Focused on seasonality, Bridget Albert embraces the garden-to-glass approach to making great cocktails. If you're going to buy one cocktail book for the cocktail novice or cocktail enthusiast, this is the one. Tiki, the tropical cocktail, often demands upwards of seven hard-to-get ingredients. If you enjoy translating recipe measurements and recreating vintage ingredients, or if you're just looking for a healthy dose of nostalgia, these are excellent places to start. Lynn House, national spirits specialist and portfolio mixologist for Heaven Hill Brands in Bardstown, KY, Jeffrey Morgenthaler's "Bar Book" is my favorite bartender guide to recommend for professional and at-home bartenders. This book is essential for everyone who loves a great cocktail. Author Brad Thomas Parsons hits the nail on the head with the execution of the topic of bitters, both sippers like amari and 'seasoning' bitters like Angostura or Peychaud's. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. Charles Joly,Diageo World Class bartending champion, official bartender for the Oscars and Emmys, and founder ofCrafthouse Cocktails. It goes through everything from building out a home or commercial bar to the intricacies of how different spirits are produced and the histories of some of your favorite cocktails. Wilson gets a little snarky and insider-y at times, but that's part of what makes the book so engaging. It is my go-to tool when charged with designing a new cocktail list or anything bespoke. Check out Michael Dietsch's story on building a vintage cocktail library. He recently released an updated version of his must-have text "The New Craft of the Cocktail." While there is a great deal of technical knowledge shared within these pages, it is an easy read and approachable to everyone, no matter what level of bartending they are at. As David Wondrich says in the book's introduction, "so much of the experience of reading an old book is the physicality of the volume itself: the feel of the cover in your hands, the texture of the paper, the particular size and heft of it. They then teach the reader how to make each of these classics, and then follow up with lessons about modifying the classics. Troy Ali, "Mezcal and Tequila Cocktails" by Robert Simonson, $15.99, available at Amazon, This is a beautiful book with a catchy design that piqued my interest right away. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, The Hands-Down Best Tequila Brands in 2022, 3 Cocktails Thatll Transport You to Bermuda, Chef Richard Blais Creates Rum-Infused Recipes, 30 Best Gifts for Serious Whiskey Drinkers, 15 Wine Subscription Boxes That Suit Every Palate, The Hands-Down Best Single Malt Scotch to Drink, The Best Scotch Cocktails To Serve On Father's Day, Shop Whiskey Peaks Glassware Deals on Huckberry, The 16 Best Alcohol Subscription Boxes of 2022, 16 Best Cocktail Books to Add to Your Bar Cart in 2022, BY ALEX DAY, NICK FAUCHALD, AND DAVID KAPLAN, By Sean Muldoon, Jack McGarry, and Jillian Vose, Get Unlimited Access to Esquire's Cocktail Coverage. It's a super detailed script of how spirits are made. He was the first known Black American to write a cocktail book. Robert Kidd, the head bartender of Wilmington, Deleware brasserie Le Cavalier at Hotel du Pont , told Insider Reviews, "I think it's important that the public and the professionals invest more in books. Less is more! Charles Joly, "The Aviary Cocktail Book" by Nick Kokonas, Allen Hemberger, and Grant Achatz, $85, available at Amazon, "The Aviary Cocktail Book" is not only beautiful but from one of the most innovative chefs and creators in the industry. When the modern craft cocktail renaissance first started back at the end of the 1990s, much of the national dialogue surrounding the resurrection of old recipes and techniques took place on blogs and online forums (as well, of course, as back and forth across the bar.) This book is the quintessential cocktail book that should be in every bartender's library, whether they are a beginner, a seasoned professional, or budding home bartender. In every chapter, the arts and crafts behind each cocktail template are explored, and in the end, youll get to break the rule of classic mixes and improvise your own. It's not for beginners with a low-stocked liquor cabinet, though it may inspire you to grow your bottle collection. Most feature great recipes and are just as iconic and essential as the aforementioned picks. If theres a so-called definitive guide to cocktails, this is it. Here, the historian and writer tackles the entertaining history of the American cocktail via the story of bartender Jerry Thomas. Since Mud Puddle Publishing released the first reprint of the work in 2008, Cocktail Kingdom