For a culinary movement taking place in the digital age, the classic cocktail renaissance is resolutely analog.
While online forums and blogs help connect mixological devotees, the richest vein of information comes in the form of vintage bartending manuals - many published before World War II, the oldest predating Appomattox. With recipes calling for such antiquated ingredients as Boker's bitters and Old Tom gin and anthropological insights into the lost world of 19th century saloons, these guides are inspiring cocktail aficionados born generations later... (story continued)