It's a world-famous cocktail, traditionally made with Kentucky bourbon: the Old Fashioned.In this week's Ask Caray, we look at the story about the man who popularized the drink.If you live in Kentucky, and are of age, you've probably had an Old Fashioned. The cocktail has been around for more than a century, but a bartender by the name of Tom Bullock helped make the drink famous."He was a bartender in these elite arenas... he had to be able to converse with people," saidBullock entered the bartending world at a time when there weren't many Black people in the profession.It was the early 1900s when he started bartending at the Pendennis Club, an elite private club in Louisville.It's rumored that is where he helped create the Old Fashioned, but that has been debunked given that there are Old Fashioned recipes dating back to the 1800s.Michael Jones, author and historian, spent time researching Bullock and his ties to Louisville.Bullock authored a book called the ideal bartender. He was the first African-American to publish a cocktail book. It featured pre-prohibition cocktails many today have never heard of, like the onion cocktail and the fedora."He is serving presidents and important officials and the same in St. Louis. He captures that jazz age. I think it says cocktails from the jazz age," saidWhen Bullock left his job bartending at the Pendennis Club, he eventually took his talents to the St. Louis Country Club in Missouri. It was there that an encounter with then presidential candidate Teddy Roosevelt made Bullock's bartending skills famous.According to Jones, there was a rumor that Roosevelt was a secret drinker, but Roosevelt denied it."Roosevelt claimed he had only had two mint juleps in the last year... so he got sued for libel because Tom Bullock's mint juleps were so good so he must be a liar," Jones said.Bullock was also known for his Mint Juleps, with two variations being featured in his book.In celebration of the book's 100th anniversary in 2017, Copper & Kings paid tribute to Bullock by instituting "The Ideal Bartender School," which is designed for students to learn the essentials of hospitality in a bar setting, with a focus on spirits education and cocktail creation.Have your own questions to submit?
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It's a world-famous cocktail, traditionally made with Kentucky bourbon: the Old Fashioned.
In this week's Ask Caray, we look at the story about the man who popularized the drink.
If you live in Kentucky, and are of age, you've probably had an Old Fashioned. The cocktail has been around for more than a century, but a bartender by the name of Tom Bullock helped make the drink famous.
"He was a bartender in these elite arenas... he had to be able to converse with people," said
Bullock entered the bartending world at a time when there weren't many Black people in the profession.
It was the early 1900s when he started bartending at the Pendennis Club, an elite private club in Louisville.
It's rumored that is where he helped create the Old Fashioned, but that has been debunked given that there are Old Fashioned recipes dating back to the 1800s.
Michael Jones, author and historian, spent time researching Bullock and his ties to Louisville.
Bullock authored a book called the ideal bartender. He was the first African-American to publish a cocktail book. It featured pre-prohibition cocktails many today have never heard of, like the onion cocktail and the fedora.
"He is serving presidents and important officials and the same in St. Louis. He captures that jazz age. I think it says cocktails from the jazz age," said
When Bullock left his job bartending at the Pendennis Club, he eventually took his talents to the St. Louis Country Club in Missouri. It was there that an encounter with then presidential candidate Teddy Roosevelt made Bullock's bartending skills famous.
According to Jones, there was a rumor that Roosevelt was a secret drinker, but Roosevelt denied it.
"Roosevelt claimed he had only had two mint juleps in the last year... so he got sued for libel because Tom Bullock's mint juleps were so good so he must be a liar," Jones said.
Bullock was also known for his Mint Juleps, with two variations being featured in his book.
In celebration of the book's 100th anniversary in 2017, Copper & Kings paid tribute to Bullock by instituting "The Ideal Bartender School," which is designed for students to learn the essentials of hospitality in a bar setting, with a focus on spirits education and cocktail creation.
Have your own questions to submit?
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