has released a more substantial version. Ever wanted to impress your friends by knowing that the compound erroneously feared in Wormwood to cause hallucinations is called thujone? Mine is a bit peculiar: It was from watching Tom Cruise in Cocktail. I've always been curious about the "Eastern style" of mixology and this book really opens up the door into it. The bar in the book, The Dead Rabbit, is real, by the way, and this novel is the unheard-of way its owners have decided to present a cocktail menu. It's incredibly meticulous and thorough while being surprisingly approachable to newcomers. Masahiro is an amazing mixologist, and Michael, who I've met on countless occasions, is a wealth of knowledge and an overall great guy. We welcome your feedback. This book was published in 1948 and I believe it is one of the cocktail books every bartender should read at some point in their career. Affectionately referred to as the Historical Oracle, David stays up waaaay past last call to research the nitty-gritty of cocktail and spirits history. Don't judge a bookeven a cocktail bookby its cover. If you're just getting started out in the cocktail world, there are still few books that establish such a solid foundation for understanding how we got to where we are now. Drew Pompa, beverage director at Takoi in Detroit, MI, "The New Craft of the Cocktail" by Dale DeGroff, $18.69, available at Amazon. Page, $22.49, available at Amazon. When it's ready to serve, we then hook it up and dispense it from a draft tower similar to how a beer or cider is dispensed. Masahiro Urushido is the owner and head bartender of Katana Kitten, one of Esquire's Best Bars of 2019. Drew Pompa, At first, "Liquid Intelligence" might feel like you just purchased a college science book; however, I pick it up over and over again when I have a question or searching for inspiration. Anthony Baker, the "Cocktail Professor" and virtual cocktail teacher, "Proof: The Science of Booze" by Adam Rogers, $10.55, available at Amazon, I love "Proof." By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider So having a Tiki cocktail book handy is your best bet. Regan's chart system helps teach how drinks are classified into different categories, which makes it easier to remember how to make certain styles of drink and spin them off into new creations of your own. Get honest reviews on top products & services delivered weekly to your inbox. Yes, it is dense with science facts and fancy equipment that I don't own, but a girl can dream, right? Lynn House, "Liquid Intelligence" by Dave Arnold, $26.21, available at Amazon. This massive tomepacked with over 300 cocktail recipesis really most practical for cocktail bartenders and serious drinkers with flush bars. Wondrich's wit is electric as he digs through dense history, presenting wild and wondrous tales with authority. Lynn House, "The Drunken Botanist" by Amy Stewart, $13.89, available at Amazon. The Ideal Bartender provides a rare view into the pre-Prohibition cocktail renaissance, including 173 recipes and some bartending tips that still remain relevant after a centennial. There's no more important figure in the cocktail revival in New York. Drew Johnson, head bartender at Musket Room in New York City, NY, "The Bar Book" by Jeffrey Morgenthaler and Martha Holmberg, $17.35, available at Amazon. It covers a lot of common-sense material that you don't think about until he points it out. Robert Kidd, "3-Ingredient Cocktails" by Robert Simonson, $15.99, available at Amazon, Author Robert Simonson has put in the work and researched some important categories and cocktails. productslearn more about, The Bartenders Guide: How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon Vivant's Companion, The Essential Cocktail: The Art Of Mixing Perfect Drinks, The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks, And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails, Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits, Spritz: Italy's Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World's First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore, Speakeasy: The Employees Only Guide to Classic Cocktails Reimagined, The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender's Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy, Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas. And this book really lets you in on their innovation while helping you to understand the science behind cocktails a little more. Meehans Manual is simply that, a wealth of bar knowledge written by the award-winning bartender himself. Within, she details the Latin palate, her spins on traditional pisco sour or mojito, and her own invention like the tia mia which is