Category: New York

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
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
Japanese Bartending Technique

(Photo taken at Orgo in 2009)

Last summer when I was in Singapore I had the chance to experience Japanese bartending for the first time. I went to Koffe Bar K, a chain with I think just one outpost in Sinagpore. They do ice ball carving there, though I didn't think to ask to see it. The menu was a giant picture book of mostly-awful looking blue and green drinks, but my friend always orders classics like the Sazerac there. I had the only good Singapore Sling I would drink in Singapore.

Before making the drink, the bartender pulled down all the bottles and set them label-facing the customer. His movements were precise and nearly robotic, as he measured each ingredient and mixed the cocktail while keeping his work station meticulous, pausing to wipe away any stray drop with a white bar cloth. When we finished and got up to leave the bar, the bartender literally ran out from behind his post to go hold the door for us. He asked if we were taking a taxi and ran again out to the curb to hail one for us, again holding the door and bowing ridiculously low as he did so.

Later that week I went to Orgo, a rooftop bar specializing in blended mixto margaritas also run by Japanese barmen. They did a surprisingly good job with what sounded like awful recipes. Here too, a formality was in place with each person behind the bar handling specific tasks and each task having a specific movement associated with it. It's kind of a formal form of flair bartending.

What I remember most about these two bars was not the drinks, but the bartenders and the level of service. There are plenty of bars in the US with ultra-attentive and doting bartenders, most often the bars at fine dining restaurants where the bartender is also your waiter and busboy. I've found most of them to have a friendly, rather than formal, demeanor, and that's just fine with me.

There is a lot that American bartenders can learn (or at least study then decide to dismiss or not) from the Japanese style of bartending. From tricks like carving an ice ball (is this neccesary anymore now that there are machines to do it for us?) to the Hard Shake (a shaking technique that may be more about aeration then it is chilling) to the deft handling of bar tools: are these useful in an American bar (professional or home) or just flair?

I hope to find out. I'm attending a seminar on just that topic in New York on May 3 and 4: Japanese Cocktail Technique.

The seminar features Japan's most famous bartender Kazuo Uyeda of Tender Bar in Tokyo, along with Stanislav Varda, a student of Uyeda who spreads the word of the Hard Shake and other Japanese bartending techniques with his Analog Bar Institute. This will be Uyeda's first time speaking in New York, coinciding with the release of the English language version of his book Cocktail Technique.

Part of the session will be dedicated to technique- making ice balls and learning the Hard Shake- and part to philosophy with topics like "exploring color" and "developing your ability to concentrate." I'm also hoping to learn about the mentor and apprentice programs they have in Japan- people tell me that there are several levels of bartenders working beneath the head bartender and that you have to reach a certain level before you are even allowed to pour water for a customer.

Tickets are available at CocktailKingdom.com for $675 for two days. Yep, it's a lot, so there's that.

April 5, 2010
The Intercontinental Cocktails of Charles H. Baker

I wrote a story in this weekend's San Francisco Chronicle about Charles H. Baker's cocktails and their popularity, centering around the program at Heaven's Dog in San Francisco.

"A hazy memory of a night in Havana during the unpleasantnesses of
1933, when each swallow was punctuated with bombs going off on the
Prado…"

This line by Charles H. Baker Jr. introduces not an account of Cuban
rebellion but the cocktail Remember the Maine, which he was drinking
there while it took place. Baker wrote about drinks from his travels
around the world in the early 1900s, mostly during Prohibition, when
the drinking in the United States wasn't legal – or very good.

Other drinks in Baker's two-volume "The Gentleman's Companion" are
introduced from such ports of call as Beijing, Monte Carlo and Bombay
(now Mumbai), ripe with mentions of princes, peacocks, cruises up the
Nile and hanging out with Hemingway.

Bartenders in particular have latched on to Baker as a patron saint
of good living, and his cocktails and quotes from his writings are both
appearing on drink menus.

"I've always thought that when you have a drink there's so much that
comes with it: your friends, who you're with, the time of the day,"
says Erik Adkins, general manager of Heaven's Dog in SoMa. "And (Baker)
captured all that.."

But for all the excitement about Baker's cocktails, they share an unfortunate common trait.

"I think the recipes mostly need a lot of work," says Adkins.

read the rest of the story here.

In the story I also mentioned the forthcoming coffee/cocktail bar Fort Defiance, in Brooklyn, that should be opening later this month. But that's not the only bar to put Baker back on the menu:

The Brooklyn bar Clover Club dedicated a small section of the menu to what owner Julie Reiner says are Baker’s best cocktails this winter, including the Remember the Maine.

In Portland, Ore., the bar Beaker and Flask, named for the subtitle of one volume of “Gentleman’s Companion,” is set to open. Owner Kevin Ludwig says he’ll be featuring Baker drinks on the menu, though not exclusively.

In Amsterdam, speakeasy-style bar door 74 recently offered several pages of Baker drinks, with the menu letterhead mimicking the Baker’s own.

Baker's globe-hopping cocktail book is now helping those cocktails hop back around the world.

June 8, 2009