Books
Drinkhacker’s books category covers everything from the history of drink to cocktail recipe collections and more. Books are rated using the same letter grade scale as our beverage reviews.
Top Book Posts:
The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book
Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol
Japanese Whisky
Cork Dork
The tiny Scottish island of Islay counts around 3,000 people as full-time residents but welcomes tens of thousands of tourists annually and counts hundreds of thousands, if not more, fans around the globe swearing regional allegiance. That may prove to be an unsubstantiated hot take in the end, but right now Islay seems to be…
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It is a fun time in the realm of beverage literature. We’ve witnessed a significant shift away from rigid recipe books and academic volumes towards approachable, enlightening works penned by authors deeply devoted to sharing their compelling narratives. Over the past two decades, an abundant collection of relaxed storytelling and entertainment has emerged, covering nearly…
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2023 was supposed to be a big year for rum, or so said several reputable booze trend analysts. Well, we’re two thirds of the way to 2024, and I still don’t feel like the category has had its moment yet. And I’m honestly not sure why. Rum is as venerable as whiskey or tequila, and…
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Unless you, gentle reader, are wearing workman’s overalls or carrying a bag or purse, fitting Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book anywhere on your person is a mildly amusing notion. Now in its 47th year of publication, this guide is incredibly comprehensive, checking in at over 300 pages. It is dense and immense with information on…
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At a previous place of employment, I was tasked with cataloging and reviewing the upcoming season’s wave of holiday albums in the middle of summer. It was a rather mind-numbing assignment, but as the lowest rung on the editorial ladder, it felt like a weird rite of passage. Nearly 15 years later, I find myself…
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A telltale sign of a solid cocktail recipe book for beginners is the percentage of effort and page count dedicated to discussing techniques, barware, garnishes, styling and other elements necessary to building a decent knowledge base, bar supply, and skill set. And to its credit, How to Make Better Cocktails spends nearly a quarter of…
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Weighing in at a hefty 7 lbs. and 446 pages is Richard Juhlin’s… well, magnum opus… Champagne Magnum Opus, which will not only exercise your forearms and biceps in a healthy resistance training exercise but also your mind as you skim through one of the most expansive books ever written on the subject. Now in…
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I am generally not one for an adventurous life in the great outdoors. When discussing the splendid pursuits of natural environments with someone evangelical about its numerous benefits, I often reach for Frank Zappa’s quote: “Outdoors for me is walking from the car to the ticket desk at the airport.” Folks will either sail right…
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Switching from 2022’s remarkable volume on doctors and distillation, Camper English sets his sites on writing the ultimate book about one of his passions: ice. Readers of his long-running site Alcademics know this to be one of his biggest areas of study, and The Ice Book takes some of the ideas found in some of…
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For those who want to throw a whiskey-themed dinner party, there are few books available to guide the way. Several bourbon-focused cookbooks have hit the shelves in recent years, but no cooking guide, to my knowledge at least, has attempted the kind of wide-ranging approach that Richard Thomas’s recent The Whiskey Cookbook admirably undertakes. Over…
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