a blend of mezcal, rum, and orange curacao. This book is a fun dive into the bubbly world of the spritz. One of the earlier modern books on bartending was written by King Cocktail himself, Dale DeGroff. The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the Worlds Great Drinks explores the botanical history and science behind the flowers, fruits, and trees that have made their way into our beverageswhether as a production staple or a fun experiment. Be warned the measurements in David's drinks are a bit overkill in some recipes. This former Washington Post spirits columnist brings a more journalistic style of storytelling to the table with Boozehound, a recollection of his adventures in drinks reporting. 15 must-read books for your cocktail library. As America's palate continues to skew towards the unusual, this book will only become more relevant. Any of his works, from 3-Ingredient Cocktails, "The Old Fashioned," "The Martini Cocktail,"and others, are a fine addition to your boozy library Charles Joly, "Market-Fresh Mixology" by Bridget Albert, $28.97, available at Amazon. Lynn House, "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks" by David A. Embury, Robert Hess, and Audrey Saunders, $39.95, available at Amazon. These are the books that helped them develop their knowledge the ones they still reach for when they need a refresher on mixology concepts or inspiration for an original recipe. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. Research at the time was like a treasure hunt as drinkers and bar pros investigated hard-to-find vintage texts and sussed out reality from rumor. Books can be a trusted source for the industry standard when it comes to making drinks.". One of two revered books in Jeffrey Morgenthaler's repertoire, this cocktail book teaches the "Morgenthaler method." His hospitality and cocktails charmed the world. These essentials hail from notable bartending personalities responsible for helping usher in the modern cocktail revolution. Robert Kidd, head bartender at Le Cavalier at Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, DE, It's very good for beginners and showcases all kinds of techniques. Troy Ali, "Death & Co" by David Kaplan and Nick Fauchald, $21.49, available at Amazon, This one is an obvious must-have for any new bartender. Its also a manual on how to drinkup versus on the rocks, shaken versus stirred, in a highball versus lowballat what occasion (Bar? There's more to cocktails than ingredients: There's as much recollection as recipe and as much tale as technique. This cocktail book belongs in a museum: It was originally written and published before the Prohibition era during the jazz age, by Tom Bullock, a former-slave-turned-bartending-for-President-Teddy-Roosevelt trailblazer. ["Imbibe"] reads more like a novel and takes you back to a different time and place when cocktails were just being discovered. You can't have a conversation about spirits and cocktail books without talking about David Wondrich. And the stunning art deco illustrations in the hardcover reprint shall set the 1920s mood. Another must-have for your average home bartender, home cook, and pros alike is "The Flavor Bible." "If you're able to use books for inspiration for a foundational drink, you can always build on the experience from there," said Wael Deek, the beverage director at Alice and Osteria 57in New York City. Most of them still offer cocktail recipes, so you can mix up a cold one while you enjoy a few tall tales. For this reason alone, it's still a must-read. When I was just starting to build a home bar, Speakeasy was one of the most approachable and fun cocktail books I played around with. These are the books for true history buffs seeking an engaging story and in-depth details, presented in less of a "cookbook" format. There're 85 recipes within, covering the classics and the now, but everything is cleanly illustrated from prep to measurements to ingredients. Connie graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in media studies and business administration, which help inform her perspective on and coverage of industry trends, as well as the competitive e-commerce landscape at large. Yours might be more: From a blue martini you had in a Mykonos beach bar, or a $20 mint julep you had at a world-class destination like Death & Co or Katana Kitten. Sign up for Insider Reviews' weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals. You know the NoMad Hotel, right? There's also beautiful photography to boot, and the break-down of generational cocktail techniques that'll get you wonderstruck on "Oh so this is how that works". This one must be on your shelf if you consider yourself any sort of food and drink