George J. Kappeler

George J. Kappeler is remembered as the author of Modern American Drinks; How to Mix and Serve All Kinds of Cups and Drinks, first published in 1895. The book was written for professional bar use and covers a wide range of drinks with straightforward directions, which is one reason it has remained valuable to cocktail historians and enthusiasts.

Contemporary and later reference sources identify him as the head barkeeper at the Holland House in New York, a fashionable hotel of its day. Beyond that, reliable biographical details are scarce, and even basic facts such as his birth and death dates are uncertain.

That mystery has only added to his reputation. What survives clearly is the quality of his work: a concise, practical guide that has come to be regarded as one of the notable bartending books of the late nineteenth century.