David Solmonson and Lesley Jacobs Solmonson not only share a last name and love for cocktails, but also authorship of their new book, The 12 Bottle Bar: A Dozen Bottles. Hundreds of Cocktails.
As avid home bartenders, the husband and wife team became frustrated with the challenges of making drink recipes, which often required, as they stated, “esoteric and expensive spirits you might only use once.”
Thus the birth of 12bottlebar.com and the book that followed. The 12 Bottle Bar was released at the end of July 2014 and quickly rose to the top of the charts on Amazon, hitting number one in Cocktail books and in the Spirits books categories. Since it was published, the book has been featured in Ladies Home Journal, Cooking Light, Imbibe (the leading drinks magazine), Woman’s World, Los Angeles magazine, and numerous on-line outlets including Self and Liquor.com, as well as radios shows including the BBC Food Programme, KCRW, the Splendid Table, and several other NPR stations.
“Our concept is simple: fancy, craft cocktails are expensive,” says David. “We wanted to teach enthusiasts how to make drinks easily and inexpensively in their own homes.”
And The 12 Bottle Bar does just that.
“The 12 Bottle Bar shows you that, with just 12 bottles – 7 spirits, 1 liqueur and 4 ‘mixers’ (2 vermouths, 2 bitters) you can make hundreds of cocktails,” explains David. “If 12 bottles are too many to get your head around at first, you can start with just one and still make sours, punches and drinks like the Old Fashioned.”
“Our goal now is to spread our love of cocktails by teaching others how to make drinks with confidence, helping people set up their home bars, and customizing drinks for people’s special occasions,” adds Lesley. “ Doing events for large groups where we talk about a drink’s or a spirit’s history and making drinks on the spot is one of our favorite things to do. We also continue to run the website and are working on our next book.”
David and Lesley are Santa Clarita residents who have called our community home for the last 13 years. “Our son was born and goes to school here and we love the sense of community. We are often struck by people’s enthusiasm for what we do,” notes Lesley. “To us, it’s the greatest job in the world — making drinks for friends and teaching others to do the same. Cocktails aren’t rocket science; anyone can make them — and have fun doing it — with a little practice and we want to get that message out there.”
You can contact the Solmonsons about speaking events, custom cocktails, and consultation at: drinks@12bottlebar.com.
