Category: cocktails

Simple Starter Seedlip Recipes – Non-Alcoholic Cocktails

I make hundreds of non-alcoholic cocktails each year for tech events, at which a fair percentage of event attendees do not consume alcohol. I've made it a policy to have drinks that are of equal quality to the alcoholic ones, and for that Seedlip has come in very handy.

Many people have issues with Seedlip – it's pricey for one, they call it a "non-alcoholic spirit" which annoys people, and more importantly people tend to try it as a gin and put it into tonic water so I think it's mostly a lack of understanding. Trust you me that is not its best use! So below I've put some super simple recipes I often make with Seedlip. These are so good!

In general, I find Seedlip can be a touch perfumy which is both its strength and weakness. The trick to using it is usually to put it up against strong flavored syrups – below I use maple syrup and passion fruit syrup in drinks. But that Daiquiri is just terrific with simply lime and sugar.

Garden Cooler

This is merely a Daiquiri using Seedlip Garden, and it is magnificent – it will convert all skeptics. If I were making something like a Mojito at the event I would toss in some soda water and mint in this recipe much like converting a standard Daiquiri to a Mojito.

1 oz Lime Juice

.75 – 1 oz Simple Syrup

2 oz Seedlip Garden

Shake with ice or just mix together (for events I never shake cocktails but I may add some dilution, this one can take some water)

Pour over ice and garnish with a lime wheel

Passion Punch

This drink pairs Seedlip Spice's "winter spice" notes with passion fruit, much like you can do with Angostura Bitters. If I'm doing an event with drinks served over big 2-inch ice cubes, I'll use this drink as the non-alcoholic "stirred" cocktail despite its ingredients. I'm a huge, huge fan of Small Hand Foods passion fruit syrup so I'd definitely stay on-brand with this if you can.

I used to also add The Ginger People's ginger juice to this drink, but about a year ago their juice started tasting really pasteurized (I assume it is pasteurized, it just didn't taste like it). It's a great improvement to add something spicy against the passion fruit so you may consider an alternative or infusing ginger into Seedlip perhaps?

2 ounces Seedlip Spice

.75 ounce Small Hand Foods Passion Fruit Syrup

.75 ounce Lemon Juice

Shake (or just mix) with ice and pour over a large ice cube. (Regular ice cubes are fine too.)

Garnish with a lemon peel expressed over the top of the drink and dropped in.

N/A Maple Cooler

I make a super popular Rye Maple Sour for events (rye whiskey, maple simple, lemon) and this is my non-alcoholic alternative with a similar taste profile. Honestly it might be better than the boozy version.

1.5 oz Seedlip Spice

.75 oz Lemon Juice

.75 oz Maple Simple Syrup (1:1 with water)

Shake (or just mix) with ice and pour over ice.

Garnish with a lemon peel expressed over the drink and dropped in.

Please give these drinks a try- they not only validate Seedlip, they are delicious on their own and will please drinkers and non-drinkers alike.

November 23, 2019
Aquafaba Experiments Round 3
In previous experiments with aquafaba to replace egg white for froth in cocktails:
I tried chickpea/garbanzo bean water from canned beans, from uncooked and cooked beans, and from chickpea flour both cooked and uncooked.

I found in those experiments that canned water was best for the amount and quality of froth produced, followed by uncooked flour water, followed closely by boiled bean water.

Though I didn't love the taste of unboiled garbanzo bean flour water, I decided to try garbanzo bean flour as a solid – by adding the flour directly to the drink before shaking.

I tried 1/4 teaspoon chickpea flour, 1/8 tsp, amd 1/16 tsp.

I found that 1/16th wasn't quite enough, but 1/8 teaspoon seemed to work just fine. (note this experiment was with vodka and water plus the flour)

One issue with using the flour (rather than water with flour in it that's left to settle as in previous experiments) is that it settles out relatively quickly to the bottom of the glass. That's why I wanted to minimize the amount in the first place.

