The Cocktail Lover’s Gift Guide

Death & Co.: Modern Classic Cocktails, by David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald, Alex Day
If your local watering hole now offers Oaxaca Old-Fashioneds and Sloe Gin Fizzes, then you have Death & Co. to thank for it. The New York bar, considered one of the best in the world, has been on the cutting edge of the craft cocktail renaissance in the last ten years. It’s like a hipster test kitchen for booze. The new book features hundreds of fastidiously detailed recipes, both original and classic, as well as carefully tested theories, like why their drinks are started “dry,” and a spirits buying guide so you can build your own bar. For fans of the establishment itself, there’s also some history and a behind-the scenes look at how a bar is run, along with stories from a few of its more colorful regulars (“Norm!”).

Shake: A New Perspective on Cocktails, by Eric Prum and Josh Williams
Shake‘s authors created the Mason jar cocktail shaker from a Kickstarter campaign. That same laid-back, can-do attitude extends to their new book, whose motto is, “Cocktails should be fun. Cocktails should be simple. Cocktails should be social.” With the same goal as many cocktail guides—to bring grownup drinks from the bar to your living room—these two make sure to keep it easy (a maximum of five ingredients) and pictorial (because it’s hard to read when you’re two Cucumber Rickeys deep). After a brief intro on stocking a bar and mastering cocktail basics, recipes are grouped by Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, encouraging use of seasonal, local ingredients.

The Essential Bar Book: An A-to-Z Guide to Spirits, Cocktails, and Wine, by Jennifer Fiedler
The ultimate sauce encyclopedia helps readers get their terminology and products straight, with entries from “ABV” to “Old Tom Gin.” It even debunks myth and adds a dash of history, while 115 essential cocktail recipes (also A to Z, from the Amaretto Sour to the Zombie) guarantee there will never be a dry glass in the house. Just a little bigger than 5×7 inches, this book makes a nice, bulky stocking stuffer (which means fewer holiday-themed Kleenex travel packs to buy).

Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, by Brad Thomas Parsons
We all have one of them now: that friend who bakes her own bread, knits her own scarves, and makes her own cocktail bitters (pungent, aromatic liquors flavored with herbs, spices, and botanicals used to enhance cocktails and “aid digestion”). Many bartenders believe bitters are the difference between a just-okay cocktail and a life-changing cocktail, and after reading this book, you’ll agree. After a “brief” 16-page history of the magical elixir, from its medicinal origins as a hangover cure to its current turn in the spotlight, Parsons offers over a dozen bitters recipes, an abundance of cocktail recipes, ways to use bitters in the kitchen, and more suggested reading.

Shrubs: An Old Fashioned Drink for Modern Times, by Michael Dietsch
Not a gardening guide. Shrubs are old-fashioned (think colonial) vinegar and sugar-based syrups used to flavor beverages, and Dietsch thinks they’re set to become the new old thing in cocktails. Considering the over-sweetening that happens to too many drinks, we hope he’s right. Dietsch gives a thorough history of the ingredient, which may have saved a few casks of ruined rum at one point, and then explains how to make shrubs at home. He offers dozens of sweet, savory, and sour shrub recipes and a variety of cocktails and non-alcoholic sodas you can use them in, just the way Benjamin Franklin might have done in his day.

Cocktails for the Holidays: Festive Drinks to Celebrate the Season, by Imbibe Magazine
What other time of year can you serve a cocktail garnished with a candy cane? It’s a season of celebration, and the editors of Imbibe Magazine know a little something about that. From crowd-friendly punches to classics such as eggnog and hot buttered rum, plus an appendix with holiday entertaining tips, they’ve got the holiday host/ess covered. Festive original recipes with creative names like You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out all but necessitate a party.

Whisk(e)y Distilled: A Populist Guide to the Water of Life, by Heather Greene
Whiskey (drop the “e” for the Brits and Canucks) is the new “it” spirit. There are now more than 400 craft distilleries in the U.S. alone. For the novice, Heather Greene has defied gender notions (whiskey is not just for gents anymore) and demystified the tasting and making of that good ol’ fashioned firewater with tips on finding your palate (with a whiskey versus wine chart for the vinophile) and guided tastings, as well as some history, fundamentals, cocktail recipes, and food pairing suggestions.

World Atlas of Whisky, by Dave Broom
And for the pro who has been known to hold forth on what makes a bourbon a bourbon (in short, at least 51% corn), consider Dave Broom’s exhaustive new edition of the World Atlas of Whisky. Broom visited over 200 distilleries and tasted over 750 “expressions” of the spirit for this book, which is organized by whiskey-producing regions (Scotland, Ireland, Japan, the United States, Canada, and the rest of the world) and distillery. Maps, gorgeous photos, and detailed tasting notes might just inspire a trip.
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