“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
It’s clear to see that having a selection of cocktail books is like having a treasure trove of knowledge. From asking a panel of experts through our podcast, we compiled a list of the best cocktail books and bartender guides for you to delve into.
We separated this article into three main sections. Classic Cocktail Books and History, The Modern Bartender and specialist cocktail books.
These books were the first books for bartenders around and have stood the test of time. Each one goes into detail about what it takes to be a bartender and the history of the craft.
These books also contain a large number of drink recipes so you can know your classic cocktails some that date back as far as the 1800s.
The late, great, Gary Regan was instrumental in the American Cocktail renaissance. He was very popular through his drink writing as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and solidified himself as a spirit expert in his radio program “The Happy Hour”.
Though he wrote many books, this was his definitive work and for new bartenders, the best cocktail book to start with.
“A prolific writer on all things cocktails, Gary Regan and his books have been a huge influence on mixologists and bartenders in America. This brand-new edition fills in the gaps since the book first published, incorporating Regan’s special insight on the cocktail revolution from 2000 to the present and a complete overhaul of the recipe section. With Regan’s renowned system for categorizing drinks helps bartenders not only to remember drink recipes but also to invent their own, The Joy of Mixology, Revised and Updated Edition is the original tome for both professionals and amateurs alike.”
– Book Blurb
Dale Degroff is another industry titan who inspired a generation of cocktail slingers, including Dean Callan, of The Dean Callan Show.
In episode 31 of On The Back Bar, Dean explains this to be his go-to book for any gifts or people who want to learn about cocktails.
Degroff, also known as the cocktail king, is another influential figure who helped make the cocktail world what it is today.
“The Craft of the Cocktail was the first real cookbook for cocktails when it first published in 2002, and it has had a remarkable influence on bartending. With this new edition, the original gets a delicious update, bringing expertise from Dale DeGroff, the father of craft cocktails, to the modern bar for a new generation of cocktail enthusiasts. The beloved histories, culture, tips, and tricks are back but all are newly revised, and DeGroff’s favorite liquor recommendations are included so you know which gin or bourbon will mix just right.”
– Book Blurb
David Wondrich the worlds much-loved cocktail historian explores the life of Jerry Thomas, the pioneer of the American bar. It’s a fascinating story of where our understanding of the cocktail world evolved and comes packed with rare and vintage recipes. A true and fun history lesson into the world of Imbibe!
“Cocktail writer and historian David Wondrich presents the colorful, little-known history of classic American drinks–and the ultimate mixologist’s guide–in this engaging homage to Jerry Thomas, father of the American bar.
Wondrich reveals never-before-published details and stories about this larger-than-life nineteenth-century figure, along with definitive recipes for more than 100 punches, cocktails, sours, fizzes, toddies, slings, and other essential drinks, along with detailed historical and mixological notes.”
– Book Blurb
“Meehan’s Bartender Manual is acclaimed mixologist Jim Meehan’s magnum opus–and the first book to explain the ins and outs of the modern bar industry. This groundbreaking work chronicles Meehan’s storied career in the bar business through practical, enlightening chapters that mix history with professional insight. Meehan’s deep dive covers the essential topics, including the history of cocktails and bartending, service, hospitality, menu development, bar design, spirits production, drink mixing technique, and the tools you’ll need to create a well-stocked bar–all brought to life in over 150 black- and-white illustrations by artist Gianmarco Magnani.”
– Book Blurb
“Lavish colour 1930 reproduction of The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock, bartender of the Savoy Hotel in London. It features the most popular cocktails of the time in both breadth and depth, with over 700 recipes. No student of libations should be without this historic book.“
– Book Blurb
Dave Arnold was one of the first drink scientists to publish a book and set the trend. From in-depth chapters on sugar, ice and using tools such as the rotovap. You will want to put on a lab coat and pour your alcohol into science beakers after this read.
“In Dave Arnolds world, the shape of an ice cube, the sugars and acids in an apple, and the bubbles in a bottle of champagne are all ingredients to be measured, tested, and tweaked. With Liquid Intelligence, the creative force at work in Booker & Dax, New York City s high-tech bar, brings readers behind the counter and into the lab. There, Arnold and his collaborators investigate temperature, carbonation, sugar concentration, and acidity in search of ways to enhance classic cocktails and invent new ones that revolutionize your expectations about what a drink can look and taste like. Years of rigorous experimentation and study botched attempts and inspired solutions have yielded the recipes and techniques found in these pages. “
– Book Blurb
The cocktail codex takes a unique look at the family of the six main cocktails that help shape all other creations such as the old fashioned and also the martini. This book is a perfect template for when creating you own creations. this cocktail recipe book is packed with interesting graphics and complex recipes made simple.
“There are only six cocktails. So say Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, and David Kaplan, the visionaries behind the seminal craft cocktail bar Death & Co. In Cocktail Codex, these experts reveal for the first time their surprisingly simple approach to mastering cocktails: the “root recipes,” six easily identifiable (and memorizable!) templates that encompass all cocktails: the old-fashioned, martini, daiquiri, sidecar, whisky highball, and flip. Once you understand the hows and whys of each “family,” you’ll understand why some cocktails work and others don’t, when to shake and when to stir, what you can omit and what you can substitute when you’re missing ingredients, why you like the drinks you do, and what sorts of drinks you should turn to–or invent–if you want to try something new.”
