THE BARTENDER'S
LIBRARY

Abou-Ganim, Tony. The Modern Mixologist. Chicago: Surrey, 2010.
Tony worked in key bars and restaurants in New York City and San Francisco before leaving his mark in Las Vegas as the opening bar manager of the Bellagio Casino. Tony introduced a fresh-ingredient drink program in all the casino’s bars, and his book includes a brilliant guide for incorporating seasonal ingredients in cocktails.

Applegreen, John. Applegreen’s Bar Book or How to Mix Drinks. Chicago: Monthly Press, 1913.
Applegreen worked at the famed Hoffman House in New York and at Kinsley’s in Chicago. In this vest-pocket-size book he recommends wines and spirits to stock, then proceeds with recipes arranged alphabetically by style: cocktails, punches, Collins, rickeys, fizzes, and more.

Arthur, Stanley Clisby. Famous New Orleans Drinks. New Orleans: Rogers Printing Company, 1937.
Few cities are more integral to cocktail culture than New Orleans. The legend and lore of cocktails such as the Sazerac, Ramos Gin Fizz, Vieux Carre, and many more are shared by Arthur, a journalist who wrote numerous books about the city.

Baker, Charles H. The Gentleman’s Companion. New York: Derrydale, 1939.
Baker married rich and traveled the world with a cadre of artists, actors, and socialites. He compiled his early drinking and dining experiences into a handsome two-volume set (one on food and the other on drink) and wrote a column for Gourmet magazine (R.I.P.) called “Here’s How.”

Baker, Charles H. The South American Gentleman’s Companion. New York: Crown, 1951.
A second two-volume set, focused on the wine, spirits, and cocktails of Latin America, is filled with tales of raucous bacchanals and the people who fueled them. Baker may be the most entertaining drinks writer of the 20th century.

Bar La Florida Cocktails. Havana, Cuba: Lloret, 1933.
During the 1930’s, the La Florida Bar published delightful 60- to 75-page booklets with different covers and new drinks that are a blast to flip through. Vintage advertisements for cruise lines, wine, spirits, and various sundries add local color to the mix of classic and Cuban cocktail recipes.

Bebe, Lucius. The Stork Club Bar Book. New York: Rinehart & Co., 1946.
Bebe was a journalist, author, and bon vivant who covered the activities of fashionable New Yorkers in the most popular clubs and restaurants. Recipes are listed between the author’s recollections of the people who made the place famous in the morning, afternoon, and night.

Bergeron, Victor Jules. Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1947.
Less valuable for the hundreds of recipes than for Bergeron’s priceless opinion of spirits, cocktails, customers, and the trials and tribulations associated with running a bar. Trader Vic, as he was nicknamed, ran some of the country’s most celebrated bars during his time.

Bergeron, Victor Jules. Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972.
The revised edition of Vic’s Bartender’s Guide expands upon the foundation he’d built 25 years before with more commentary, illustrations, and recipes. Entire sections devoted to tequila and pisco, among the more familiar classic whiskey and gin recipes, were unprecedented until this edition.

Berry, Jeff. Beachbum Berry Remixed. San Jose, CA: SLG Publishing, 2010.
All of Jeff Berry’s books (Grog Log, Intoxica, and Sippin’ Safari) are entertaining reads and valuable resources. His latest book updates his previous scholarship of the people, places, and drinks that defined tiki culture.

Birmingham, Frederic A. Esquire Drink Book. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956.
Former Esquire editor in chief Frederic A. Birmingham oversaw this compilation of over a thousand recipes to be used by the host of every conceivable party. Whimsical color illustrations by Bill Charmatz adorn the in-depth overview of wine, spirits, beer, and cocktails.

Blue, Anthony Dias. The Complete Book of Spirits. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
The concise historical, cultural, and economic background in Blue’s text-only overview of spirits makes up for the lack of artwork that so many other spirit guides depend on. His emphasis on the categories over the brands is admirable, especially in harder-to-define spirits chapters such as rum and liqueurs.

