The 25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century

There's no question that how and what we drink has evolved significantly over the past century. Imbibe Magazine's May/June 2010 issue cover story features the 25 Most Influential Cocktails of the Past Century. Compiling that list got us Imbibe editors thinking about the people behind some of those cocktails, so we thought it only fitting to create a list of the 25 most influential cocktail personalities of the last 100 years. For this list, we considered the type of influence someone has had on the cocktail world as well as the duration of that influence--and keep in mind that these are people who have specifically influenced cocktail culture, not spirits. Whether they've created an iconic cocktail, spawned a cocktail trend or dedicated themselves to educating the public about the craft of cocktails, the following 25 people (listed alphabetically) have undoubtedly impacted the way we all drink cocktails today, and for that, we toast each of them.

1 of 25

Tony Abou-Ganim

1 of 26

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Tony Abou-Ganim began his bartending career in 1980, and three decades later, he’s influenced countless bartenders and has built an empire of modern bartending, including a line of bar tools, numerous television appearances and his recently released book, The Modern Mixologist.

Owen Carrignan, Six-Year-Old Who Died, Had E. Coli

LUCKYRICE Festival 2012 Recap

Food Informants: A Week In The Life Of Dave Arnold, Director Of Culinary Technology At The International Culinary Center

Chain Food Showdown: The Best & Worst Buffalo Wings At America's Casual Dining Restaurants

'Stealth' Starbucks: Unbranded Store To Open In Macy's

GoogaMooga 2012: Hamageddon, Fried Chicken Fist Fights And More (PHOTOS)

Tony Abou-Ganim began his bartending career in 1980, and three decades later, he’s influenced countless bartenders and has built an empire of modern bartending, including a line of bar tools, numerous television appearances and his recently released book, The Modern Mixologist.

comments(53)

Total comments: 53 | Post a Comment

1 of 26

Rate This Slide

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Cheers!

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Current Top 5 Slides

loading...

Choose your Top 5 Slides

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

For more of the best of liquid culture, click here.

 

Follow Tracy Howard on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@imbibe

Comments

[Garret Ormonde]

09:41 AM on 06/02/2010

Cheers!

[danmatt]

09:10 AM on 05/27/2010

You left off Mittie Helmich and Poppy Z. Brite

[grailknight]

05:29 PM on 05/18/2010

Where's Mr. Boston?

[CPAwADD]

04:42 PM on 05/30/2010

next to Mr. T on the shelf.

[Mike Milton]

08:37 AM on 05/18/2010

Hey Where is Flighty! I vote for Alberta Straub

[ATCall]

03:46 PM on 05/17/2010

We can thank the entire "greatest generation" for Happy Hour-The 5 o'clock Martini, the office bar, the hip flask, the glove box flask, the ladies nip, the reporters rye...where there's a will there's a way

[Ish and Em]

08:05 PM on 05/21/2010

I'll drink to that!

[strawberrysgirl]

10:07 AM on 05/17/2010

Boooo. No Rachel Maddow? For God's sake, there's even a link to a segment from her show ABOUT cocktail ingredients right there in related news! She's a cocktail maniac, she's made classic cocktails twice on Jimmy Fallon's show and I think she should write a cocktail book sometime, show the men how it's done!!

[RGPSOD]

10:30 PM on 05/25/2010

Exactly! Where's Rachel? Nobody makes a Manhattan like Rachel!

[rich3324]

11:11 AM on 05/16/2010

Where's Nick Charles?

[gilbskg]

12:57 PM on 05/17/2010

He could mix drinks by the music that was playing. I always dreamed I'd grow up to be Nora one day...

[VoodooAcrobat]

02:52 PM on 05/17/2010

I watched "The Thin Man" again just the other night and was amazed at how many drinking scenes are in that film! No wonder Asta was always cowering!

[naschkatze]

11:42 AM on 05/15/2010

Historians and biographers always mention that FDR thought he was a hotshot cocktail mixer, but he really created non-potable messes. I thought you might want a classic non-bartender here too.

[electricladyland]

08:55 AM on 05/15/2010

What we really need is a top 10 list of the stupidest top 10 lists appearing on the Huffington Post.

[whatshappeningtoUSA]

04:07 AM on 05/16/2010

they stole it from "DAVE" it worked for him... they ought to be creative and do Top 9 ! or Top 11!

[edwoodjr]

07:14 AM on 05/15/2010

I didn't see Larry Tate from 'Bewitched' on the list; "Make it a triple, Sam"!!!!!!

[taandersson]

02:19 AM on 05/15/2010

Boothby should be the top of the list.As a Bar Manger, I'm shocked that you wouldn't have him on this list. You should do a little more research.

[creatifvision]

01:09 AM on 05/15/2010

All I care about is who created the mojito. I want to k1ck their @ss. I'd punch them, but my wrists hurt to much already.

[kjallyn]

11:02 AM on 05/16/2010

Ugh, mojitos. And also? Cosmos. There's a spot in San Francisco, I forget the name, that, if someone orders a Cosmo, they give them a bottled Budweiser. When the person says, "Uh, I ordered a cosmo..." They're all, "Yeah, that's how we make'em here." And you have to finish it to get something else. And no, they don't care if people get crabby. They're doing a mitzvah. I should find out where this was and try it.

[creatifvision]

10:16 PM on 05/16/2010

A good friend of mine that works in an upscale joint in Scottsdale has the best mojito line. When people ask if he makes a good mojito his response is "not intentionally"

[kinoptikation]

12:53 AM on 05/15/2010

Rachel Maddow (as seen on TV), bad at cooking, good at cocktails

[RButler]

11:27 PM on 05/14/2010

When I think of booze, I think of George Costanza's fiancé's mother holding a martini glass in her hand most times. She was great.

[johnnygoodwud]

11:35 PM on 05/15/2010

with a cig. in the other hand, and that raspy deep cig. voice.

[HisPetGoat]

10:14 PM on 05/14/2010

Nick G Castrogiovani deserves a mention.

[SBrooksB]

01:49 AM on 05/15/2010

Agreed. Are you from N.O.?

Was so glad to see Chris McMillian in the lineup.

[HisPetGoat]

02:22 AM on 05/15/2010

Yes I am, and I'm happy about McMillian too.

[kjallyn]

11:03 AM on 05/16/2010

I had one of Chris' juleps with the whole presentation once, before they closed the Library Bar. Where's he now?