Post #734642 by Swanky on Thu, Jan 8, 2015 6:57 AM

On 2015-01-08 05:15, rockydog101 wrote:

On 2015-01-08 00:36, swizzle wrote:

On 2015-01-07 12:15, rockydog101 wrote:

On 2015-01-07 11:43, Swanky wrote:

DtB was to mixology what Beethoven was to music or Picasso to art, a great master.

And I think you're completely off base comparing DtB to Beethoven or Picasso. I just find that ridiculous.

Try paying attention to what someone says before YOU make ridiculous comments. Swanky was NOT comparing DtB to Beethoven or Picasso. Read that comment again. They were all masters in their respective fields. Mixology. Music. Art. Apples. Oranges. Bananas.

I paid attention :) I understand you have to jump on the bandwagon to attack the low post count guy who isn't worshiping DtB, but I still completely disagree. Don made some great drinks. But to compare his skill as a "mixologist" to a virtuoso like Beethoven's skill in composing music is just laughable. And how would you compare his skill as a Chinese food chef? Was he the Shakespeare of beef skewers? The Motzart of pupu platters?

Don't get me wrong. I have a lot of DtBs books (I laughed when his "little book" was four inches tall!) and I appreciate his drinks. I just wouldn't call him a master of his field to the same extreme as classical composers. Also, remember this whole discussion is because someone is upset that people simplified a zombie drink. Haha! Excuse us if we can make a tastier drink in half the time!

[ Edited by: rockydog101 2015-01-08 05:34 ]

I obviously do not agree.

It is easy to take things for granted today that are not a given in various fields. We can suppose that if Elvis had not blown the doors off of Rock and Roll someone else would have and we'd be listening to things as we are, but that's hubris. Elvis revolutionized rock and roll. Perhaps by your accounting he was no master either to be compared to Picasso. Or perhaps a genre of art like rock and roll can never be compared to painting or classical music. By that standard then no mixologist would ever compare to Picasso. If that is your viewpoint, then it is pretty narrow and we have nothing to discuss.

I'll assume you then know Don's history, and the history of cocktails in general and what a cocktail meant in 1933 in particular. If you think that a Zombie Punch and a Rum Barrel and a Q.B. Cooler are nothing much to crow about in the context and that it was not any sort of feat to produce those cocktails that people like Martin Cate and Jeff Berry are still emulating today and making international lists of the best bars in the world, then we also have nothing to discuss. That would mean you are thick headed.

If not for the revolution in cocktails created by Donn Beach in 1933, most notably heralded by the Zombie Punch, there would not have been a Trader Vic in 1937. There would not have been a Mai-Kai in 1956. There would not have been a Book of Tiki and most every location that is represented in it. There would not be a Tiki Central.

Now explain to me again how Don's work is not comparable to the great masters and how the Zombie should not be put on a pedestal...