A second issue is the flavor: though not incredibly powerful, there are notes of raw flour and a slight tannic or metallic flavor.

On the plus side, if only occasionally using an egg white replacement in cocktails, chickpea flour is shelf stable compared with liquid. It might be worth testing to see if the flavor of the uncooked flour and the settling is tolerable.

However if you're hoping to use aquafaba more often or switch to an egg white alternative permanently, I would think you'd want something that doesn't settle in the glass and has less of a flavor impact. For that, I would return to the posts with the technique by Hannes Schmitt or Aquafaba Experiments Round 1 to see a few options.
July 11, 2019
Aquafaba Experiments Round 2
In my previous post I tried some ways to see what preparation method makes the best aquafaba: chickpea/garbanzo bean water used in place of egg whites to make cocktails frothy.

To recap, I found the best aquafaba waters were, in order:
1. From the can
2. Chickpea flour boiled then letting the solids settle off.
3. Cooking water for chickpeas.
In the next set of experiments I wanted to see if I could produce more water in cooking and see if I could use unboiled chickpea flour. So my aquafabas were:
1. Quick-Soaked Beans Cooked for 90 Minutes in Lots of Water: I did the quick soak method this time: I brought the beans to a boil for 3 minutes, then let them soak for 2 hours before discarding the water. This water had only a slight flour aroma.
2. Quick-Soaked Beans Cooked for 3 Hours in Lots of Water. This had a touch of flour aroma.
3. Boiled Chickpea Flour Water: The same sample from the previous experiment. Its aroma was kind of like flour.
4. Unboiled Chickpea Flour Water: I shook some chickpea flour with water in a jar then let it settle overnight. I used only the lightest of this water to minimize solids. It had a fairly yucky "raw" flour aroma.
5. Second Cook Water, from previous experiment: After cooking beans, I reboiled half of them for an additional 30 minutes and kept this water.
For the experiments, I used a Disaronno Sour (2 parts Disaronno to 1 part lemon juice), plus 1/2 ounce aquafaba.

The winners were:
- #4 Unboiled Chickpea Flour Water. The downside to this is that it has the most flavor – I consider it tannic but others might say metallic; plus it's greyish in color compared with the brownish ones.
- #5 Second Cook Water, which was sort of the control. It tasted better than the winner.
- #3 Boiled Chickpea Flour Water. This also tasted fine/neutral.
- Then 1-2, the chickpea water made from long boils with lots of water, didn't produce enough foam to count.
Conclusions:
1. My experiments in boiling less beans for a long period of time failed.
2. Boiled chickpea flour tastes better than unboiled, plus it looks better in the glass. It's not quite as foamy but may be worth the tradeoff.
3. Regular chickpea cooking water is still pretty decent. It would be worth looking at the costs between using dried chickpeas vs the flour.
Future Experiments:

If this chickpea flour is working so well, maybe I should try using the smallest scoop possible I can of it. I did try this previously and found that the solids were too problematic, but it's worth another shot.

I've now tried it and here is the post!
July 10, 2019
Aquafaba Experiments Round 1
After reading the detailed description of making the best aquafaba by Hannes Schmitt from Electric Eel on yesterday's post, I decided I wanted to try some experiments myself to see what makes the best, frothiest, least expensive, least smelly chick pea/garbanzo bean water frother.

Schmitt's method is to hydrate the chickpeas (discarding the water), then cook them (saving the water), then soak them again (keeping the water). You combine the water from the cooking and the soaking together. After my experiments, that looks to be a very good method.