Boothby, William. World’s Drinks & How to Mix Them. San Francisco: Boothby’s World Drinks Co., 1908, 1930.
The extremely rare 1891 edition of the American Bar-Tender by Boothby and the rare 1908 edition of World Drinks and How to Mix Them were both reprinted with fabulous introductions in 2009. Both books are testaments to San Francisco’s influence during the Golden Age of the cocktail and Boothby’s prodigious travels. The 1930 edition lacks all the great anecdotal information but includes more recipes.

Broom, Dave. The Connoisseur’s Book of Spirits & Cocktails. Italy: Carlton Books, 1998.
England’s Dave Broom is one of the most respected spirits writers in the world. Before his groundbreaking works on rum and whisky, Broom wrote this comprehensive guide to spirits that offers his unique perspective on spirits outside of his contemporary beat.

Brucart, J. S. Cien Cocktails. Madrid, Spain: Self-published, 1943.
This handsome, leather-bound book was published by the head bartender at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid, presumably for his barmen. Each of the cocktails, including the Camparinette, an early Negroni prototype, is annotated with a little information about its provenance.

Bullock, Tom. The Ideal Bartender. St. Louis: Buxton & Skinner Printing &Stationery Company, 1917.
St. Louis Country Club’s head bartender Tom Bullock was immortalized by a libel scandal involving Theodore Roosevelt and the barman’s famed Mint Julep. Bullock’s ultra-rare recipe book is available in its entirety online and in an annotated edition compiled by D. J. Frienz in 2001.

Buzza, George, and Ralph Cardozo. Hollywood’s Favorite Cocktail Book. Hollywood: Self-published, 1930s.
George Buzza and Ralph Cardozo were partners in a Hollywood-based greeting-card company that printed this beautiful book that memorializes the house cocktails of Hollywood’s top hotspots and drinks named after the celebrities that made them famous. The letterpress 50-page book was sold in a handsome box decorated with Buzza’s iconic Art Deco-style line drawings.

Byron, O. H. Modern Bartender’s Guide. New York: Excelsior, 1884.
An extremely rare early bartender’s guide that expands on the format first introduced by Jerry Thomas’s Bartender’s Guide (recipes for drinks, syrups, bitters, and the production of liqueurs). The lack of suggestions for how to serve the book’s many recipes is unfortunate, but the presence of many first appearances, such as the Manhattan and the Martinez, make this book a gem.

Carre, Richard. Leurs Cocktails Par Antoine. Nice, France: L’Union De La Presse Internationale, 1932.
Antoine was the bartender at Maxim’s in Paris. This book includes sketches of famous regulars with hundreds (353) of popular cocktail recipes and a short section of beautiful advertisements in the back of the book. Recipes range from classics to lesser-known creations such as the author’s own Elliod cocktail composed of gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, and peach brandy.

Cecchini, Toby. Cosmopolitan: A Bartender’s Life. New York: Broadway Books, 2003
Famed for popularizing the Cosmopolitan cocktail in the 1990’s and his exploits at his former bar Passerby, Toby is the most articulate bartender of our time. His biographical, first-person narrative offers an intoxicating perspective on the charms and challenges bartenders face on a nightly basis.

Chicote, Pedro. Cocktails. Madrid, Spain: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, 1928.
A 4" by 8" hardbound book that includes an extensive introduction to bar service with a wine and spirits primer. The classics dominate the selection of recipes, but there are many “new” drinks that were likely invented in Spain by Chicote and his bartenders. A fantastic book (especially if you speak Spanish) that is equal parts bartender’s manual and recipe guide written by Madrid’s most celebrated bar owner of the time.

Craddock, Harry. The Savoy Cocktail Book. London: Constable & Co., 1930.
Harry Craddock was a New York City bartender who left during Prohibition to work at the American Bar in London’s Savoy Hotel. His beautiful cocktail book combines recipes from many of the best books published in America before Prohibition with popular European cocktails of the time. This book is widely considered to be the definitive collection of recipes from the Golden Age.

Crockett, Albert Stevens. Old Waldorf Bar Days. New York: Aventine Press, 1931.
The author was a newspaper reporter and longtime regular of the Brass Rail Bar at the Waldorf Hotel, which opened in 1893. The four-sided bar was closed when Prohibition was enacted and eventually cut down and sold. Crockett’s tale breathes life back into the beautiful old bar, nostalgically recalling the good times before Prohibition and the cocktail recipes that helped fuel them.

