 1920s. The similarities with the 1920s and the 2020s have only increased my curiosity. The resurgence in the popularity of gin cocktails led me to pick up “Jazz Age Cocktails” by Cecelia Tichi. Having learnt to make the “Bee’s Knees”, a delicious combination of honey and gin which both tastes good and helps ease sore throats, I wanted to learn to make more cocktails!

I anticipated great recipes, and there are, but I didn’t expect such an interesting historical element. Each chapter explains a part of the 1920s American history during prohibition including how liquor was smuggled and made as well as it’s impact on literature, gangs, jazz and more. In 1925, journalist J. A. Rogers announced in Survey magazine that the term “jazz” overtopped the music itself to become “a spirit that can express itself in almost anything… a joyous revolt from convention, custom, authority, boredom, even sorrow – from everything that would confine the soul… and hinder its riding free on the air.” And this is the centre of the creation of, and enjoyment of, cocktails in the 1920s.

I’m looking forward to giving the “Gin Rickey” and the “Cat’s Pajamas” a try soon! If you love this era, cocktails or both, don’t miss out on this wonderful book! It’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NYU Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was not what I expected- it does have cocktail recipes, but it's essentially a history of the cocktail and the people who drank them. My favorite piece is chapter 11- essentially one long list of phrases that mean drunk. Hilarious! Chapter 12 on flight is lovely as well (the intersection of flying and booze is clearly long and storied), and it ends with one of my very favorite cocktails- the aviation. Don't pick this up for the recipes; but if you like the history of drinking this is a lovely addition to your home library (and the pencil illustrations are delightful).

Don’t be confused by the title of this book. Yes, it is about cocktails popular during the Jazz Age, but this is not just a book of cocktail recipes. It is a history book, a book of US social history during the time of Prohibition, with recipes for the cocktails of the day sprinkled throughout. And, that’s a good thing, a very good thing.

Jazz Age Cocktails is well-written, well-researched, and well-illustrated. In the “spirit” of the subject matter, it is not dry or flat, but told with a strong narrative, dropping famous names right and left. I particularly enjoyed the sections giving us a peek in the lives of the lost generation.

I really enjoyed this book. As a long-time middle school English and literature teacher, I loved the chapters that delved into the lives of Ernest Hemingway and his frenemy F. Scott Fitzgerald. I also enjoyed Fitzgerald’s RSVP to an invitation to a cocktail party, where he conjugated the word cocktail as a verb, demonstrating his mettle with the English language.

Cecelia Tichi’s mettle with the English language is also on display with this book, and I look forward to reading more of her work, including her Kate Banning mystery series, perhaps while sipping a Cat’s Pajamas, a recipe that stirred (never shaken!) my interest in Tichi’s latest book.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book.

If you love cocktails and history, you will love this book. I love that many of the cocktails recipe are classics, but I love the additional cocktails that compliment the chapter. I appreciate that the history was not 'sugar coated'; but the 1920's was an impactful time in American history with flappers, literature, and women's suffrage and it was written in a very approachable and fun way. I am looking forward to purchase this book as a Christmas gift.

***Many thanks to #Netgalley for the free digital ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.***

What a fun read! This informative and clever book would make a great gift or additional to a home library.

The recap of a century ago is perfect for a history buff, cocktail aficionado, or a combination of both. The rundown of the prohibition era includes a history lesson on some of my favorite things to learn about - literature, music and feminism. The book was infused with familiar names, but also conveyed ideas new to me. The author includes a special treat - a rundown of Benjamin Franklin's synonyms for drunk.

In addition to the history lesson, the book contains dozens of cocktail recipes - perfect to help "shake up" your drink routine.

My thanks to NYU Press and NetGallery for a free ebook ARC of this title.
Mixed reviews - a strong 4 out of 5 for the cocktail recipes.
A 2 out of 5 for the text. The text is more about the history of the '20's, and only occasionally about the cocktails or Prohibition. Each chapter ends with some cocktail recipes, which are often named after historic individuals covered in that chapter.
Gotta love "The Tommy Gun", which has about a dozen ingredients!
My favorite chapters were on the Rum Runners (boat and auto), which were then followed up by my least favorites. A longish (chapters are *short* in this short book) chapter on aviation, and a chapter that was pretty much just a long quotation from a humor piece on the "Old Soaker" character.
This is part of NYU Press' Washington Mews series, which caters more towards popular culture, and does not have an academic slant to it. Sadly the writing seems geared more towards a HS intro to the period class project, which would be odd, given the emphasis here on cocktails! I was also not a fan of the illustrations, which were rather basic and simple.
But, again, worth it for the cocktail recipes (even if no background for them is given, other than occasionally naming the bartender who invented it), and a nice Bibliography at the end.
I am tempted to read Techi's (prof of English and American Studies at Vanderbilt) book on Gilded Age cocktails.

I loved this book. It was short and sweet, packed with information, and there are a ton of fun cocktail recipes at the end of every chapter.

The Prohibition has always fascinated me, I’ve always thought that it was so crazy that the government just tried to ban alcohol and then it just straight up didn’t work at all. The explosion of organized crime and the loose inhibitions of every class is detailed so well in this book.

Tichi touched on the flapper dancers, the famous authors, the jazz musicians, and just the everyday Americans going about their lives trying to get a drink. She really did a great job of bringing a ton of information about the era to a short book.

The author has another book, Gilded Age Cocktails, that I’m absolutely going to try and find because this one was just so much fun.