In the first round of experiments I prepared 6 types of chick pea water and made the same drink with all of them:
1. Chickpea Soaking Water: The water used to hydrate dried chickpeas. This was light in color.
2. Cooking Water: The water used to boil chickpeas (about 90 minutes, probably too long). The resulting water the next day was super gloppy, nearly gelatinous. In the future I would boil the beans for less time.
3. Second Cook Water: After cooking the beans, I boiled half of them for an additional 30 minutes and kept this water. This water was also gelatinous the next morning.
4. Post-Cook Soak Water: The other half of the beans after cooking I left to soak with water overnight. This water was lighter in color, with more of a fresh bean aroma than cooked.
5. Canned Chickpea Water (unsalted! make sure to buy unsalted): Traditional aquafaba from the can. Note that I had opened the can previously and transferred the water to another container. It seems to have lost most of the initial farty smell and smelled more like the flour.
6. Boiled Chickpea Flour Water: I have some chickpea flour, which makes great froth if you add a small scoop in a cocktail, but all the solids settle out. By boiling the chickpea flour I was trying to isolate whatever it is in chickpeas that makes good foam. After boiling for about half an hour or so, I placed the water in a tall jug then the next morning poured off the top portion with less solids evident. It had a touch of bean smell but nothing dramatic.
I then made drinks with all these waters: 1 ounce vodka, 1/2 oz simple syrup, 1/2 ounce lemon juice, 1 ounce water (to mimic ice), and 1/2 ounce aquafaba.

In the first picture below, you can tell the relative colors of the bean waters. The cooking water was darkest, while the flour water was milky.

After shaking in a cocktail. (Number 5 had been freshly reshaken as I spilled some so it's a little more dramatic than in real life.) Note that the flour water #6 on the right has a greyish tint.

Results:
- #5 Canned Chickpea Water was the best, densest foam, by a lot. Note that in other experiments I determined the way to minimize the funky bean smell is to use as little of this as possible. I found that 1/2 teaspoon/barspoon is enough.
- #6 Boiled Chickpea Flour Water was second best. It had the airiest foam.
- #2 Cooking Water. This one had some smell but not too intense.
- Then #3 Second cook water, #4 Post-Cook Rinse water
- Then #1 the Soaking Water didn't do much at all.
It seems that Schmitt's method of adding #2 to #4 (cooking water to post-cook soaking water) would combine some very thick water with a lighter one that still has some foaming action to minimize color and aroma.

The second boil water did produce nice foam, though the beans were probably ruined for anything but hummus after that point. But it did make me think about boiling beans for a super long time with more water to see if that would effectively give us more bang for the buck.

This inspired another round of experiments for the next day (and next blog post): Comparing boiled flour vs unboiled, and seeing if I could boil a small amount of rehydrated chickpeas for a long time to get a good aquafaba.

Next Up: Aquafaba Experiments Round 2

and then Aquafaba Experiments Round 3
July 9, 2019
Using Burrata Water in Place of Egg Whites in Cocktails
Last week I received a pitch about the cocktails at Oxalis in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. One drink ingredient stood out to me:

Breakfast Martini, inspired by the classic cocktail and exclusively offered during brunch, this frothy cocktail features burrata water instead of egg white and gomme syrup instead of orange marmalade, in addition to bergamot, gin and citrus.

Burrata Water!

Lately bartenders' attentions are turning to egg white alternatives for cocktails, from aquafaba (chick pea water) to quillaja soap bark foamer to high-tech products with thickeners and emulsifiers. Burrata water would be another second-use ingredient

Oxalis' Beverage Director Piper Kristensen previously worked at Booker & Dax and Bearded Lady before joining Oxalis, which originally launched as a pop-up dinner series in 2016. I sent Kristensen some questions.