Curtis, Wayne. And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. New York: Crown, 2006.
Curtis weaves the history of rum into the colonization and formation of our country, using rum cocktails as his lens. Classics such as the Daiquiri, Mojito, and Mai Tai are featured, alongside more archaic libations such as Grog and Punch in this well-written, entertaining tale of our country’s origin.

DeGroff, Dale. Craft of the Cocktail. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2002.
The cocktail program Dale implemented at New York City’s Rainbow Room in 1987 sparked the contemporary cocktail renaissance, which replaced soda guns and artificial ingredients with fresh produce and classic drink-mixing techniques. His groundbreaking first book focuses on history, technique, recipes, and resources for further study.

DeGroff, Dale. The Essential Cocktail. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2008.
DeGroff’s latest book is an in-depth look at the provenance of numerous classic and original recipes. Alongside his detailed observations and historical anecdotes, Dale provides insight into preparation methods, produce, and spirits. Neither an update of his first book, nor a marked departure, The Essential Cocktail focuses on the details that transform good recipes into great drinks.

DeGroff, Jill. Lush Life Portraits from the Bar. New York: Mud Puddle Books, 2009.
Few have enjoyed a better vantage point of bars than Jill DeGroff, who frequently joins Dale when he gives lectures, training sessions, and seminars about cocktails all over the world. Instead of drinking, she occupies her time on the other side of the bar with a paintbrush, a marker, or oil pens, which she uses to sketch many of the colorful figures who have shaped the industry.

Difford, Simon. Difford’s Guide to Cocktails #7. London: Sauce Guides Limited, 2008.
It’s safe to say that no one has visited and reviewed more bars than Simon Difford. Along the way, he’s collected thousands of recipes, reviewed hundreds of spirits, and printed his work alongside some of the most beautiful pictures ever taken of mixed drinks. Almost every year he updates his book with more recipes and brilliant sidebars from his fabulous UK-based magazine, CLASS.

Duffy, Patrick Gavin. The Official Mixer’s Manual. New York: Long &Smith, 1934.
Duffy’s first bar guide is spiral-bound, presumably so readers can lay the book flat while mixing (if your copy is still in good shape after more than 75 years). The chapters are separated into cocktails, punches, coolers, daisies, flips, and more. Duffy tended bar at New York City’s Old Ashland House for many years before Prohibition. The stated purpose of the guide was to share trusted pre-Prohibition recipes from an established barman for the new generation of bartenders to follow.

Duffy, Patrick Gavin. The Official Mixer’s Manual. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1956.
Renowned food personality, cookbook author, and editor James Beard revised Duffy’s Mixer’s Manual in 1956. His additions included recipes for food to serve with cocktails, a spirits glossary, and an updated wine section written by Frank Schoonmaker. The cocktail recipes are divided by base spirit (instead of alphabetically as they were in the original edition).

Edmunds, Lowell. Martini, Straight Up. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
A classics professor at Rutgers University, Edmunds’s book is near the top of the heap of scholarly works on the subject of drinking. Perhaps no drink deserves more focus than the Martini, the most iconic cocktail of them all. By approaching the drink from seemingly every angle, the author comes to some fundamental truths about how it has become one of the most protean, enduring mixed drinks of all time.

Embury, David. The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1948, 1952, 1958.
The first deeply theoretical book about the building blocks of a cocktail wasn’t written by a bartender: David Embury was a lawyer! After forty years of mixing drinks, the author compiled his observations of the qualities of spirits and mixers and the relative merits of their combination. His caustic commentary about vodka, among many other topics, and palate for strong, dry drinks have made him a cult figure in mixology circles.

Ensslin, R. Hugo. Recipes for Mixed Drinks. New York: Self-published, 1916.
Besides being one of the last great cocktail books (self) published before Prohibition and having the first mention of the Aviation recipe, it was the source of over a hundred recipes published in Harry Craddock’s much more famous Savoy Cocktail Book, published in 1930.

Fancy Drinks. Cleveland: Bishop & Babcock, 1902.
A pocket-size recipe book filled with gorgeous detailed engravings of the tavern fixtures sold by the Bishop & Babcock Company. Late 19th-century tavern-fixture catalogs, such as the ones published by Bishop & Babcock and Brunswick Balke-Collender, offer a unique glimpse into the ornate trappings that adorned America’s finest barrooms.

