The Periodic Table of Cocktails is a fun, concise, and appealingly geeky new concept to cocktail appreciation. The foundation of the book is a periodic table organized by cocktail styles (Martinis and Up, Fruity/Tropical, Highballs/Muddles, Collinses/Fizzes, etc.) and by predominant base alcohols across the chart’s rows (vodka, gin, tequila, etc.). If you like one cocktail in the table, you should enjoy all the cocktails that surround it. The book also offers the background history and make-it-yourself recipe for each of the more than 100 “elements” or cocktails. The book will be published with a companion volume, The Periodic Table of Wine.

A companion to Andrew F. Smith’s critically acclaimed and popular Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine, this volume recounts the individuals, ingredients, corporations, controversies, and myriad events responsible for America’s diverse and complex beverage scene. Smith revisits the country’s major historical moments—colonization, the American Revolution, the Whiskey Rebellion, the temperance movement, Prohibition, and its repeal—and he tracks the growth of the American beverage industry throughout the world. The result is an intoxicating encounter with an often overlooked aspect of American culture and global influence. Americans have invented, adopted, modified, and commercialized tens of thousands of beverages—whether alcoholic or nonalcoholic, carbonated or caffeinated, warm or frozen, watery or thick, spicy or sweet. These include uncommon cocktails, varieties of coffee and milk, and such iconic creations as Welch’s Grape Juice, Coca-Cola, root beer, and Kool-Aid. Involved in their creation and promotion were entrepreneurs and environmentalists, bartenders and bottlers, politicians and lobbyists, organized and unorganized criminals, teetotalers and drunks, German and Italian immigrants, savvy advertisers and gullible consumers, prohibitionists and medical professionals, and everyday Americans in love with their brew. Smith weaves a wild history full of surprising stories and explanations for such classic slogans as “taxation with and without representation;” “the lips that touch wine will never touch mine;” and “rum, Romanism, and rebellion.” He reintroduces readers to Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and the colorful John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), and he rediscovers America’s vast literary and cultural engagement with beverages and their relationship to politics, identity, and health.

The Bar Book — Bartending and mixology for the home cocktail enthusiast Learn the key techniques of bartending and mixology from a master: Written by renowned bartender and cocktail blogger Jeffrey Morgenthaler, The Bar Book is the only technique-driven cocktail handbook out there. This indispensable guide breaks down bartending into essential techniques, and then applies them to building the best drinks. Over 60 of the best drink recipes: The Bar Book contains more than 60 recipes that employ the techniques you will learn in this bartending book. Each technique is illustrated with how-to photography to provide inspiration and guidance. Bartending and mixology techniques include the best practices for: Juicing Garnishing Carbonating Stirring and shaking Choosing the correct ice for proper chilling and dilution of a drink And, much more If you found PTD Cocktail Book, 12 Bottle Bar, The Joy of Mixology, Death and Co., and Liquid Intelligence to be helpful among bartending books, you will find Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s The Bar Book to be an essential bartender book.

The ultimate guide to today’s exciting gin revival with a nod to the spirit’s rich history, featuring a comprehensive review of gin distilleries, ingredients and accoutrements, distilling methods, cocktail recipes, international bar guide, and creative contributions from industry leaders. The Spirit of Gin is a comprehensive and entertaining illustrated guide to the classic spirit, with a sharp focus on the modern gin revival led by innovative craft-gin distillers, new ingredients and infusions, and growing interest in bars across the United States and overseas. The book details the colorful history of gin from its invention in eighteenth century London to today’s worldwide resurgence; provides detailed coverage of the methods, ingredients, and accoutrements of modern makers and purveyors; gives coverage to popular gin bars and classic cocktails with eclectic sidebars and interviews; and provides a complete catalog of commercial and craft distilleries worldwide.