Sazerac’s dedicated Mr. Boston website goes live

The Sazerac Company has launched the Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide website – a comprehensive online edition of the popular red book, featuring more than 10,500 recipes.

Sazerac bought the Mr. Boston brand back in 2009 and immediately started working on the construction of a website.

Known as the ‘Bible of Booze’, the book has now entered the digital age with the launch of www.mrbostondrinks.com, which boasts 10,539 recipes as originally found in the printed series.

To accumulate the recipes, the firm collected as many of the editions of the Bartender’s Guide as it could – at last count 58 of the 75 guides published.

“The Mr. Boston books have covered the evolution of the cocktail in America since Prohibition, but sadly, they were let go over the years,” said Mark Brown, president and chief executive officer, the Sazerac company.

“The ties between our company and that brand are inextricably linked, with not only the Sazerac Cocktail, but our heritage in New Orleans, a city long synonymous with the cocktail culture. It was a natural fit to bring it all together where we are ensuring the future of the brand for at least another 80 years as the ‘go to’ site for professional and amateur mixologists.”

Visitors can search for specific cocktails, and explore bar basics, history and spirits.

Drinks can be searched via by specific ingredients, such as Bourbon, or even by colour. There are also instructional articles and videos on the site ranging from garnish advice to grenadine recipes.

In addition, 12 of the past Mr. Boston editions between 1935 and 2012 have been digitised, giving users the chance to view an original cocktail recipe alongside the modern recipe to see how the drink has evolved over time.

Users can also create their own bar book – favouriting different recipes for future use – and have the opportunity to review each recipe and add commentary.

Future features include a section for rare cocktails, seasonal drinks, a guest editorial section, and a selection of alternative cocktail articles for reference. Sazerac also intends to obtain the remaining 17 missing guides to incorporate into the site.

The company is also considering launching a physical Mr. Boston Homeplace, developing bartender recognition awards, and working with existing bartender training schools.

“We’re very excited to see the culmination of seven years of work come together in this beautiful website,” added Brown.

“We want it to be a true resource for those in the spirts industry and those making cocktails at their home bar.  We intend to keep adding to this site to make it even more robust than it is now.”