Field, Colin. The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Colin Field’s beautifully illustrated book captures the style and eccentricity of the Hemingway Bar and many of its quirky, well-heeled regulars. Field faithfully transcribes the lineage and origin of each recipe, which spurs the reader to imagine what they must taste like at his bar.

Foquet, Louis. Bariana. Paris: Duvoye, 1902.
A recipe book filled with beautiful engravings of bar tools and machinery that includes 152 numbered recipes, divided into cocktails, short drinks, summer drinks, winter drinks, and punches. Who said seasonality was a modern conceit? The recipes are primarily early American drinks, but there are a number of new French drinks as well.

Fougner, Selmer. Along the Wine Trail. Boston: Stratford, 1935.
The author wrote a column called “Along the Wine Trail” for The New York Sun right after the repeal of Prohibition to reacquaint Americans with wines and spirits: their production and uses. Fougner’s column was serialized into pamphlets focused on wine, spirits, and mixed drinks. The bound version included six vodka recipes, a precedent for the time.

Gaige, Crosby. Cocktail Guide & Ladies’ Companion. New York: M. Barrows & Co., 1944.
Gaige was a theatrical producer on Broadway, a bon vivant and author of numerous books on food and drink. His cocktail guide includes numerous classics and fashionable recipes of the time, alongside witty testimonials from well-heeled foodies including Lucius Beebe, James Beard, and Frank Case.

Gale, Hyman, and Gerald F. Marco. How & When. Chicago: Self-published, 1937.
According to Chicago-based Marco Imports president Abe Marco, this book was published with the help of more than eighty international wine-and-spirits experts to provide readers with reliable information about the service, storing, and purchasing of wines and spirits. The book’s concise definitions of each product and great food and cocktail recipes make it a valuable resource.

Grimes, William. Straight Up or On the Rocks. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Former New York Times restaurant critic William Grimes traces the cocktail’s roots from Colonial times, through the Golden Age and Prohibition, into the 1950s when vodka closed the curtain on classic cocktails. Written years before the modern cocktail renaissance secured a foothold, Grimes’s book nimbly foreshadowed the advances that lay ahead.

Grohusko, Jack. Jack’s Manual. New York: Self-published, 1910.
This book was reprinted five times between 1908 and 1933, a testament to its value before and after Prohibition. The first 22 pages of the 1910 edition define the popular wines and spirits of the day. There are 60 pages of recipes, listed alphabetically, followed by a couple of pages of food recipes and advertisements, including Jack’s own julep strainer. There are a few first printings, including the Brooklyn cocktail and an early version of the Blackjack.

Grossman, Harold J. Grossman’s Guide to Wines, Spirits and Beers. New York: Scribner, 1964.
Close to five hundred pages of information about wines, spirits, cocktails, and bar operation. Charts, tables, illustrations and photographs of old bars, menus, and accounting procedures separate this book from other wine-and-spirits overviews and give the reader a unique glimpse into bars and restaurants in the 1950s and ’60s.

Haigh, Ted. Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails. Gloucester, MA: Rockport, 2004, 2009.
This book helped raise awareness of lesser-known early 20th-century cocktails and the esoteric, extinct ingredients they were mixed with. Haigh and importer Eric Seed are co-responsible for the re-release of historic spirits, liqueurs, and bitters such as Crème de Violette, Pimento Dram, and Swedish Punsch in America.

Hallgarten, Peter A. Spirits & Liqueurs. London: Faber and Faber, 1979.
The author marches through spirits in the first half of the book and sinks his teeth into liqueurs in the latter half. The straightforward, scholastic approach to the topic is characteristic of the books London-based Faber published on wine and spirits in the 1970s.

Hamilton, Ed. Rums of the Eastern Caribbean. Puerto Rico: Tafia, 1995.
Ed’s tale of the trips he made by boat throughout the Caribbean to visit rum distilleries is a pleasure to read. His overviews of each rum, peppered with his savvy opinion, makes for one of the best ways to learn about the spirit save setting sail yourself.

