Martin Doudoroff
@doudoroff.com
Publisher of popular cocktail/tropical drink software, Cocktail Kingdom Librarian, notorious pedant, and fan of Oxford comma. He/him/hey you.
Last night, at a NYC restaurant, we were charged a $5 service fee… for paying our bill. Details: spiritsandcocktails.community/t/hospitalit... The short of it: if you are presented with a QR code to settle your tab, proceed with meticulous caution. #anithospitality #parasites
On the other hand, this year has been the best year for strawberries in my entire life. After decades of mostly meh, I’ve had ready access to terrific strawberries in 2026, and the curious thing is that a lot are coming from Driscoll’s, particularly their organic line. Something has happened.
In these parts (tri-state), this year has not been good for peaches. They’ve varied between mid and bad. I’ve barely seen any nectarines—I presume the crop failed.
These guys are making drums from used bourbon barrel staves from Buffalo Trace; it’s a fascinating new drum design process. www.youtube.com/watch?v=v02j...
This Is How Drums Are Made
YouTube video by Rick Beato
youtube.com
A tidy collection of Eddie Clarke* recipes from the 40s–60s are now added to Total Mixology. Two books in the bibliography and he even has his own keyword. *not to be confused with “Fast” Eddie Clarke of Mötorhead
New recipe for September for Total Tiki Online and Total Tiki (app) customers is live!
New Yorker City cocktail lovers oughta go check out Echo Lake. It’s really not hard to get—a short walk from two L train stops and one G train stop. Good daiquiris, good rums, good alternatives, good food, windows (!), plenty of space, very *civilized*.
Weekday lunch remains on life support in NYC, but Hamburger America is one of the great exceptions.
While I’m talking trash, is it me, or is Fever Tree the saddest excuse for carbonated beverages on the market? For all their marketing reach, their stuff always seems flat to me.
If your web site has any involuntary pop-up or pop-over solicitation that interrupts your visitors, you are trash and should reconsider your life choices. If you have one of those idiotic EU cookie compliance things on your pages, you are also trash. Eliminate the cookies, eliminate the problem.
Nine out of the last seventeen bottles I just had delivered from Astor Wines & Spirits are from the Haus Alpenz portfolio.
Today’s junk mail came in handy: I used it to smash a mosquito in the hallway.
Total Mixology and Total Tiki Online will be *offline* for a chunk of today while we move servers. I apologize for the inconvenience.
New recipe for August is live for Total Tiki Online and Total Tiki (app) customers!
One of the most famous—and notoriously overpriced—liquor stores in New York State
Narrative structure of a Fire Island vacation: - the Train of Hope from Penn Station - the Shuttle Bus of Anticipation (to the ferry) - the Ferry of Joy (to the barrier island) - … bliss … - the Ferry of Sorrows (to the mainland) - the Bus of Regrets (to the train) - the Train of Despair (home)
The far-better-than-it-needed-to-be Don the Beachcomber documentary “The Donn of Tiki” is coming to streaming! apple.co/4xq6V8P If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you do.
The Donn of Tiki - Apple TV
The Donn of Tiki tells the larger-than-life story of Ernest Gantt, better known as Don the Beachcomber, the mysterious adventurer whose singular visio…
apple.co
Introducing The Cocktail Colloquy, an essay series on the state of the Martini. It launches today with a new piece of Martini scholarship by Lowell Edmunds! robertsimonson.substack.com/p/the-cockta...
The Cocktail Colloquy: The Martini Now
The Debut of a New Essay Series by the World's Foremost Martini Scholars. Launching the Series is None Other Than Lowell Edmunds.
robertsimonson.substack.com
Someone posted this vintage nonsense on Instagram for another purpose, but removed from the context of bad science, it kind of encapsulates the human condition. Even the “smartest” amongst us stumble often at reason and judgment, and what greater morons are there than those convinced they aren’t?
New recipe for July live for Total Tiki Online and Total Tiki (app) customers!
I sluggishly infer that the mainstream acceptance of LLMs (“AI”) in daily life is as a substitute for computer literacy?
Very cool new archive online: 5,000 historic American restaurant menus, searchable by location, year, and other settings. One Portland menu supposedly featured "Mount Tabor owls, roasted" (possibly a joke?) which may be a challenge to recreate for contemporary chefs! pudding.cool/2026/06/menu...
5,000 Restaurant Menus, Years 1880-1920
Explore the Buttolph Collection from the New York Public Library's archive of historic menus
pudding.cool
Every flyer in my mail, every unsolicited text message, every unsolicited call (that I mercifully never have to answer), every desperate plea to send money to some campaign is just one more reminder how utterly broken our relationship with democracy is. This is not what I want. 🇺🇸
Inspired by F. Monti, I’m on my third Rum Collins this week, and drifting toward the conclusion it’s the most underrated classic of them all. ¡Viva Cuba!