Was the burrata water an original idea or did you see it elsewhere first? I hadn't heard of this previously.
- We have been using whey to boost texture for a while. I don't know of anyone using burrata water now, but I think it's statistically impossible for me to have been the first to think of it.
What is the quantity of burrata water needed to replace egg white? So I guess what's one drink's portion?
- We add 1 oz per drink. I tried 3/4oz- wasn't enough.
Where do you get the burrata water? Is it housemade at the restaurant or is the burrata purchased? (I'm wondering if it matters how fresh the water is or if people can use store-bought stuff.)
- We have a duck purveyor named John Fazio who makes the absolute best burrata we've ever had. I've never tried making the drink with grocery store burrata. I assume it would work. The burrata has to be in the water long enough to equilibrate, and the burrata at my local has been in there for a while.
Is burrata water about the same amount of frothy as using egg white?
- For sure. We goofed around with an eggless ramos and got decent stove-pipe. What I like most about it is that it doesn't break down where the surface of the drink meets the foam, like an egg white. There's a clinical line.
Does it have a flavor?
- We introduced it to make a dirty martini because it's got great salinity and a pleasant hint of milk, but the high alcohol system denatured the proteins like egg drop soup. That flavor marries nicely with citrus in a sour. It's not a strong flavor, but it's distinct.
Cool idea! I may give it a try myself.
June 25, 2019
All the Cocktail and Spirits Books Released in 2018, In Consideration for Gifting or Reading

It's the annual Alcademics drink book round-up! These are all the cocktails and spirits books that I know about published in 2018, with a couple of wine and beer books thrown in for good measure. It's over 60 books in total. Read them yourself or give 'em as gifts.

This year there appear to be less overall history books, and more women-centric books, whether history or not. Cocktail recipe books are all quite specific, with several that focus on theory and technique; and these overlap with books designed with the professional bartender in mind.

Get to reading.

Cocktail/Recipe Books

Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned by Alba Huerta and Marah Stets

The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 Recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit by Maggie Hoffman

Tequila Beyond Sunrise: Over 40 tequila and mezcal-based cocktails from around the world by Jesse Estes

Finding Mezcal: A Journey into the Liquid Soul of Mexico, with 40 Cocktails by Ron Cooper and Chantal Martineau

Wild Mocktails and Healthy Cocktails: Home-grown and foraged low-sugar recipes from the Midnight Apothecary by Lottie Muir

Infused Booze: Over 60 Batched Spririts and Liqueurs to Make at Home by Kathy Kordalis

Session Cocktails: Low-Alcohol Drinks for Any Occasion by Drew Lazor and Editors of PUNCH

The Cocktail Garden: Botanical Cocktails for Every Season by Ed Loveday and Adriana Picker

Booze & Vinyl: A Spirited Guide to Great Music and Mixed Drinks by André Darlington and Tenaya Darlington

Doctor's Orders: Over 50 inventive cocktails to cure, revive & enliven by Chris Edwards and Dave Tregenza

Cocktail Italiano: The Definitive Guide to Aperitivo: Drinks, Nibbles, and Tales of the Italian Riviera by Annette Joseph

Clean + Dirty Drinking: 100+ Recipes for Making Delicious Elixirs, With or Without Booze by Gabriella Mlynarczyk

Are You There God? It's Me, Margarita: More Cocktails with a Literary Twist (A Tequila Mockingbird Book) by Tim Federle

The Art & Craft of Coffee Cocktails: Over 80 recipes for mixing coffee and liquor by Jason Clark

Aperitif: A Spirited Guide to the Drinks, History and Culture of the Aperitif by Kate Hawkings

The Joy of Mixology, Revised and Updated Edition: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft by Gary Regan

The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem: The Story of John Morrissey and the World’s Best Cocktail Menu by Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry

Nightcap: More than 40 Cocktails to Close Out Any Evening by Kara Newman

Be Your Own Bartender: A Surefire Guide to Finding (and Making) Your Perfect Cocktail by Carey Jones and John McCarthy

Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions by Alex Day and Nick Fauchald

Winter Drinks: 70 Essential Cold-Weather Cocktails by Editors of PUNCH

Tequila: Shake, Muddle, Stir: Over 40 of the Best Cocktails for Tequila and Mezcal Lovers by Dan Jones

Pickle Juice: A Revolutionary Approach to Making Better Tasting Cocktails and Drinks by Florence Cherruault

