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
Erin James really loves cider, and based on this book, she appears to know more about the category than anyone else on earth. This boldly colorful guide walks readers through this vastly complicated — and rapidly growing — category, starting with a history of cider and a digest of how it is made, including a…
Ever been concerned that a bartender would “judge you… hard” for what you’re drinking? (If so, leave the bar.) Good news: Here’s a book to help you with your barstool etiquette. Boston-based writers Thea Engst and Lauren Vigdor fill this trifle of a book with bon mots from the drinking world. The book doesn’t really…
Karen Locke’s High-Proof PDX is perhaps the most niche-oriented book about the drinking world that I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve read books on absinthe and amari. High-Proof PDX is billed as “a spirited guide to Portland’s craft distilling scene,” and that’s just what it is. This slim tome is a guidebook of sorts, describing in detail…
The book world has lately become flush with tomes about Japan’s drinking culture, particularly its unique world of whisky. Add to that list Brian Ashcraft’s slim but densely packed book, Japanese Whisky, a tome that is clearly written by both an enthusiast and an insider. The first half of the book finds Ashcraft driving you through…
Ten years ago, writer Alice Feiring told us that she “saved the world from Parkerization,” and now she’s back with this, her fourth book, which continues her unabashed love affair with natural wines. With The Dirty Guide to Wine, Feiring (alongside master sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier) attempts to use soil (hency the “dirty” guide) as the…
This sounded like the perfect idea. Why hadn’t it been done before, I wondered. A rip-off-the-pages daily calendar featuring nothing but whisky. Genius! Well, great idea though it may be, the execution of this calendar is lackluster at best. What I was hoping for was a calendar which would feature a different spirit, hopefully letting…
Well-known spirits writer Fred Minnick follows up his stellar Bourbon Curious with a somewhat less sexy, though equally indispensable, title: Rum Curious. As he did for the bourbon world, Minnick uses this tome to school the reader on the origins of rum (hope you like pirate stories!), the intricacies of its production, and controversies like sugaring and…
It’s that time again. November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, where authors of all ages and experience levels challenge themselves to write a 50,000-word novel in a mere 30 days. Whether you’re already hard at work on your next opus, or you’re getting things ready for an attempt next year, get those creative…
I’ll be honest: When I make a Bloody Mary (which is not often), my recipe generally includes vodka plus a bottle of high-end, premade mix. There’s plenty of great mix on the market, at least that’s how my logic goes, so why reinvent the wheel? Ellen Brown reminds us that making your own Bloodies is…
Fruity, slushy beach drinks don’t get the kind of respect that craft cocktails get, and for good reason: It’s hard to be serious about a drink whose ingredients are measured in cubs, not ounces. Condensed milk, coconut rum, strawberries, Midori… those ingredients aren’t typically what you consider top shelf, either. That said, a beach cocktail has…