The lifetime of work behind the incredible new book – The Madrusan Cocktail Companion

There is no doubting the influence that Michael and Zara Madrusan have had on shaping the modern cocktail scene in Australia, and with the launch of their new book – The Madrusan Cocktail Companion – there is no sign of that influence waning.

The book brings a lifetime of experience working in, and establishing, iconic bars and puts it between two covers. The book is an encyclopedic volume of over 2800 recipes, which have been adapted for the modern palate as well as contributions from more than 100 of the world’s best bartenders.

Michael told Bars & Cocktails, that for 20 years he has been working on developing old and classic cocktails and bringing into modern cocktail culture, it’s book he said, that they have thrown the kitchen sink at.

“This was always the book we wanted to write. Before we wrote the first one, it was always about this one, because there was just so much information that we’d collected and compiled. When the publisher agreed to do this book with us, we threw the fucking book at it. We just went for it, and we put everything we could in. So this is our legacy – our opus, if you will. It’s everything.”

In a recent piece for the Wednesday Women series on The Shout, Zara said: “The Everleigh undoubtedly set the bar for classic cocktail culture and personalised drinks service here in Australia 14 years ago and its influence is undisputed.”

The origins for this book lie in a constantly evolving document that lived beneath the bar at The Everleigh: a record of recipes, refinements and discoveries that grew with every shift.

“When it was The Branches document that lived under the bar at The Everleigh, it was this evolving document,” said Zara. “It finished up at about 1800 drinks. Between then and getting the deal over the line to write this, it grew a lot, it almost doubled in size, and we realised we wanted to incorporate as much modern cocktail history as possible and make it quite collaborative.”

That collaboration became a cornerstone of the project. “We brought in over 100 contributors from around the world, all the best in the business,” Zara told Bars & Cocktails. “When we got the opportunity to put it between two covers, we really needed to make sure that it is what everyone could make it.”

The journey from idea to finished book was far from easy. “Eighteen months of full-time editing — it was insane,” Michael said. “The amount of work and fact-checking was probably the biggest part. We had an insanely talented Editor, Matty Hirsch, who was a stickler for detail, getting everything absolutely right. He pushed us harder than we could have pushed ourselves, we are incredibly grateful to him, the Publisher Justin Wolfers and the whole Murdoch team. It was such a commitment, such an investment for them. So we thought, if we’re going to do this book, we’re really going to do it.”

Scrutiny and the modern palate

That commitment to detail flows through every page. “Over the years now, we’ve made the majority of these drinks,” Michael explained. “We had to test out a bunch we weren’t overly familiar with in terms of specs. But when you’ve been in the game long enough, you can look at a drink and understand automatically where you can find the balance.”

That idea of balance and of questioning every recipe underpins The Madrusan Cocktail Companion, as did scrutiny, Michael told Bars & Cocktails.

“You can’t just take a recipe at face value, especially from the older books,” he said. “Balance was considered different back then. Products were different, ingredients were different; everything was different. To look at an older recipe without scrutinising it, you’re selling it short.”

Even the most famous recipes are up for reconsideration Michael explained, including, for example, the Negroni.

“Everybody looks at the Negroni and says ‘equal parts, cool’. But is it equal parts?” he asks. “Campari is nothing like it used to be, and we’re all using different sweet vermouths and different strength gins. So why aren’t we scrutinising even simple recipes like the Negroni? For that reason, our Negroni isn’t in equal parts, because we found a better balance.”

“Scrutiny is great,” he adds. “Take a recipe and use it as a guide. That’s what we’ve done. And then we’ve made every drink in that book, the best way I think that drink can be.”

Rediscovering forgotten favourites

One of the lines in the book says, “there’s every chance you’ll find a cocktail that deserves to be as ubiquitous as a Negroni,” and for Zara, the book is also a chance to highlight lesser-known classics that deserve a wider audience.

“There are so many drinks that people used to come in and enjoy on their journey through Bartender’s Choice at The Everleigh,” she said. “Drinks like The Little Italy. It’s a Manhattan variation with Cynar,  so simple and could be so widely enjoyed if there was more access to a well-balanced version of that recipe.”

