Recommended Books

Over the years of my obsession, I've amassed a decent collection of cocktail books.  All of these have a unique take on the craft, even where they contain some of the same recipes and recommendations.  Sadly, this doesn't even include my entire collection...

The PDT Cocktail Book - Jim Meehan
PDT (Please Don't Tell) is one of the forerunners of the speakeasy cocktail movement, a standout New York destination for cocktail geeks to this day, and Meehan its core bar manager.  If I had to pick one cocktail book, this just might be it.  Written equally for professionals and enthusiasts, the various chapters of the book cover tools, bar layout, technique, mixers, spirits, seasonal flavor profiles, and an impressive array of recipes.  There are over 300 drinks here, plus mixers, accompanied by stylish illustrations and (importantly) attributions to their original source, to help you further delve into classic cocktail books.

The Joy of Mixology - Gary Regan
This book is getting a bit older, but it's still a great perspective written from the very beginning of the cocktail revival in the US.  It's also mostly for professionals, who made up Regan's main audience at the time, but it still covers in detail many fundamental techniques and principles.  The book also features an impressive, original system of related drink "families" into which Regan classifies contemporary drinks by ingredient.  This not only makes the basic combinations easier to remember, but helps you start to see the relationships between different drinks, and how many recipes are born out of simple substitution.

Speakeasy - Jason Kosmas & Dushan Zaric
This book is written by two of the founders of Employees Only, another influential New York cocktail spot.  It's a beautiful book, with a relatively small but well-curated set of recipes compared to other guides.  It stands out in two major ways.  First, it often presents the authors' reworked versions of classic cocktails alongside the original recipes.  Second, it includes tasting notes for every drink, with descriptions for dryness, mouthfeel, major flavors, and so on that help build your vocabulary and encourage a gastronomic approach to cocktails.

Craft Cocktails at Home - Kevin Liu
One of my favorite cocktail books is also one of the most unusual, with only a handful of actual recipes between its covers.  Instead of a normal bar guide, this is a book written for engineers, gastronomy geeks, and hackers, filled with instructions on how to make stable alcoholic foams and DIY cold-smokers.  Though he starts off with an exploration of very basic tools, Liu quickly turns to charts, graphs, and interviews with flavor scientists to discuss the craft in exhaustive detail.  This probably shouldn't be your first cocktail book, but it's a great way to begin taking your drinks off the beaten path.

Northstar Cocktails - Johnny Michaels & The North Star Bartenders' Guild
Those of you not located in my home state of Minnesota may have trouble finding this one, but I had to throw it in as a point of local pride.  Michaels has a totally unique style (he describes it as "punk rock", if memory serves) and his recipes make liberal use of salt solution, gold leaf, and elaborate garnishes.  Also included are recipes by other members of the North Star Bartenders Guild, a sort of local professional supergroup which includes several folks I'm proud to call former coworkers and compatriots.  Each of them has their own unique approach, which provides even more variety to an already wild selection.  Personally, I love seeing some of my favorite drinks from local bars in print and being able to assemble them without leaving the comfort of my home.

Imbibe! - David Wondrich
Another atypical cocktail book, this one because it's actually a sort of re-write and exploration of the very first cocktail book ever published, all the way back in 1862 by a fellow named Jerry Thomas.  Wondrich's dissection is equal parts historical exploration, professional homage to a great bartender, and practical reorganization of truly old-school cocktail recipes.  Although many of these are virtually unknown today, many have been carried down virtually unchanged, and others form the basis for more contemporary drinks, as well as continuing to inspire today's great bartenders.  This one is indispensable for anyone getting at all serious about cocktails.

The Craft of the Cocktail - Dale DeGroff
Dale DeGroff is truly an icon in the professional cocktail world, and it's not surprising why when you consider that this book was published over 10 years ago, at the very forefront of the modern cocktail revival.  Even now, it stands as a clear, cogent guide written for a general audience, with hundreds of great recipes and entertaining ephemera about many of them.  Though you can find much of this in other, more recent books, this is a great collection, and widely available; you may wish to make it one of your first acquisitions.

The Art of the Bar - Jeff Hollinger & Rob Schwartz
While many of these books were written by New York bartenders, this one comes from the opposite coast, specifically from San Francisco, another major cocktail hub.  This duo has a much lighter, fresher, more seasonal approach to bartending; most of their drinks feature fresh produce or house-made syrups.  It's a bit less straightforwardly organized than other recommended books here, but it's interesting to begin contrasting these differences in style.  Just like studying different culinary traditions, this helps you determine where your own interests lie and what types of drinks you really want to make yourself.

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails - Ted Haigh
This is the first cocktail book that I ever owned (I don't say bought because it was, in fact, purloined from a co-worker who made the mistake of loaning it to me).  It's a ridiculously fun book with a simple premise: a round 100 cocktail recipes unearthed from old, classic guides.  Before being published by the self-styled "Dr. Cocktail", most of these hadn't seen the light of day since Prohibition, and as such they reflect the height of cocktail culture, which today's bartenders are always trying to reconnect with.  Besides which, most of them are damned tasty (and I've tried just about all of them by now) and are recorded with such panache that it's a blast to read even when you've no immediate interesting in making yourself a drink.

The Mr. Boston Bartender's Guide
I end with this one because it's less of a craft cocktail book than it is a simple, solid reference.  This guide has been repeatedly re-printed since 1935, and it's continued to grow through its various editions.  I have the "Platinum Edition" which contains upwards of 1,500 (!) recipes, some older, some more contemporary.  A lot of the drinks are quite simple, with only a handful of ingredients, and some are better covered elsewhere, but this is a fun book to flip through and pick something at random.  If nothing else, it's a good dictionary when someone asks for a drink you've never heard of.

The great thing about today is that new, awesome books are coming out all the time, and I can't help but continuing to add to this collection.  I'll keep tacking on to this list as I amass others that I want to share, or maybe just bit by bit until I've got the my whole bookshelf reviewed.  In any case, stay tuned.