[elevator music]
Welcome back, friends - it's Anders.
Today we are talking cocktail books.
But before we get started, if you've been watching these videos,
you probably noticed we're in a new studio!
And that's because the channel has grown to the point where we needed a new space.
When I made the announcement some of you had said,
"We really like the old space."
And I did too, but it was my dining room.
And every time we had to shoot, Az and I would raise the table up, balance
it on milk crates, and then we had to tear it down when we were
done shooting every single time. The more videos we did, the more bottles I
accrued, and they ended up just living anywhere we
could find a spot for them. All over the floor, it meant converting our
shoe rack into an extra shelf for bottles.
Which is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. So that's why we're here.
And in the process we were lugging bottles, and sound equipment, light equipment,
and a ton of books into the space, and I realized I've got a fair amount of cocktail books.
I'm gonna show you some of my favorites - some that I would recommend.
I actually break them down into sub categories. We'll talk about all of that.
If you're new to the channel, hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips, and recipes.
And let's talk cocktail books.
To the bar.
[intro music]
First we have the old school classic recipe books.
First we're gonna talk about this little red book.
This is Mr. Boston's Bartender's Guide.
And this was my first cocktail book. It's a recipe book.
It covers numerous classic cocktail recipes, and I found it invaluable when I was starting
out bartending 20 years ago. It's a small size, so I could tuck it away
behind the bar, and whenever somebody would order an obscure
cocktail that I didn't know anything about I would just look in this book, and it would
give me a straightforward recipe. Then a few years later I got a smart phone
like everybody else, and I started using that to look up recipes.
But I still considered this to be the ultimate recipe cocktail book.
That is, until I discovered this one.
The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock. This is an incredible cocktail book that I
would recommend to anybody interested in classic cocktails.
And this one specifically has a special place in my heart.
I discovered this book around the same time I developed a deep interest in classic cocktails.
What I love about this book is Harry Craddock doesn't use units of volume in his measurements.
Instead he talks in terms of ratios. And that changed the way I thought of cocktails.
It just made it easier. And not worry so much about what sort of units
of measurement were being called for. Really old cocktail books use measurements
like gills, ponies, wine glasses, and it's hard to know exactly how much that is.
But if you think in terms of parts - or ratios.
Then you can scale the size of that drink up or down.
This really helped me learn how to balancea drink.
The Savoy Cocktail Book. I can't say enough about it.
This is an old standby that every good bartender should have.
Next we have the contemporary recipe books.
Some of my favorites - one here is Regarding cocktails by Sasha Petraske.
Pe-TRA-skee? Pe-TRAH-skee?
Pe-TRAHSK? Pe-TRASK?
He was brilliant, and this book is also brilliant. It's beautifully done, I love the artwork
- he's got like this code system.
It's based on different patterns on what's in the cocktail.
When he speaks in the book, you can tell that this is an actual bartender that is talking.
Another one - Dale DeGroff's
The New Craft of the Cocktail. This is one that I love for the recipes.
Dale DeGroff is a master of the craft. Another beautifully done book with beautiful pictures.
I have to admit pictures are a big selling point for me.
Makes me want to make the drinks.
Time for a quick cocktail. You like the mustache?
Shout out to my good friend Kevin Kos -
Hi friends, I'm Kevin Kos.
- who created this cocktail for the month of November
to help raise funds for men's health and health related issues.
If you want to help contribute, go to his page, like, subscribe, watch the video, and
enjoy this delicious cocktail. Grow a mo to save a bro.
Back to books! The next category is the cocktail reference books.
More like text books.
One that I would recommend for that would be the Cocktail Codex.
This is a beautiful book brought to you by the folks at Death and Co.
And what I love about it is it covers serious information, techniques, still covers recipes,
and it's done in a very approachable way - and also has beautiful pictures.
And it's like a coffee table book. This is just presented really nice,
and would make a great gift. But if you are more interested in just focusing
on the science behind a drink, then I would recommend Liquid Intelligence
by Dave Arnold. This one right here.
It had a protective sleeve that I took off, but the book is the same.
This one will blow your mind - at leas it blew my mind.
Inside you will find how to make the best ice, how the ice melts, different techniques
as far as infusions, fun little charts. This one is for the scientifically driven.
You will understand down to the atom what's happening in your drink.
Speaking of not a light read - I want to show you this one.
This is my newest addition to my collection. This is the Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails
by David Wondrich and Noah Rothbaum. This book is a new release.
There was a lot of hype leading up to it. Apparently it took a decade to compile all this information.
This is truly a reference book. This is a dictionary.
This talks about everything related to spirits
and cocktails, and I'm not saying it's an essential if you're
just starting out your bar, but if you are spirit and cocktail enthusiast
check this out.
This brings us to our next category
my favorite books on history. A Wondrich book that would recommend as an
essential to just about any bartender is this one.
Imbibe! It covers all the different styles of drinks,
and it touches on all of the - not just touches on - it goes in depth on
the history of these drinks. And it's a fascinating read.
In fact it's on audiobook and I've listened to it on audiobook as well. It's very, very good.
It also has recipes throughout, and is very helpful.
I've learned a lot from this book.
And there's a followup book too called Punch, which is equally interesting.
Two very good books by a very good man.
Speaking of rum,
a book that's not really a cocktail recipe book or technique book,
but one that I just have to tell you about because I have read this three times.
And that is And a Bottle of Rum by Wayne Curtis. This book is for anybody who's remotely interested in rum.
Like I said, I've read this three times,
but not this one, this one - it was an older copy.
This is the newer one. I would say 75% of my knowledge of rum came from this book.
The other 25 came from sipping on rum.
Why this book is so fascinating to me is that it really showcases this diverse spirit of rum,
which has so many categories within the rum category.
Wayne Curtis just puts it in a way that is
easy to understand, and involves history, and stories.
It's just a great book. And finally we have the books on tropical
or tiki cocktails. Now, if you are the type of person who is
into tropical drinks, then there are plenty of cocktail books for
that as well, and I've got a few different ones.
But the number one tiki book in my opinion is Minimalist Tiki.
This book is outstanding. And I have learned so much when I already
thought that I knew quite a bit. I realized I didn't know as much as I thought.
There was more to learn. It breaks down the tools you'll need, the
techniques, the different spirits, and there is actually a page - if I can find it -
that I've referred back to a number of times.
Where the hell is - there it is. Ok. So, there is a page that breaks down a number
of the main tiki drinks and all the various ingredients.
Because a lot of tiki drinks call for a gazillion ingredients.
So this is color coded, interactive, it makes it fun, and I love this sort of thing in a cocktail book.
But the whole book is outstanding.
Other books in this genre that I would recommend are
Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails by Shannon Mustipher,
Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki by Martin Cate with Rebecca Cate,
and two separate Beachbum Berry books -
Sippin' Safari and Potions of the Caribbean. All of these books are outstanding.
You can't go wrong with any one of them if you're into the tropical drinks.
So as you can see, you can have books that are narrowed down to a specific spirit,
or a plethora of recipes. It all depends on what you're interested in.
I didn't even touch on some of these books that I've got here,
but I will leave links in the description down below.
Let me know what you're reading, thank you for watching,
like and subscribe, and I will see you next time.
Cheers!
[music fades]