The Mini Bar: 100 Essential Cocktail Recipes; 8 Notebook Set by Editors of PUNCH

The Curious Bartender Volume II: The New Testament of Cocktails by Tristan Stephenson

Glamorous Cocktails: Fashionable mixes from iconic London bars by William Yeoward

Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails by Amy Zavatto

Rock Cocktails: 50 rock 'n' roll drinks recipes―from Gin Lizzy to Guns 'n' Rosés

Northern Hospitality with The Portland Hunt + Alpine Club: A Celebration of Cocktails, Cooking, and Coming Together by Andrew Volk and Briana Volk

The Aviary Cocktail Book by Grant Achatz, Micah Melton, Nick Kokonas, Allen and Sarah Hemberger.

The Cocktail Companion: A Guide to Cocktail History, Culture, Trivia and Favorite Drinks by Cheryl Charming

Drink London (London Guides) by Euan Ferguson

Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari: Tenth Anniversary Expanded Edition by Jeff Beachbum Berry

Wine Books

Wild Winemaking: Easy & Adventurous Recipes Going Beyond Grapes, Including Apple Champagne, Ginger–Green Tea Sake, Key Lime–Cayenne Wine, and 142 More by Richard W. Bender

Ten Grapes to Know: The Ten and Done Wine Guide by Catherine Fallis

Wine Food: New Adventures in Drinking and Cooking by Dana Frank and Andrea Slonecker

The Sommelier's Atlas of Taste: A Field Guide to the Great Wines of Europe by Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay

Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails by Amy Zavatto

Spirit Books, Misc.

The Connoisseur’s Guide to Worldwide Spirits: Selecting and Savoring Whiskey, Vodka, Scotch, Rum, Tequila . . . and Everything Else (An Expert’s Guide … and Savoring Every Spirit in the World) by Richard Carleton Hacker

Tabletop Distilling: How to Make Spirits, Essences, and Essential Oils with Small Stills by Kai Möller

The Gin Dictionary by David T. Smith

The Book of Vermouth: A Bartender and a Winemaker Celebrate the World's Greatest Aperitif by Shaun Byrne and Gilles Lapalus

The Curious Bartender's Guide to Gin: How to appreciate gin from still to serve by Tristan Stephenson

Women-Centric Drink Books

Craft Cocktails by Val: Drinks Inspired by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Drinking Like Ladies: 75 modern cocktails from the world's leading female bartenders; Includes toasts to extraordinary women in history by Misty Kalkofen and Kirsten Amann

Liberated Spirits: Two Women Who Battled Over Prohibition by Hugh Ambrose and John Schuttler

A Woman's Drink: Bold Recipes for Bold Women by Natalka Burian

Movers and Shakers: Women Making Waves in Spirits, Beer & Wine by Hope Ewing

Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women
by Jennifer Croll (Author), Kelly Shami (Illustrator)

History Books

A Short History of Drunkenness: How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present by Mark Forsyth

A Thousand Thirsty Beaches: Smuggling Alcohol from Cuba to the South during Prohibition by Lisa Lindquist Dorr

Moonshine: A Celebration of America's Original Rebel Spirit by John Schlimm

A Drinkable Feast: A Cocktail Companion to 1920s Paris by Philip Greene

Beer, Mead, Cider

Mead: The Libations, Legends, and Lore of History's Oldest Drink by Fred Minnick

Will Travel for Beer: 101 Remarkable Journeys Every Beer Lover Should Experience by Stephen Beaumont

Beer: 150 Awesome Facts About Your Favorite Brew by Caroline West

Ciderology: From History and Heritage to the Craft Cider Revolution by Gabe Cook

The Craft Beer Dictionary: An A-Z of craft beer, from hop to glass by Richard Croasdale

Kitchen Brewing: A New, Easier and Quicker Way to Home Brew by Jakob Nielsen and Mikael Zetterberg

Bar, Drinking Culture, and Professional Books

Bars, Taverns, and Dives New Yorkers Love: Where to Go, What to Drink by John Tebeau

