Multiple-award-winning author Toni Tipton-Martin is a culinary journalist, a community activist, and the editor in chief of Cook’s Country magazine. She is the author of the forthcoming Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: A Cocktail Recipe Book; Cocktails from Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, as well as The Jemima Code and Jubilee. She is a founding member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and Foodways Texas. 

To delve into more new cookbooks, see LJ's preview here.

Your previous work has been food-focused. What led you to explore mixology?

My work is grounded in all aspects of Black hospitality, not just food and cooking. The Jemima Code and Jubilee celebrate excellence in various culinary professions, from recipe development and food entrepreneurship to mixology and restaurant ownership. Juice is the first of several single-subject books I intend to publish based upon the kitchen wisdom unveiled in those books. All of them honor inventive food-industry hidden figures and ensure that they are not erased from history, while simultaneously inspiring future talents.

Research is a critical part of your work tracing African American foodways. Where do you do the research for your titles?

This work takes place in my library and in my kitchen. The Jemima Code, Jubilee, and Juice are examples of investigative journalism focused narrowly on the topic of Black hospitality. They also focus attention on my ancestors’ recipe development skills, which are often overlooked when Black food professionals are being discussed.

You have a collection of hundreds of African American cookbooks. Have you always loved cooking and cookbooks? When did you start collecting?

My rare-book collection includes more than 450 titles, and they are the primary documentary source for this work. Like a treasure map through time and locale, recipes from 200 years of Black beverages reveal the sips my ancestors made regularly, and they validate the important legacy of Black excellence. I became an accidental collector in the early days of my career when I was looking for real role models from whom everyone can all learn.

If you could travel back in time, who or where would you visit that you came upon while writing Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice?

That’s a hard choice. I want to visit every venue where Black mixology was on display. But if I must choose, I’d say the spaces that cry out to me are in the title of the book. I hosted a book launch party for The Jemima Code in the early days of the Eldorado Ballroom restoration in Houston, and before that, I had the good fortune to create an event that reimagined one of the last spots on the Chitlin’ Circuit—the Victory Grill in Austin. I’d love to see gorgeous Black couples, dressed to the nines, celebrating and overcoming their life struggles in spaces like these, not just experience them through sepia-toned photographs and oral histories.

What is your favorite cocktail from the collection to share with our readers?

I do adore grapefruit drinks, but another drink from the collection that I make over and over because it is such a hit with guests is the Blackberry Smash. It is sweet and refreshing, with a beautiful purple hue. It is an homage to the ornate mint julep creations made by Black bartenders working behind the bar in country clubs.

Tipton-Martin shares a recipe for yet another libation in the julep category, this one starring peaches:

Peach Mint Julep

stirred l serves 1 

Peach Juleps recall a time when nearly every Southern cook stored jars of peach brandy, made from the stone fruit pits, in the root cellar. In his 2022 book Treme: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans, Lolis Eric Elie gathers tips and recipes for new and interesting twists on classic libations from contemporary bartenders. Elie’s Ginger-Peach Julep takes the celebrated mint libation a step further, crafting a fresh-ginger simple syrup to stir into the drink. The recipe also punches up the ginger bite with peppercorns and cloves, which weave in memories of the old Southern-style spiced peaches a friend once brought in a mason jar to welcome us to the Southern Foodways Alliance symposium in Oxford, MS. I love the concept, and as a shortcut, I sometimes muddle the thin slices of a ½-inch piece of fresh ginger along with the mint. The splash of club soda provides some balance. When fresh peaches are not in season, mix this cocktail with Crown Royal Peach whiskey instead of straight whiskey, or substitute a combination of 1½ ounces (3 tablespoons) straight whiskey and ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) peach brandy. Try the recipe as suggested here, then try it with a tablespoon or two of peach puree for a julep in the Bellini style, imagined by Melba Wilson in her book Melba’s American Comfort: 100 Recipes from My Heart to Your Kitchen. Stir it until the cup appears lightly frosted, as if kissed with drops of early morning dew.  

4 to 5 mint sprigs

1 ripe peach slice, about ½-inch thick

2 tablespoons Simple Syrup or Ginger Syrup

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) whiskey

Squeeze of fresh lime (optional)

1 tablespoon club soda or sparkling water (optional)

Crushed ice

1 mint sprig, for garnish  

Remove the leaves from three or four of the mint sprigs. Discard the stems and place the leaves in a julep cup along with the peach slice and simple syrup. Use a muddler or wooden spoon to gently muddle until the mint releases its oils and the peach exudes its juice, about 30 seconds, depending upon the ripeness of the fruit.  

Add the whiskey, lime juice, and club soda, if using. Fill the cup with the crushed ice. Stir until the cup becomes chilled and the drink is well mixed, about 20 seconds. Top with additional ice to form a mound above the rim of the cup. Garnish with the mint sprig and serve with a straw.  

Copyrighted and permission granted by Clarkson Potter.