enthusiast. His seminal work, "Imbibe," changed the world of cocktail writing in the 21st century and unraveled what is thought to be the original cocktail guide, "The Bon Vivant's Companion" by Jerry Thomas. It's a vital tool for any operator. Yeah, hes got quite a resume, and he wrote this tome for classic cocktail recipes when he was at his prime as the barman of The Savoy hotel in Londonstill a mecca for mixologists to this day. Read Every Article Esquire Has Ever Published, How to Get Into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Case for Age Limits in American Politics, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. Not everyone has the opportunity to travel and report on drinks, so why not live vicariously through this book? They explain to the reader that there are essentially six categories of drinks based on six classic cocktails. "The Drunken Botanist" is what I imagine a nerdy bartender retreat in the woods would be like (at least my version of one). Mezcal: The History, Craft and Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit, cocktail literature that's hit shelves in the last 18 months or so, story on building a vintage cocktail library, The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the Worlds Great Drinks, Spritz: Italys Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the Worlds First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore. "The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem" by Sean Muldoon, Jack McGarry, and Jillian Vose, $14.59, available at Amazon. Cocktail books are essentially 101 course textbooks that'll show you how to stack a home bar cart with barware supplies and ingredients. Jim Meehan's Tips for Developing New Cocktails, This Bitter, Spicy Amaro Cocktail Is Like a Dark 'n Stormy for Weirdos, Tippler's Taxonomy: A Guide To Cocktail Categories, Amari 101: Your Guide to Italys Essential Bittersweet Liqueurs, How to Make Cocktails at Home: The Serious Eats Guide to Essential Cocktail Techniques, 25 Classic Cocktail Recipes Everyone Should Know, Easy Cocktails: 35 Simple, 3-Ingredient Drinks to Make at Home. Jeff Bell, managing partner at Please Don't Tell in New York City, NY. Youll be hard-pressed to find a book that is more comprehensive on the subject of alcoholespecially true if you pair this one with the Oxford Companions to Wine and Beer. Stephanie O'Neill, head bartender at Antique Bar & Bakery in Hoboken, NJ, "The Savoy Cocktail Book" by Harry Craddock, $18.93, available at Amazon, My favorite cocktail book is the vintage book called "The Savoy" written by Harry Craddock during his tenure as the barman at the Savoy Hotel, where he goes on to document London high society of the 1930s. Gary Regan was one of the most influential characters in modern-day mixology. This cocktail book is from our own best and brightest, and we only toot our own horn because of our almost 90 years of experience in drinking better. It is especially helpful when coming up with original drink concepts. This is his only cocktail book. Regardless of whether or not rum is your spirit of choice, And a Bottle of Rum offers just the right balance of history, entertainment, and booze, making it an engaging read for all spirits lovers and history buffs. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. And no modern edition of Thomas' book has ever even come close to capturing that, until this one." We surveyed 23 bartenders, beverage directors, and cocktail pros on their favorite cocktail books. [This book] features historical narratives of badass women throughout history and around the globe and pairs them with inspired bespoke cocktails created by female bartenders. The list was short: authors including Dale DeGroff, Gary Regan, and Tony Abou-Ganim were practically the only ones filed neatly on my once-bare cocktail book shelf, and I referenced them often as I progressed into the realm of cocktail mixing and history. Weve rounded up 16 best cocktail books thatll really teach you how, no matter if you're a mixologist who already knows how many corpse revivers there are, or a budding barkeep who've just discovered the ramos gin fizz. Additionally, since our restaurant group has eateries that span to different parts of New York, including Little Italy like Gelso & Grand, we try to preserve that time period and will feature some classics on our menu featured in the book. It can come across a bit pedantic, but in case you haven't got it already: All great mixologists are well-read folks. Gupreet Singh, co-owner and bar manager at Sunday to Sunday in New York City, NY, "The Flavor Bible" by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen A. Amazing drawings and cocktail recipes we still use today.