The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks

Most reference books aren’t also entertaining reads. But this book manages to be both.

Written in 1948, it’s an in-depth guide to the taxonomy of classic cocktails–helping you distinguish your Sours from your Daisies–but written with a sense of humor and levity that other books lack. For a look into mid-century American cocktail culture, one of the cocktail world’s true golden ages, this is as good as it gets. 

For any serious bartender, they can classify their experience as before they read Embury, and after. I remember reading this book early on in my career; it changed the way I thought about drinks, and made me realise how deep the rabbit hole can go. This isn’t just a list of recipes, but a deep dive into the basic principles of cocktails and their fundamental components. Published in 1948, one beauty of this book is how opinionated and acerbic the author is. David Embury wasn’t even a bartender, he was a tax attorney who loved making cocktails at home for… show more.