Hannum, Hurst, and Robert S. Blumberg. Brandies and Liqueurs of the World. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
Following a timely, critically acclaimed study of the wines of California, the San Francisco-based authors of this book shifted their focus to spirits. The duo’s classification of liqueurs, the oldest category of spirits, is laudable given the lack of regulation and variety of styles.

Hess, Robert. The Essential Bartender’s Guide. New York: Mud Puddle Books, 2008.
Many of the pioneers of the modern cocktail renaissance met online in chat rooms such as Robert Hess’s famous Drink Boy forum. A Microsoft software engineer by day and champion of the mixed drink online, Hess’s bartender’s manual is one of the first books I recommend to newcomers to the craft. A concise history of the mixed drink, spirits, tools, and techniques is followed by a lengthy annotated selection of mixed drinks.

Jackson, Michael. Whiskey. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Whiskey is beer-and-whiskey writer Michael Jackson’s definitive guide on the subject. In the book, which has hundreds of beautiful photos to bring the distilleries and the people who run them to life, Jackson tackles the subject region by region, after a lengthy primer on production.

Johnson, B. A., and S. P. Johnson. Wild West Bartenders’ Bible. Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1986.
While many were downing Alabama Slammers and Long Island Iced Teas, the authors of this book were researching 19th-century taverns, bar design, classic recipes, and bar operation. The research and recipes in this book went largely unnoticed in the ’80s, which is unfortunate: in the right hands, this could have ushered in the classic cocktail renaissance a little earlier.

Johnson, Harry. Bartender’s Guide. New York: Self-published, 1882, 1888, 1900.
One of the rarest and most valuable 19th-century bar manuals, a facsimile of this book was reprinted by Mud Puddle Books in 2008. Besides first printings of cocktails such as the East India, Johnson’s guide devotes almost 150 pages to elemental bar-operations procedures such as hiring, training, customer service, and cleaning.

Jones, Andrew. The Aperitif Companion. New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1998.
Jones takes on a difficult subject matter to organize, “aperitifs,” and brings order and clarity to the subject. The slender, 200-page guide filled with photographs lists fortified wines, vermouth, bitters, quinquinas, pastis, and more. Production methods, marketing, and historical significance are all discussed in as much depth as the author could gleam from tight-lipped producers.

Jones, Stan. Jones Complete Barguide. Los Angeles: Barguide Enterprises, 1977.
This book, which is out of print, but still regularly available online, is one of very few serious cocktail books published in the 1970s. Jones’s 200-page overview on spirits production and sales, preceding thousands of recipes, represents one of the most prolific works on the subject.

Jordan, Joseph. Simple Facts about Wine, Spirits, Liqueurs as well as the Mysteries of Myriads of Mixed Drinks. Los Angeles School of Bartending, 1937.
A typewritten, detailed account of hints and rules for bartenders, bar checklists, glassware, and standard measures, and an extensive 40-page lexicon of beverage styles and brands of mineral waters, wines, and spirits. There are 150 cocktail recipes, including an early mention of the Rusty Nail and a number of tropical cocktails such as the Singapore Sling and Zombie Punch.

Judge Jr. Here’s How. New York: John Day, 1927.
This slim three-by-five-inch cocktail book, published in New York during Prohibition, seems like nothing more than another beautiful trinket from the ’20s until the famous French 75 shows up for the first time in print on page 36. Closer examination reveals the Applejack Rabbit’s first appearance and numerous other interesting recipes printed with witty annotations.

Kappeler, George J. Modern American Drinks. New York: The Merriam Company, 1895.
The author presided over the bar in New York City’s famed Holland House, which must have been a fantastic place to drink based on the recipes included in this book. The level of detail in Kappeler’s recipes, which include new drinks such as the Widow’s Kiss and the Liberal, gives the reader a glimpse of the precision required to mix popular drinks of the time.

Lasa, Juan A. Libro de Cocktail. Havana, Cuba: Self-published, 1929.
A thin pamphlet, roughly three by seven inches and fifty pages long; half the book is in English and the other half is in Spanish. The breakdown of recipes is predominantly classic with a heavy emphasis on early Cuban cocktails. The pamphlet is unremarkable, save for a recipe for the Rum Mojo, the earliest printed Mojito recipe.

