Sammi Katz and her co-author Olivia McGiff have created a vibrant mixology book for both seasoned and newbie drinkmakers. It celebrates the craft of cocktail design, from raw ingredients to finished, delightful refreshments. Each page is fully illustrated with rich, inspiring gouache paintings, making it a visual delight that stands out from other bartender books. This book encourages readers to explore a palette of ingredients for their developing palate.

Join me as I talk with Sammi about the history of cocktails, plus, we’ll get the answer to the age-old question about why James Bond liked his martini shaken, not stirred.

Michael: What is the classic cocktail?

Sammi: Classic cocktails have been around for a really long time. The cocktail is an inherently American invention. I mean, the idea of, of drinking, something like that was maybe English brought over during the American Revolution. The original cocktail was a combination of booze, sugar, water and bitters. For anybody who maybe identify those four things and are like, “Oh, that sounds like an old fashioned.” An old fashioned was the original cocktail. And it was, it started on out under that name, cocktail in the beginning of the 19th century, right. But as drinks continued to evolve, you couldn't just walk into a bar and ask for a cocktail anymore, because then there were other cocktails that kept happening, people started making stuff. So then you'd have to ask for an old fashioned cocktail, which then got shortened to an old fashioned, which is how we know it today. So I think that's pretty interesting is like, the original cocktail is an old fashioned and the fact that we're still drinking them today.

Michael: So why did James Bond want his martini shaken, not stirred?

Sammi: I think this started with Ian Fleming because it just sounds cool. There's literally no reason to shake a martini. This is one of my cocktail hot takes—Don't fill and don't shake a martini. A martini has transparent ingredients. It's just going to be your vodka, your gin or your vermouth. Why would you shake it? Why? I don't know. James Bond just gets to do his own thing. Right? He's James Bond.

About the Co-author

Sammi Katz is a writer and bartender from New York City. She is the author of the new book, Cocktails in Color: A Spirited Guide to the Art and Joy of Drinkmaking. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Daily Beast, and she is the creator of the blog A Girl’s Guide to Drinking Alone in which she reviews NY bars from the perspective of women drinking alone. She loves sharing her enthusiasm for all things cocktails and is always ready for a lively debate about the appropriate garnish for a “Last Word”cocktail and much more.