Gary Regan
(September 18, 1958 – November 15, 2019)
Identified by Imbibe Magazine as one of “The Top 25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century”[1]:
- "With countless newspaper and magazine columns, books and newsletters to his name, Gary Regan is known the world over as one of the most-read cocktail experts around. Whether he’s lecturing at The Smithsonian, conducting workshops or maintaining the Worldwide Bartender Database, he’s helped raise the world’s mixological awareness."
Orange Bitters #6
Orange bitters were once a common ingredient in cocktails, but had fallen by the wayside by modern times. Importantly, they were once a required ingredient for the Martini. Gary, in his search for orange bitters, encountered a recipe published in "The Gentleman’s Companion: An Exotic Drinking Book", by Charles H. Baker, Jr. Using that has a starting point, he gradually worked up a recipe for personal use. He first published it in "The Book of Bourbon" as "Orange Bitters #4".
Later, he teamed up with the Sazerac Company, to try to provide his recipe commercially. It took two more formulations before they could arrive at a recipe which would work, and pass the scrutiny of the TTB (Tax & Trade Bureau). Orange Bitters #6 is now widely available from various sources.
Cocktails In The Country
Cocktails in the Country was a two day bartender training retreat that Gary Regan would hold at Painter's Tavern in his home town of Cornwall-On-Hudson. At these retreats, Gary would share with the small group of attendees (typically 10 per session) his thoughts and approaches on how to be a mindful bartender, how to approach creating a new recipe, and how to approach bartending in a way that will provide the best opportunity for success.
A typical schedule would look something like:
- DAY 1
- 11:00 am:
- Pick-up in Manhattan in a Luxury Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
- 1 pm:
- Arrive at Painters, check in, settle down, get to know each other
2- 5 pm: The Mindful Bartender This will be an expanded session of gaz’s Mindful Bartender Workshop Topics will include: Preparation for a Shift Behind the Stick Tapping into Intuition The Rewards of Mindful Communication Effective BarSpeak Dealing with Anger Changing your Reality Changing the World 5 – 7 pm Break for food and refreshments 7 pm Set up the bar 8 – 11 pm: Organized Chaos Each bartender will be assigned a specific base spirit with which to create new cocktails, and everyone will take a turn behind the bar making drinks for us all to sample. DAY 2 Breakfast: Continental Breakfast at Painter’s or walk (less than 3 minutes) to The Hudson Street Cafe, or Two Alices, for something more substantial. 10 am – 10: 30 am: How to Write a Cocktail Recipe There isn’t just one correct way to write a recipe, but there are definitely hundreds of wrong ways to do it. gaz will guide you through the process of how to write a recipe that’s easy to understand, and will look good to judges if you enter it for a competition. gaz will also discuss his belief that, when it comes to recipes, Nothing is Written in Stone. And he’ll explain why. 10:30 am – 11: 15 am: The Secrets of Success Tips and Guidance on how to get to the top, how to stay there, and how to remain true to yourself, and to the universe 11:15 am – Noon: Mindful Mixology A discussion on recipes, and methods of creating new drinks by using product knowledge and bartender intuition. Noon – 2 pm: Lunch 2 – 5 pm: Organized Chaos A second round of cocktail creation. Each bartender will be given a specific base ingredient with which to create a new cocktail which will be sampled and discussed by all and sundry. 5 pm: Luxury Mercedes-Benz Sprinter back to Manhattan
Books
- The Bartender’s Bible (1991, reprinted 1993)
- The Book of Bourbon and Other Fine American Whiskeys (1995, with Mardee Haidin Regan)
- The Martini: A Postcard Book (1998, with Mardee Haidin Regan)
- The Bourbon Companion (1998, with Mardee Haidin Regan)
- The Martini Companion (1999, with Mardee Haidin Regan)
- New Classic Cocktails (2002, with Mardee Haidin Regan)
- The Joy of Mixology (2003, revised 2018)
- The Bartender’s GIN Compendium (2009)
- The Cocktailian Chronicles: The Professor Years, Volume 1 (2010)
- gaz regan’s annual manual for bartenders (2011, 2012, 2013)
- gaz regan’s 101 Best new Cocktails (2012, 2014 Volume III, 2015 Volume IV, 2016 Volume V)
- The Negroni: A gaz regan Notion (2013)
- The Negroni: Drinking to La Dolce Vita (2015)
- Il gin compendium (Italian Translation 2015)
External Links
- Official website
- gaz/Gary Regan on FaceBook
- gaz/Gary Regan on Twitter
- gaz/Gary Regan on YouTube
- Cocktails in the Country on FaceBook
- The Gaz Regan Negroni Finger Stirrer from Cocktail Kingdom
- Gaz Regan's Letter to Young Bartenders from Tales of the Cocktail (2016)
- Gary "Gaz" Regan on Mentoring, Mindfulness and Maya Angelou from Tales of the Cocktail (2016)
- Columns on SFGate.com
Tributes/Obituaries
- Official Obituary and Funeral Notice
- Imbibe! Magazine
- Food & Wine
- Difford's Guide
- Jeffrey Morgenthaler
- The Spirits Business
- Drinks International
- Bourbon Blog
- The Alcohol Professor
- The Beverage Journal
- NeatPour.com