Lowe, Paul. Drinks As They Are Mixed. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake and Co., 1904.
This book has the same introduction—almost word for word—as the much better known ABC of Mixing Cocktails, written almost twenty years later. It even has the same color cover and lettered tabs for quick reference. McElhone was a good judge: on top of its convenient size, Lowe’s book is filled with the leading drink recipes of the time and has an extensive index of suggestions for service, toasts, and recipes for making your own sodas, syrups, liqueurs, cordials, and bitters.

Mario, Thomas. Playboy’s Host & Bar Book. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1971.
Look no further to discover how far the craft of the cocktail fell during the Cold War: Day-Glo drinks brimmed with fruit being sipped by a crowd that must have seemed square back in this turbulent time in American history. Despite the drinks, Mario’s party-planning suggestions are laudable.

Marshall, Hugh D. Trinidad & Other Cocktails. Port of Spain, Trinidad: Queen’s Park Hotel, 1932.
A thin pamphlet from the long bar at the Queen’s Park Hotel in Trinidad. Marshall wrote it with the support of Angostura Bitters, Canning’s 5-yearold Caroni Rum from Trinidad, and Canadian Club Whiskey. Besides the sponsor’s recipes, there are a number of classics. The famous Queens Park Green Swizzle is mentioned, but the recipe is not divulged.

Masson, Jeff, and Greg Boehm. The Big Bartender’s Book. New York: Mud Puddle Books, 2009.
Authored by two of the most accomplished cocktail-book collectors in the world, Jeff and Greg compiled over a thousand modern and historic recipes for this volume. The recipes are listed in both ounces and milliliters, and many include the first place the recipe was printed or the recipe’s creator.

McElhone, Harry. ABC of Mixing Cocktails. London: Odhams Press, 1922.
An experienced bartender and successful bar owner, McElhone covers the bartender’s roles and responsibilities in the first ten pages, then dives into an A-to-Z recipe spread covering over three hundred of the most popular drinks of the time. The slender, 3.5-by-5" book, with tabs for each letter of the alphabet and a selection of toasts in the back, includes a number of recipe attributions, a rarity for the time period.

McElhone, Harry. Barflies and Cocktails. Paris: Lecram Press, 1927.
A bar’s legacy is defined by the people who drank there and the stories they told. Few cocktail books celebrate their patrons more explicitly than this one, an expanded ABC of Mixing Cocktails illustrated with the light-hearted sketches of Wynn Holcomb that closes with a list of Harry’s most vaunted guests and their comical code of conduct.

Meier, Frank. The Artistry of Mixing Drinks. Paris: Fryam Press, 1936.
Printed in Paris during Prohibition in America, The Artistry of Mixing Drinks is undeniably one of the most beautiful and enduring bar books. Meier ran the bar at the Ritz, where his legacy continues with Colin Field today. The author includes numerous originals, including the Bee’s Knees, and closes with a section of “useful formulas,” illustrating the scope of a top bartender’s expertise at the time.

Miller, Anistatia, and Jared Brown. Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink, Book Two: From Publicans to Master Mixologists. London: Mixellany Ltd., 2009.
Working from homes in New York and London, Jared and Anistatia have been instrumental in coaxing the cocktail out of hibernation on both sides of the pond. Their work as writers is often overshadowed by their roles as educators and archaeologists.

Mr. Boston Bartender Guide. Boston: Mr. Boston Distiller Co., 1974.
The 1974 edition of the famous red book is filled with illustrations and fullcolor photos advertising Mr. Boston’s long line of spirits. Illustrator Nancy Tausek’s captions of colonial bons vivants maintain a lively backdrop to the book’s recipe spread, which includes the first known printing of the tequilabased Rosita cocktail popularized by Gary Regan.

Newman, Frank P. American Bar: Recettes des Boissons Anglaises et Américaines. Paris: Société Française D'imprimerie et de Librairie, 1904.
The 1904 edition of Frank Newman's cocktail book (written in French) features over three hundred recipes served at the Grand Hôtel in Paris. Besides being a great bar guide, the book is significant because it contains the first mention of the Dry Martini Cocktail, prepared with gin, orange bitters, and Martini Dry Vermouth, a clue as to how the famous drink gained its name.

