Bar Tool Set (© Photographer: Veronika Trover | Agency: Dreamstime.com)

William Grimes of the New York Times has penned a very enjoyable read about the man who “established the image of the bartender as a creative professional.” The man was Jerry Thomas, and he reigned as the sporting king of all barmen in the latter half of the 19th century.

Much of Mr. Grimes' article draws from information contained in a new book about Thomas from author David Wondrich, “Imbibe!” (Perigee Books). Mr. Wondrich, is the drink correspondent for Esquire. The book's larger-than-llife subject had the itinerant career of many sporting men of the day. His travels led him to bars in New York, San Francisco, St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago and Charleston, S.C. Thomas was so celebrated that while holding sway at the bar of the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco he was getting $100 a week; a higher salary than the vice president of the United States was being paid.

According to the article by Mr. Grimes,

As he wandered, he picked up on the latest developments in the art, inventing new cocktails and building a serious following for his particular blend of craftsmanship and showmanship, epitomized in his signature drink, the Blue Blazer, a pyrotechnic showpiece in which an arc of flame passed back and forth between two mixing glasses.

If you’d like to read the article in the New York Times cited above go to: The Bartender Who Started It All