LAST CALL Holiday Special
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LAST CALL Holiday Special
It’s December 20th, and friends and longtime followers know what that means. It’s time to share my annual “Happy Holidays from BTP and Martha” card to commemorate when I appeared on “The Cocktail Party Show” episode of The Martha Stewart Show on Tuesday, December 20, 2011.
From TV Guide
Episode 59: “The Cocktail Party Show”
Tue, Dec 20, 2011 60 mins
Setting up a bar for a holiday party with event planner Bronson Van Wyck; cocktail recipes with "Bitters" author Brad Thomas Parsons; a mixed-nut blend with rosemary and brown butter.
For the first time, I’m sharing some behind-the-scenes insights on how this all came together. My first book, Bitters, was published on November 1, 2011, and I was living in New York and working in publishing at that time. A publishing colleague I know, whose wife was a producer on Martha Stewart, suggested I get him a galley. I was grateful to have a semi-direct connection like that but didn’t think much of it as we moved into the holiday season when most media takes a break.
But then on Thursday, December 15, my publicist Anna Mintz said it was confirmed and we had a date—the following Tuesday. I was informed that Martha would take a copy of Bitters home with her and personally select the two cocktails she’d like me to make live on the air. She picked the Cranberry Crush (a shaken holiday drink with gin, Amaro Ramazzotti, cranberries, and lime) and the Red Carpet Reviver (a low-ABV highball I had made for a friend’s Oscar party), both original creations from me, which was kind of cool. There was a pre-interview Q&A and then a flurry of emails with two different producers going through the punch-list of what ingredients and equipment and glassware would be needed.
Anna was already back home for the holidays so that Tuesday morning I took the subway from Clinton Hill, schlepping a big tote filled with assorted bottles of bitters and homemade syrups and barware to their Chelsea studio for my 8:00 a.m. call time. The other guests were in their dressing rooms with handlers and their on-air outfits hanging in garment bags while I showed up “camera ready.” One of the producers poked her head in to say hello and seemed surprised that I was all alone. “You don’t have anyone with you?” she asked, seeming a bit concerned.