Drinking Distilled: A User's Manual by Jeffrey Morgenthaler

I'm Just Here for the Drinks: A Guide to Spirits, Drinking and More Than 100 Extraordinary Cocktails by Sother Teague

Hungover: The Morning After and One Man's Quest for the Cure by Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall

Allergen Awareness: A Chef's Perspective by Myron Keith Norman

Batched & Bottled by Max Venning

The Cocktail Bar: Notes for an Owner & Operator by Chall Gray

Whiskey Books

From Dram to Manhattan: Around the world in 40 whisky cocktails from Scotch to Bourbon by Jesse Estes

Hacking Whiskey: Smoking, Blending, Fat Washing, and Other Whiskey Experiments by Aaron Goldfarb

The Bourbon Bible by Eric Zandona

Whiskey America by Dominic Roskrow

Single Malt: A Guide to the Whiskies of Scotland: Includes Profiles, Ratings, and Tasting Notes for More Than 330 Expressions by Clay Risen

World's Best Whiskies:750 Unmissable Drams from Tain to Tokyo by Dominic Roskrow

Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America by Brian F. Haara

Not enough books for you? Check out:

All the drink books that came out in 2017

All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting

All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting

November 23, 2018
Once Always Almond, Orgeat Has Gone Nutty!

In my new story for SevenFifty Daily, I wrote about how orgeat, the French almond syrup famously in the Mai Tai, is now being made with a range of nuts, seeds, and other ingredients.

The story cites examples from around the country and we come up with a new working definition for orgeat.

Check it out!

April 9, 2018
Black Cocktail Alternatives to Activated Charcoal

In my latest story for SevenFifty Daily I wrote about how to turn cocktails black without using activated charcoal.

While black cocktails may be extremely Instagram-worthy, the activated charcoal often used to give the drinks their inky hue could have serious health consequences. Activated charcoal can adsorb oral medications (and poisons, in the case of drug overdoses, for which it’s commonly used by emergency room doctors) so that the drugs never reach the bloodstream. It’s an uncomfortable fact that the sexy obsidian-colored old-fashioned you serve to a customer may affect the medication that person has taken shortly before, or after, imbibing.

While one could add a medication-interaction warning about activated charcoal, like an allergen label on a drink menu, there are other ways to color a drink black that don’t require a scary-sounding note. SevenFifty Daily asked bartenders around the country for cocktail-darkening alternatives and learned that black sesame seeds, cuttlefish ink, and black food coloring are among the ingredients being used.

The full story is here.

March 23, 2018
The Future of San Francisco Cocktails (Predicted By Me) in San Francisco Magazine

It has been many years since I have contributed to San Francisco Magazine, but now I'm back! In the new February Bars & Nightlife issue, I have ten stories loosely themed around "Future proofing the cocktail: How Bay Area drink makers are reinventing our favorite alcoholic beverages."

Below is the intro with links to all ten stories and brief intros from me.

Two decades into the Bay Area’s cocktail awakening, you’d think that bars would have settled into a comfortable middle age—the imbibing equivalent of staying home to Netflix and chill. But you’d be wrong.

Creativity stirs all over the region, and drink makers and bar owners continue to spin out new ways to stay relevant and keep us guessing: with secret menus, popup concepts, and menu launch parties; with vibrant drinks, exotic ingredients, and bar-specific spirits; with quality concoctions served at double the speed, thanks to newfangled juices and outsourced ice. And to meet the expanding demand for quality, novelty, and expediency in booze consumption, new clusters of great bars have sprung up not just in the East Bay but also to the north and south. These changes are often nuanced but pervasive, taking place across many bars in many precincts throughout the ever-thirsty Bay Area.

Scanning the cocktail horizon, you can spot the big ideas and the small revisions that are changing the way we drink in 2018 and beyond. Here are 10 of them.

Bartenders Are Going Straight to the Source

How bartenders are directing spirits creation from distillers.