Pacult, F. Paul. Kindred Spirits 2. Wallkill, NY: Spirit Journal, 2008.
Eleven years separate the first and second edition of Pacult’s comprehensive guide to spirits and fortified wines. His updated, expanded second edition, written in a period of exponential growth for premium spirits, catalogs and rates hundreds of brands, each broken down categorically with tasting notes that read like poetry.

Proulx, Theodore. The Bartender’s Manual. Chicago: The J.M.W. Jones Stationery Printing Co., 1888.
Written with the support of Chapin & Gore of Chicago, this manual has a mixture of practical hints for the bartender—including how to conduct oneself behind the bar—and a number of classic recipes. This book is the first to include a recipe for the Old-Fashioned cocktail.

Regan, Gary. The Joy of Mixology. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2003.
A modern followup to David Embury’s Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, this volume classifies cocktails into families, offering readers insight into the building blocks of mixed drinks. Regan’s portrayal of the bartender’s psyche is a priceless precursor to his lengthy overview of drinks and the techniques required to prepare them properly.

Saucier, Ted. Bottoms Up. New York: Greystone Press, 1951.
Saucier was the publicist for New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for many years, which must have helped him cast a wide net for recipes. His book is best known for the thumbnail sketches of curvaceous nude women, accessorized with cocktail glassware and mixing equipment (hence the double entendre in the title). Bottoms Up is the source of cult classics such as the Diamondback and Last Word cocktails.

Schumann, Charles. American Bar. New York: Abbeville Press, 1995.
Munich barman Charles Schumann’s follow–up to his tropical-bar book was a huge source of inspiration for this book. A departure from coffee-table-sized, multicolored pictorial overviews of the mixed drink, Schumann borrows tropes from many of the 20th century’s most beautiful bartender’s guides and devotes a lengthy section to spirits production.

Schumann, Charles. Tropical Bar Book. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989.
The combination of literary tales of life in the tropics, beautiful illustrations by Günter Mattei, a concise collection of recipes and the author’s dogmatic directions for mixing drinks make this book indispensable for rum lovers. Originally published in German in 1986, Schumann’s guide is still salient.

Sloppy Joe’s Cocktails Manual. Havana, Cuba: Self-published, 1932.
Sloppy Joe’s, owned by José Abeal and Valentin Garcia, opened in a former grocery store in Havana in 1918. José grew up in Spain and tended bar in New Orleans and Miami before opening his bar in Cuba right before Prohibition. He published an annual booklet filled with cocktail recipes as a souvenir for his customers, many of them Americans on a booze cruise.

Straub, Jacques. Drinks. Chicago: The Hotel Monthly Press, 1914.
A slim recipe book written and published a few years before Prohibition by a twenty-plus-year veteran of Louisville’s famed Pendennis Club. The volume includes numerous first printings, such as the Daiquiri and Black Jack, along with hundreds of other recipes. By this time, a bartender was expected to be familiar with dozens of recipes, so many of the books of this period were sized to fit in a bartender’s vest pocket.

Stuart, Thos. Stuart’s Fancy Drinks and How to Mix Them. New York: Excelsior, 1904.
Stuart’s book shares many recipes with, and follows a similar format to, the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas’s Bartender’s Guide. In addition to a lengthy section of recipes for popular mixed drinks of the time, there are short recipe sections for fruit wines, cordials, sodas, liqueurs, and bitters. A section in the back of the book includes very early mentions of the Marguerite (the Dry Martini’s predecessor), the Rob Roy, and the Blackthorn.

Tarling, W. J. Café Royal Cocktail Book. London: Pall Mall, Ltd., 1937.
Widely considered to be the crown jewel of the United Kingdom Bartender’s Guild, whose members picked up what the great American bartenders put down during Prohibition, Tarling’s incredibly rare recipe book is filled with important first mentions such as the 20th Century. Many of the U.K.B.G. books of the time are valuable because they attribute recipes to the members who created them.

The Cocktail Book: A Sideboard Manual for Gentlemen. Boston: L. C. Page, 1900, 1913.
The introduction to this slender 66-page guide explicitly states that it’s not a bartender’s guide or “a list of all the fancy combinations of various liqueurs designed to advertise an establishment”—it was printed for private use. Besides a mythical origin story for the cocktail and a few pages covering non-alcoholic drinks and wine service, the book focuses on a stately selection of recipes that feature Northeastern ingredients and locales.

