Cocktail Questions: A Cocktail Book…About Dogs?

Also, a new newsletter assistant. (It's a dog.)

In this edition of Cocktail Questions:

• A cocktail book about…dogs?

• I have a new newsletter assistant, who is a dog.

Do you have a question about cocktails, bars, booze, home bartending, or something else related to the topics discussed in this newsletter? Send your pithy, clear question to me at cocktailswithsuderman@gmail.com

Suderdrinks. Suderbar. Suderdogs.

Your newsletter is like a great cocktail itself: delicious, balanced, and somewhat personal. I enjoy reading it every week, reference the archive frequently, and am appreciating the addition of the letters sections. I look forward to the picture of your dogs/dog and the caption at the end of every newsletter. I shed a tear or two when Blake passed away and your beautiful tribute to a beautiful dog.

In yesterday's letters, there was a question if you would ever write a book. In your response you noted a new puppy on the way!

Which leads to my question: have you ever considered a "cocktail table" book of the pictures (and captions) of your dogs? Dogs with Suderman, Suderdogs - so many possibilities!

Thank you and thank you!

—Molly

You’re welcome. And thank you, Molly, for the kind words. I miss Blake.

One of the more popular cocktail books in recent years is André Darlington’s Booze and Vinyl, which pairs cocktail recipes with records. It’s fun, the drinks are delicious and reasonably accessible for home bartenders, and overall it’s a great example of a theme-based approach to making drinks. I’m something of a speakers nerd myself, to the point that my close friends will warn you against asking me about my system. So Booze and Vinyl very much appeals to my interests. I own every book in Darlington’s series.¹

Could someone produce a similar book, but for dogs? Booze and Bullmastiffs?

On the one hand, I would greatly enjoy a glossy book that paired pictures of bullmastiffs—mine, especially, but any bullmastiffs, or any dogs at all, really—with matched cocktail recipes and zippy write-ups. I think dogs and cocktails are natural buddies, like Campari and sweet vermouth.

I’m less certain, however, that there’s enough of a market to make such a project viable. That’s not to say that reader interest definitely doesn’t exist. Maybe it does. But the world of book publishing has always befuddled me, even though I know quite a few people who have written books. What sells, what doesn’t, what books editors want…it always seems like a shot of mystery booze. Who knows what the important ingredients are?

Dogs of Substack

What I can say with great confidence, however, is that my new puppy is very, very cute. Yes, I have a new dog. He’ll be appearing regularly in this newsletter, and helping with its production.

His name is Huckleberry—we’re calling him Huck—and he’s about two months old.² He arrived in D.C. on Monday, after a very long drive from Indiana that was made even longer by a travel-crippling snowstorm. (Sincere apologies if I am behind on responding to a message. Unlike Cynar and everything, long drives and email don’t mix.)

Notably, he’s Sybil’s cousin, so I might refer to him as Little Cuz, which will be even funnier in a year or so when he’s bigger than her.

Sybil, the illustrious Big Gal, will remain Executive Dog, with all the responsibilities the title entails.

Huck, meanwhile, will be my junior newsletter assistant, providing moral support, fuzzy warmth, a bit of slobber, and someone to listen to stray thoughts and still-in-development monologues. When his ears perk up, I’ll know I’m on the right track.

He’s already getting used to hanging out at the bar and making drinks. We’ll start with Boulevardiers. But I’ll have him mixing top-notch Cynar-and-banana liqueur cocktails in no time.

Little Cuz Wants to Know What’s On the Menu

Huck is an official bullmastiff, so in addition to his call name, he has a fancy name, and the theme we were given turned out to be…alcohol. I swear this was just luck.

So his fancy dog name is Bastion’s Old Fashioned Boy. He’s going to grow up to be strong, sweet, a little bit spicy, and undeniably classic.

1. He’s also written some nifty cocktail books based on movies, and Batman.

2. He was born on my birthday. It was meant to be.