Forget The Simple Description: These Are Very Complicated Cocktails

A look into the mind of Adam Chapman from The Gibson.

Wine Country Has An Unofficial Cocktail AVA

Drinks at the fantastic Duke's and other Healdsburg cocktail bars.

The Future (and Present, Actually) Is Female

Who runs the bars? Girls. A sampling of ten women running things in Bay Area Bars.

Asian Restaurants Are the Center of Cocktail Innovation

Once the home of sake bombs and soju immitations of real drinks, now Asian restaurants are some of the most forward-looking.

Viking Drinks Are So Hot Right Now

Aquivit will be everywhere in 2018.

You'll Be Spending the Night in San Jose

Paper Plane and other great bars in San Jose.

Your Highball Intake Is About to Increase Dramatically

Whiskey and other highballs are happening.

Outsourcing Is In

Blind Tiger Ice and Super Jugoso are going to have a major impact on prep work in SF bars.

The Mission Has Only Just Begun

So, so many new bars are opening in the Mission District.

I've already got my next assignment for San Francisco Magazine, so hopefully this will be a regular thing.

February 3, 2018
Almost All the Cocktail and Spirits Books Published in 2017 for Reading or Gifting

Behold! Here is my round-up of all the cocktails and spirits books (plus a few others) that were released in 2017. This year, beyond the annual deluge of whisky books, there are books aping the bartender lifestyle (Drink Like a Bartender, Straight Up), more narrative books (I Hear She's a Real Bitch, By the Smoke and the Smell), and recipe books seeking to simplify the process (3 Ingredient Cocktails, The Imbible, Road Soda) rather than reveal the secrets of complex drinks from top bars.

All in all, another great year for reading about drinking.

The links below are to Amazon.com and if you order from there I get a little percentage from the affiliate program. However if you want to be even more awesome, you can buy my book on the Gin & Tonic too!

Cocktail/Bartender Lifestyle Books

The Drinkable Globe: The Indispensable Guide to the Wide World of Booze by Jeff Cioletti

Distillery Cats: Profiles in Courage of the World's Most Spirited Mousers by Brad Thomas Parsons

The Art of the Bar Cart: Styling & Recipes by Vanessa Dina, Ashley Rose Conway

The Bar Cart Bible: Everything You Need to Stock Your Home Bar and Make Delicious Classic Cocktails

Drink Like a Bartender  by Thea Engst and Lauren Vigdor

The Cocktail Competition Handbook by Andy Ives

Straight Up: Where to drink & what to drink on every continent by Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley

Meehan's Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan

History Books

Mus kets and Applejack: Spirits, Soldiers, and the Civil War by Mark Will-Weber

B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S.: Bars And Saloons, Taverns And Random Drink Stories (Volume 1) by Brian F. Rea

Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft by Shanna Farrell

Bumbershoots: Abridged by Dominic C Pennock

Single Cocktail Books

The Bloody Mary Book: Reinventing a Classic Cocktail by Ellen Brown

The Bloody Mary: The Lore and Legend of a Cocktail Classic, with Recipes for Brunch and Beyond by Brian Bartels

Gin Tonica: 40 recipes for Spanish-style gin and tonic cocktails by David T Smith

Whiskey and Whisky Books

Moonshine Mixology: 60 Recipes for Flavoring Spirits & Making Cocktails by Cory Straub

The Way of Whisky: A Journey Around Japanese Whisky by Dave Broom

The Bourbon Bartender: 50 Cocktails to Celebrate the American Spirit by Jane Danger and Alla Lapushchik

Canadian Whisky, Second Edition: The New Portable Expert by Davin de Kergommeaux

Rum Books

The Curious Bartender's Rum Revolution by Tristan Stephenson

Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World's Spirit by Fred Minnick

Spirit of the Cane by Jared McDaniel Brown and Anistatia Renard Miller

Other Spirits

Mezcal: The History, Craft & Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit by Emma Janzen