She hopes The Madrusan Cocktail Companion helps shine a light on those hidden gems. “What we were doing at The Everleigh wasn’t rocket science. Recipes are all out there in the world. But we need to introduce them to people in a way that’s at the right time for them: showing a really great version of that drink, maybe not the original from the 1850s. There are so many excellent drinks that should be enjoyed more broadly, and I hope that’s what the book does.”

Design, layout and the evolution of technique

Even with thousands of recipes, the Madrusans were determined to make the book easy to use. “We wanted to fit as many drinks on the page as we could,” said Michael. “Going back to the original document under the bar, it was written in one-liners, really quick, but too shorthand for commercial use, so for a commercial product, we had to expand it a little.”

Consistency became key. “If every drink in ‘Sours’ has the same method, you don’t need to write it again,” he explained. “Unless it’s a different glass or with ice, we’ll note that down the bottom. At the start we explain how to make each one, and then we’ve got pages on shaking styles — everything from pebble whipping to cube whipping to dry shaking. There’s a whole bunch of new techniques we’ve been perfecting over the last couple of years that didn’t make it into the original book, but are in this one now.”

Even small technical details have been refined. “We’ve scrutinised our own techniques and methods,” Michael said. “Something like whipping, we found a better way of doing it to get better head retention, using a piece of ice. If there’s a better way of doing something, we’ll do it that way. Don’t get complacent. Constantly revise and challenge your technique and recipes and ingredients. That’s how we’re going to improve and get better over time.”

More than recipes: what makes a great bartender

Despite the encyclopedic scope of The Madrusan Cocktail Companion, Michael is adamant that bartending isn’t just about drinks. “Anyone can make a drink,” he said. “Making drinks is only a portion of the job. This book will help you make the best drinks you can, but if you want to be a great bartender, you’ve got to care about people and you’ve got to care about service.”

“People can forget the drink, but they will not forget how you made them feel. Bartending is all about how you make people feel, and that’s what’s going to set you apart.”

It’s a sentiment that Zara shares.

“There’s a real opportunity to make someone’s night in those little moments,” she said. “When people come to you and they’re prepared to spend $25 and sit in front of you, you have an opportunity to take them away from that world just for a minute and give them a really memorable experience. It’s empowering to remind the upcoming generation that, no matter how bleak things can seem, being in this industry means you have the chance to give people magical, theatrical experiences. How cool is that?”

A book for professionals and home bartenders alike

While The Madrusan Cocktail Companion began life as an industry manual, it’s evolved into something broader. “I reckon it’s two-pronged,” Michael said in terms of who the target audience is for the book.

“It’s a service manual, but also for people who are interested in making drinks. It’s accessible to both the service professional and the home bartender, without having to dumb something down. Home bartenders aren’t treated that way by this book, they’re lifted up because they want to make better drinks.”

Zara agrees, saying: “It was obviously intended initially as an industry manual, but we knew we weren’t going to be able to create what we’ve created without having it straddle a different audience.

“We were quite stubborn about keeping it industry-focused – still speaking to professionals or those aspiring to be. People at the top of their game will still, hopefully, learn something. It needed to be forward-thinking and progressive, but at the same time, accessible to the drinker at home.”

As she puts it: “It’s not the only drink book you’ll ever need, but it’s the last one you’ll buy in a while.”

A living legacy

For the Madrusans, The Madrusan Cocktail Companion is more than a reference, it’s a legacy of everything they’ve learned so far, and a platform for what’s still to come. “This is our opus,” Michael says. “It’s everything.”

For this scribe, this book will become to drinks what Stephanie Alexander’s ‘The Cook’s Companion’ became to foodies. If you’re interested in making drinks at home – or at work – it’s a book you should have in your house.

With its depth, precision and sense of purpose, the book feels like both a culmination and a beginning, a statement on where cocktail culture stands today, and an invitation to keep refining it tomorrow.

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Images and text from The Madrusan Cocktail Companion by Michael and Zara Madrusan, photography by Mark Roper. Murdoch Books RRP $69.99.