Torelli, Adolphe. 900 Recettes de Cocktails. Paris: S. Bornemann, 1928.
The number of recipes printed in books by the top barmen of the time continued to climb until Prohibition ended in 1933, when many popular books took a back-to-the-basics approach. The French books of this period, including this fine guide written by the head bartender at the Winter Palace in Nice, are filled with sophisticated recipes that incorporate traditional French spirits, fortified wines, and aperitifs into canonical American recipes.

Thomas, Jerry. Bar-Tenders Guide. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1876, 1887.
The 1876 edition was printed without Christian Schultz’s Manual for the Manufacture of Cordials, a treatise on spirits, liqueurs, and syrups. The 1887 edition, printed after Thomas’s death, includes the famous Hints and Rules for Bartenders. Each edition includes recipes from his travels.

Thomas, Jerry. How to Mix Drinks. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1862.
The significance of the first professional bartender’s manual written by America’s first celebrity bartender goes without saying. The beautiful facsimile of the 1862 edition, reprinted by Mud Puddle Books, includes an introduction by David Wondrich, who wrote an entire book about Thomas (Imbibe!) and shares many of his primary sources in the appendix.

Townsend, Jack, and Tom Moore McBride. The Bartender’s Book. New York: Viking, 1951.
In the sparsely illustrated, 125-page overview of cocktails arranged by spirit, Jack Townsend, the president of the New York Bartenders’ Union, isolates the canonical cocktails of the time. His caustic, practical wit steals the show in this thoroughly sobering view of the state of bartending.

Uyeda, Kazuo. Cocktail Techniques. New York: Mud Puddle Books, 2010.
This book was first published in Japanese in 2000. Mud Puddle Books founder Greg Boehm arranged an English translation of the text that he released at a two-day seminar Uyeda held in New York City in 2010. In the book, Uyeda, who’s most famous for his “hard shake method,” explains the thought process behind each mixing technique and their application in classic and original cocktails, which are illustrated in beautiful full-color photos.

Vermeire, Robert. Cocktails: How to Mix Them. London: Herbert Jenkins, Ltd., 1922.
This vest-pocket-size guide, printed a couple years after American Prohibition, is one of the most valuable resources of its time. Robert, of London’s Embassy Club, sacrificed space for recipes to tip his hat to the bartenders who created them. The origins of the Sidecar and many other great drinks are listed here.

Walton, Stuart. The Complete Guide to Spirits. London: Annes Publishing Ltd, 1998.
Walton’s 120-page overview of spirits and liqueurs is filled with fantastic photos, sketches, and tables that get to the heart of the matter. The industry has changed a lot since the book was written, but the format and focus on facts over suppositions makes it a fantastic used bookstore find.

Whitfield, W. C. Here’s How. Asheville, N.C.: Three Mountaineers, 1941.
Here’s How is Whitfield’s followup to Just Cocktails, published in 1939. Both wood-covered books are widely available in antique shops and online and are entertaining to page through. The concise, 75-page classics-focused recipe book is illustrated with cartoony drawings by Tad Shell and witty annotations alongside almost every recipe.

Wondrich, David. Esquire Drinks. New York: Hearst Books, 2002.
Wondrich authored his first cocktail book on behalf of Esquire magazine, which has always held cocktails in high regard in its hallowed pages. The book is currently out of print, which is too bad because it’s filled with sage drinking advice, historical tidbits, and photos and illustrations that document the transfer of power from the martini to the cocktail in the first decade of the 21st century.

Wondrich, David. Imbibe! New York: Perigree, 2007.
Wondrich’s James Beard Award-winning biography of America’s first celebrity bartender is a great read for bartenders and culinary historians. The book was published at the height of the classic cocktail renaissance and helped reposition bartending as a respectable trade in America.

Wondrich, David. Killer Cocktails: An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.
A marked departure from Esquire Drinks, Killer Cocktails adds to the popular literature of the time, with recipes from out-of-print texts, menus, and newspaper articles. Wondrich also includes a few of his own recipes. Few authors mix as well as they write; Wondrich being a notable exception.