Jazz Age Cocktails was such a fun read! I felt transported back to the Prohibition Era, and loved how descriptive and lively Tichi was within the pages of this recipe book! It truly did read more like a novel at times than blurbs within a recipe book for cocktails, and that made it quite the page turner.

My historical nerd heart loved this book! Not only is it super informative, but it's about a period of time the embodies fun. It was nice to learn some history about the era, as well as the cocktails themselves. The illustrations are pretty and the recipes are an added bonus. I especially loved the part with all the slang words for being... inebriated. Throwing a Roaring 20s party will be so much more fun being able to make appropriate drinks from the time period.

Jazz Age Cocktails is equal parts history and drink guide. It offers a unique look at drinks during a very cool time in history, and helps to understand how cocktails have become what they are today. Through recipes and insight, it shines a light on a piece of history forgotten by many. It's a great addition to any bar library.

This book was a super quick read - basically the length of an airplane trip from New Orleans to Connecticut. It read quickly because the chapters were short and were written at a fairly high level. The text gave a great overview of Prohibition Era politics, social issues, and culture. It was tough to tell whether the drink recipes were actually from the Prohibition Era or whether they were modern creations with names related to the Prohibition Era. I suspect it may have been a mix of both because some recipes had ingredients that I doubt were accessible during the 1920s. Byrrh, for example, stopped being sold in the United States during Prohibition and wasn’t reintroduced to the country until 2012. Passion fruit pulp was another ingredient that stood out in my mind as possibly not being available during Prohibition.

Overall, this wasn’t the best or most comprehensive book that I’ve read about the 1920s, but it was a pleasant way to spend an airplane trip. And I haven’t tried any of the cocktail recipes yet, but I will update my review if I do.

This was a digital advance reader copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jazz Age Cocktails covers the history of mixed drinks, prohibition, and dedicated Americans determined to circumvent the rules. There are plenty of cocktail recipes for reliving the age when someone brought you a multi-ingredient refreshment, ushering out the era of serving yourself from the decanter at the sideboard.

Jazz Age Cocktails by Cecelia Tichi
History and Recipes from America’s Roaring Twenties

Glamorous flappers, criminal bootleggers, aspiring authors, male and female pilots, entrepreneurs, and cinema idols fill the pages of this book. Many have signature cocktails assigned to them with the recipes included at the end of the chapter they appeared in. It was an informative and interesting way to read about history. I liked thinking about the history of ice, the idea that prohibiting something would improve life rather than send people after “the forbidden fruit” and thinking about so many other intriguing tidbits I had heard about but forgotten over time.

The twenties were a busy time, a time of growth and progress, and a time that required cunning to provide alcohol during prohibition. It was the era my parents were born and my grandparents scrambling to make a living. I have heard that one of my grandfathers, a farmer, had some hard cider in the barn to sip on from time to time. I had not realized till reading this that what he was sipping might not have been legitimate…or might have been as he was not selling it to others…at least as far as I know.

This is a book I would recommend to those who enjoy cocktails and also might enjoy the history behind the cocktails they are drinking. It would be a fun book to have on hand to try out new cocktails or to use for a theme party or two.

I wouldn’t mind finding this book and the author’s previous book on The Gilded Age that also included cocktails of the era as they would be fun, informative, and a delight to revisit from time to time. The book does not have color photos but does have a few illustrations so if you are looking for a coffee table picture book, this is not the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and NYU Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have always loved a well mixed cocktail and there is nothing like getting a VIP pass into the classics and who that time period changed to the clubs and drinks that we have today. One of the drinks that was popular at the time was the Martini. How do you drinks yours? Dry or Dirty. Shaken or Stirred. Cocktail Onions or Olives? I loved the names of some of the drinks. Like there was one name the Al Capone and even one called the Tommy Gun. It was very fitting for that time period it was created and served. I enjoyed the history and information that was provided. It was the time of Prohibition and Speakeasies. Where passwords were needed to access a whole underground world. It was filled with mystery and danger. It had to be an exciting time to be alive.

Jazz Age Cocktails is essentially a history of the 1920s with cocktail recipes of the time. I originally thought it was only a recipe book, but was intrigued to learn it more of a history book than anything. The author tells readers about the 1920s without getting too heavy on the details. The recipes were classics that would've been enjoyed during the 1920s. I enjoyed the illustrations that were added throughout the chapter, and would've enjoyed the books more had there been more illustrations of the recipes.

I liked how the author discussed events surrounding the 20s and the years leading up to it also. A look into what this era was actually like, using the thoughts/opinions of people during the time.

Each chapter had a few fun recipes for cocktails made popular at the time! I saved a few of them to try. It was a nice book that was a short, quick read overviewing the 20s/30s from beginning to end of prohibition. The end was a bit abrupt and the dates are all blocked out on my review copy which was frustrating.

Overall a decent read if you want old fashioned cocktail recipes with a background history of the people and events that inspired them.

Oh how I love this book!!! It is so full of fun facts and history from my favorite era! I love the associations to Al Capone and Ernest Hemingway from bootleg transport to the development of the speakeasy. This book has so much insight as to how the cocktail became a phenomenon during prohibition and it’s longevity to current day. I’m excited to purchase the hard copy of this book as it’s loaded with 100 year old classic cocktails as well as some less popular and I forgotten.

This was a fun read! I like how is was a mix of history, recipes, and fun facts. It was so fascinating.

Well I was surprised by the amount I enjoyed this book. I figured it would just be a few quick facts about the prohibition and that it would mostly be cocktail recipes. Instead this book is more a history book with cocktail recipes thrown in. (A few I might try). If you want to read about Prohibition Era while drinking a cocktail of the time this is the book.