Bartending guides are like cookbooks, no two are the same and for enthusiasts the collection just seems to grow and grow and you can’t get enough of your favorites. If you’re anything like me, a good bartending book is priceless and - cocktail geek that I am - I’ll read every one of them from cover to cover (including the recipes) and will often read each many times over.
Almost every bartending guide follows the same format: commentary, basic tools and techniques, spirits and mixers and recipes. Despite this “generic” formula, every book is different and the really good ones have some personality to them. I think this is an attribute which the subject itself endorses because it is a casual, fun topic (bartending is not supposed to be serious, right) and the books’ authors are generally very interesting people who have spent a lot of time behind a bar. Even for someone with years of experience behind the bar, the “bartending basics” sections can have something to offer.
Take The Joy of Mixology
for instance, Gary Regan’s smart take on the dissertation on the history of the cocktail begins the journey. Once you get past this intriguing history lesson, you’re plunged into one of the most detailed explanations of bartending theory I’ve ever read. Get through that section (which requires 2-3 intent readings) and finally you get to the recipes, most of which have their own history lessons or commentary. If I was limited to only one bartending guide by some forced submission, this would be my choice because it is not only enlightening and informational, but Regan’s tone is simply entertaining.
One of my other favorites is Dale DeGroff’s The Craft of the Cocktail. Full color images and glossy pages give the book a modern look and the layout, complete with sidebars, makes it an easy, quick reference guide. The recipe section has 500 drinks that are the best of the best and I love the fact that on many of the “standards,” DeGroff includes some amazing variations like the Bloody San: his own rendition with wasabi, rice vinegar and pickled Japanese vegetables that is to die for. Again, history abounds in full-page commentaries and “Cocktail Trivia” snippets scattered throughout. Entertaining, yes: informational, check: a cool book to own, without a doubt.
Stepping away from the “classic cocktail” bartending guide, two books that I’ve found invaluable are Good Spirits by A.J. Rathbun and the newest edition of Cheryl Charming’s The Everything Bartender’s Book. One book is large while the other is petite, both are filled with a wealth of cocktail recipes and both have a sense of wit and real-world advice in the writing and sidebars. Honestly, every time I open one of these I find something that makes me chuckle. Rathbun’s monstrous book is filled with a ton of fantastic recipes and he includes a paragraph of commentary on each, which I always appreciate because to pull that feat off is one that should be respected – not to mention he has a great sense of humor. Charming is just that in every one of her books but Everything is my favorite because it is so comprehensive and if you want to find a recipe that is or has been popular, she’s probably included it in this one. Where the first two books I mentioned are invaluable for classic cocktails, these two are invaluable for modern cocktails.
So, I could give rave reviews about almost every book in my library but when I’m looking for a reference these four are often my first choices and I don’t have that much time today. Is a bartending guide just a bartending guide? No, and that is why many of us have so many in our libraries. If you find one recipe in one book, it’s likely to be different in another, if it’s even there. One book may have the drink’s history while another may just list ingredients. The advice for cutting lemon spirals may be easier to understand in one than another and there may be more emphasis on professional bartending some. I’ve found that every new bartending guide that arrives is just as exciting as the first was because I’m going to learn something new.