AKVAVIT - Rediscovering a Nordic Spirit by Sune Risum-Urth and Rasmus Poulsgaard

Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Book of Bitters: The bitter and twisted history of one of the cocktail world’s most fascinating ingredients by Adam Elmegirab

Brand Books

Hennessy: A Toast to the World's Preeminent Spirit by Glenn O'Brien

Fever Tree: The Art of Mixing: Recipes from the world's leading bars by Fever Tree

Brewdog: Craft Beer for the People by Richard Taylor with James Watt and Martin Dickie

Recipe-Focussed Books

The Imbible: A Cocktail Guide for Beginning and Home Bartenders by Micah LeMon

Let's Get Monster Smashed: Horror Movie Drinks for a Killer Time by Jon Chaiet and Marc Chaiet

Code Name: Cocktail by Vicky Sweat & Karen McBurnie

The Modern Cocktail: Innovation + Flavour by Matt Whiley

Road Soda: Recipes and techniques for making great cocktails, anywhere by Kara Newman

The Poptail Manual: Over 90 Delicious Frozen Cocktails by Kathy Kordalis

The Cocktail Guide to the Galaxy: A Universe of Unique Cocktails from the Celebrated Doctor Who Bar by Andy Heidel

Cooking with Cocktails: 100 Spirited Recipes by Kristy Gardner

The Classic & Craft Cocktail Recipe Book: The Definitive Guide to Mixing Perfect Cocktails from Aviation to Zombie by Clair McLafferty

Boston Cocktails: Drunk & Told by Frederic Yarm

Beach Cocktails: Favorite Surfside Sips and Bar Snacks

A Spot at the Bar: Welcome to the Everleigh: The Art of Good Drinking in Three Hundred Recipes by Michael Madrusan and Zara Young

The Wildcrafted Cocktail: Make Your Own Foraged Syrups, Bitters, Infusions, and Garnishes; Includes Recipes for 45 One-of-a-Kind Mixed Drinks by Ellen Zachos

The Cocktail Hour (L’Heure du Cocktail): 224 recipes Collected by Marcel Requien Presented by Lucien Farnoux-Reynaud

3 Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson

Cocktail Chameleon by Mark Addison

Prosecco Cocktails: 40 tantalizing recipes for everyone's favourite sparkler by Laura Gladwin

New York Cocktails by Amanda Schuster

Good Together: Drink & Feast with Mr Lyan & Friends by Ryan Chetiyawardana

Narrative Booze Books

The Angels' Share by James Markert

Breakfast Tea & Bourbon by Pete Bissonette

Pure Heart: A Spirited Tale of Grace, Grit, and Whiskey by Troylyn Ball and Bret Witter

I Hear She's a Real Bitch by Jen Agg

By the Smoke and the Smell: My Search for the Rare and Sublime on the Spirits Trail by Thad Vogler

Wine Books

Note: I don't really cover wine books and these are just a few of them that came out this year. These are merely the ones that showed up in my mailbox.

The Complete Bordeaux  by Stephen Brook

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker

The Dirty Guide to Wine: Following Flavor from Ground to Glass by Alice Feiring

The New Wine Rules: A Genuinely Helpful Guide to Everything You Need to Know by Jon Bonne

Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region by Peter Liem

Larousse Wine

Beer and Cider Books

Note: Same as wine, this isn't my primary focus but here are a few books.

Best Beers: the indispensable guide to the world’s beers by Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont

Modern Cider: Simple Recipes to Make Your Own Ciders, Perries, Cysers, Shrubs, Fruit Wines, Vinegars, and More by Emma Christensen

Food, and Miscellaneous Related Books

Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating by Charles Spence

Miracle Cure: The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine by William Rosen

Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World by Mitch Prinstein

What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories by Laura Shapiro

The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Clair

Not Enough Books For Ya?

Here are all the books published in the last three years as well.

More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting

All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting

November 30, 2017