– Book Blurb
Death & Co is a highly influential group of cocktail bars across the states, and their namesake book introduces you to the cocktail recipes that got them to international fame. With nearly 500 recipes this is a beautiful book filled with stunning photography and infographics.
“Featuring hundreds of recipes for signature Death & Co creations as well as classic drink formulas, Death & Co is not only a comprehensive collection of the bar’s best, but also a complete cocktail education. With chapters on the theory and philosophy of drink-making; a complete guide to the spirits, tools, and other ingredients needed to make a great bar; and specs for nearly 500 iconic drinks, Death & Co is destined to become the go-to reference on craft cocktails. Filled with beautiful, evocative photography; illustrative charts and infographics; and colorful essays about the characters who fill the bar each night, Death & Co–like its namesake bar–is bold, elegant, and setting the pace for mixologists around the world.”
– Book Blurb
Rich Woods is, in my mind, the definition of a cocktail chef. Making is name famous in the London drink scene by his complex ingredient use and distillates, he now lays it all bare in this wonderfully written book. The back of the drinks recipe book is filled with how easy to understand recipes of some complex ingredients.
“Meet Rich Woods, a.k.a The Cocktail Guy. At the forefront of the mixology revolution, Rich has been garnering fans and accolades through his creative reinventions of classic cocktails and exciting new drinks, all served with his signature innovative flair.
In this, his first book, Rich unlocks the secrets of making creative cocktails at home, from mastering classic techniques, to flavouring alcohol through simple infusions and more complex distillations and making your own home-made bitters from herbs, spices, fruits and roots. At the centre of Rich s creative process is an understanding and exploration of flavour; from the way it unravels on the palate to new and unique combinations that are designed to surprise and delight.“
– Book Blurb
Matt Whiley is another highly creative cocktail chef with an impressive list of foodie inspired creations. From drinks like the marmite martini and fermented cucumber syrup, this is a great cocktail book to challenge every novice bartender on using everyday ingredients in a complex manner.
“Matt Whiley, AKA The Talented Mr Fox, traces the evolution of the modern bartender against the backdrop of cocktail history with this stylish cocktail recipe book. With more than 60 recipes made from spirit bases including gin, vodka, whiskey, bourbon and cognac, alongside expert advice on equipment and glassware, this is the complete kit to modern cocktail making at home! Learn to make delicious and original cocktails such as the Bangkok Penicillin or the Marmite Martini, Pea Wine or the Rok House Bellini Fermented Cucumber Syrup. From highly acclaimed mixologist and drinks consultant Matt Whiley, this unique cocktail recipe book is the perfect inspiration for creating your own modern drinks cabinet and the perfect how to guide to making delicious and highly creative cocktails from scratch.“
– Book Blurb
“Measuring approximately 12″x10″x2”, and weighing over 8 pounds, this culinary approach to cocktails will be equally at home in your kitchen, your bar, or on your coffee table. Endlessly engaging, this is not a typical Gentleman’s Guide to Cocktails – it’s the definitive word on 21st century cocktails.“
– Book Blurb
These cocktail recipe books are more refined on a certain subject. From a masterclass on Amaro to how plants make the spirits we love, these are the perfect way to vastly expand your knowledge of the beverage world. Let these bartender guides shape your career.
This outstanding representation of Japanese bartending and cocktail culture is a love letter of sorts to the craft from renowned bartender Masahiro Urushido and Michael Anstendig, the Editor in Chief of Hanna Lee Communications. We reminisce about his time in Tokyo carving ice spheres leading up to his current award-winning bar, Katana Kitten. With a number of exciting Japanese inspired cocktails including a guide on how to perfect the highball, this should be on the top of everyone’s list for new books to buy.
“The first cocktail book from the award\-winning mixologist Masahiro Urushido of Katana Kitten in New York City, on the craft of Japanese cocktail making. Katana Kitten, one of the world\x27s most prominent and acclaimed Japanese cocktail bars, was opened in 2018 by highly\-respected and award\-winning mixologist Masahiro Urushido. Just one year later, the bar won 2019 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Best New American Cocktail Bar. Before Katana Kitten, Urushido honed his craft over several years behind the bar of award\-winning eatery Saxon+Parole. In The Japanese Art of the Cocktail, Urushido shares his immense knowledge of Japanese cocktails with fifty recipes that best exemplify Japan\x27s contribution to the cocktail scene, both from his own bar and from Japanese mixologists worldwide. Urushido delves into what exactly constitutes the Japanese approach to cocktails, and demystifies the techniques that have been handed down over generations, all captured in stunning photography. “
– Book Blurb
“Tiki is the endless summer, an instant vacation, a sweet and colourful ticket to paradise with no baggage fees. Romanticized since mid-century but too long overlooked as the province of suburban lodges and family resorts, the tiki cocktail is stepping into its moment with sophisticated spirits lovers, skilled mixologists, and intrepid foodies. In Tiki, Brooklyn-based rum expert Shannon Mustipher brings focus on refreshing flavours, fine spirits, and high-impact easy-to-execute presentation. Dozens of easy-to-follow recipes present new versions of classic tiki drinks along with original cocktails using quality rums, infused and fat-washed spirits, liqueurs, fresh fruit juices, and homemade syrups.“
– Book Blurb
One of our favourite books on the list comes from a botanists journey into how alcohol is made. This well-written book documents the plants, spices and flora that have helped make the world’s much-loved spirits, liqueurs and aperitifs.
“Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet? In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.
Of all the extraordinary and obscure plants that have been fermented and distilled, a few are dangerous, some are downright bizarre, and one is as ancient as dinosaurs—but each represents a unique cultural contribution to our global drinking traditions and our history.
This fascinating concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology—with more than fifty drink recipes and growing tips for gardeners—will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party.“
– Book Blurb
“The European tradition of making bittersweet liqueurs–called amari in Italian–has been around for centuries. But it is only recently that these herbaceous digestifs have moved from the dusty back bar to center stage in the United States, and become a key ingredient on cocktail lists in the country’s best bars and restaurants. Lucky for us, today there is a dizzying range of amaro available–from familiar favorites like Averna and Fernet-Branca, to the growing category of regional, American-made amaro.“
– Book Blurb
Brad Thomas does it again with another deep dive but this time into the world of bitters. This is one of those cocktail books that shares the history and inception of a bartender ingredient often overlooked.
“Part cookbook, part project guide, part barman’s manifesto, Bitters is a compenduim of more than 100 cocktail recipes, featuring traditional favourites as well as gems from author Brad Thomas Parsons’ own repertoire. In addition to the recipes, Bitters sheds light on the history and mystery of the alcoholic infusion’s origins, profiles artisanal producers, gives step-by-step instructions for making customised blends, and offers a dozen food recipes for bitters-infused dishes.“
– Book Blurb
Ivy Mix joined us On The Back Bar podcast in an episode on episode 19 to discuss the launch of her new book, Spirits of Latin America. Ivy is a guru in the world of agave and sugarcane having spent her younger years travelling South America. You can read about one of the cocktails from her book, the pisco sour.
“Through its in-depth look at drinking culture throughout Latin America, this gorgeous book offers a rich cultural and historical context for understanding Latin spirits. Ivy Mix has dedicated years to traveling south, getting to know Latin culture, in part through what the locals drink. What she details in this book is the discovery that Latin spirits echo the Latin palate, which echoes Latin life, emphasizing spiciness, vivaciousness, strength, and variation. After digging into tequila and Mexico’s other traditional spirits, Ivy Mix follows the sugar trail through the Caribbean and beyond, winding up in Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, where grape-based spirits like pisco and singani have been made for generations.“
– Book Blurb
“Tristan explores the origins of whisky, from the extraordinary Chinese distillation pioneers well over 2,000 years ago to the discovery of the medicinal ‘aqua vitae’ (water of life), through to the emergence of what we know as whisky. Explore the magic of malting, the development of flavour and the astonishing barrel-ageing process as you learn about how whisky is made. In the main chapter, Tristan takes us on a journey through 56 distilleries around the world, exploring their remarkable quirks, unique techniques and flavours, featuring all new location photography from the Scottish Highlands to Tennessee. After that, you might choose to make the most of Tristan’s bar skills with some inspirational whisky-based cocktails. This fascinating, comprehensive book is sure to appeal to whisky aficionados and novices alike.“
– Book Blurb
“An inspiring mix of classic cocktail recipes such as bellinis and mimosas, alongside exciting variations and twists, Let’s Get Fizzical offers tips, tricks, presentation ideas, and technical know-how to make your cocktails as sensational for the eye as they are for the palate.
The introductory chapter, A Beginner’s Guide to Bubbles, explains the differences between sparkling wines to help you tell your spumante from your frizzante, or your extra-brut from your demi-sec. Everything you need to know is here, including the low-down on your fizz of choice, whether that’s a budget Cava or a fancy Champagne.“
– Book Blurb
“Wine Folly introduced a whole new audience to the world of wine, making it easy for complete beginners to understand the fundamentals thanks to their straightforward advice, simple explanatory graphics and practical wine-tasting tips.
Now they are back with plenty more eye-catching visuals and easy-to-grasp advice that the brand has become known for. Wine Folly Deluxe comes complete with a fresh look, twice as much information on regions, and a profusion of new and alternative wine styles.“
– Book Blurb
Jesse Estes joined us on the podcast to tell us about his love of Ocho Tequila. He mentioned his father, the late Tomas Estes, who wrote the definitive Tequila book ‘The Tequila Ambassador’ and how he regards it as the ultimate book for agave fans! He does mention the rarity of finding it however which is often why the price is so high. Still, for those wanting to master the way of Tequila, this is your bible.
What did you think of our cocktail book list? Did we leave anything out? We constantly look to improve our content so feel free to drop us an email if you think there is a book we should include! Now you have your books ready why not check our guide to the best bar tools and equipment to buy for home?
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