7 Books Like The Whiskey Bible

When it comes to spirits guidebooks, the agave-based category is one that can certainly be described as under-served. There are more whisky, rum and brandy books than one can ever reasonably read. It is tequila, mezcal and the like that seem to have barely enough ink to fill a small book shelf. The main reason is simple enough. It is only in the last decade or so that these distillates have gained a global consumer audience and garnered the respect that they deserve.

Anna Bruce, a journalist and photographer, primarily known for her fine work at the well-regarded website, Mezcalistas.com, has created an extremely comprehensive primer about agave and agave-adjacent spirits. By and large, there are few other agave focused books out there that manage to make the topic matter more approachable and enjoyable. Tackling these storied and historic spirits, “Tequila, Mezcal & More”, is an engaging and educational read… show more.

Presented in a graphic novel format, one can be easily fooled into thinking that “The Comic Book History of The Cocktail” by David Wondrich (and impressively illustrated by Dean Kotz), is simply a whimsical and fast pass through the history of cocktails. In just a few pages though, the reader becomes aware that they are also being served a concise and thoughtful look at the long, and somewhat complicated past of the cocktail and its culture.

The tone is fun and conversational as David does an incredible job choosing what to include in such a wide-ranging, global and centuries spanning subject matter. As someone who has done his fair share of documenting cocktails and their full and moving-target history, I would not have wanted to be tasked with selecting which stories to include and which to omit. On this note alone, David deserves high praise and even more as he… show more.

Privately published in 1928 by Horace Liveright, British playwright and journalist Basil Woon captured the energy that took hold of Havana during Prohibition in the USA, as Americans flocked by the thousands to drink, gamble, and party served by hundreds of Cuban and self-exiled American bartenders amid the tropical beauty that is Cuba. This book opened my eyes to clues that helped me sort out the true origins of the Mary Pickford, the Mojito, and the El Presidente. While my husband and I travelled to Havana once a year for ten years, this book guided us to the places we wanted to visit to capture the spirit and essence of Cuban cocktails.

This is the very first and very major reference work to cover the subjects of spirits, mixed drinks, cocktails, and the people who created them from a global perspective, providing authoritative, enlightening, and entertaining overviews. It makes this not only a valuable source but a great recreational read for enthusiasts to scan and share with friends and family. Into pub quizzes? This book offers enough libatious fodder to create thousands of brain-teasing questions.

My husband and I have spent three decades travelling the world in search of great drinks and great drink stories. You could say this one volume ignited a wanderlust in us both when we first kicked off our drinks writing career. Written between 1959 and 1960, some of the places mentioned don’t exist any longer but brought back fond memories for me. The Musket & Henrickson pharmacy in Chicago which had a late-night café frequented by Playboy Club entertainers and mafiosi is just one example. What Fleming offered in his portrayals of Hong Kong, Macau, Tokyo, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, Geneva, Naples, and Monte Carlo undoubtedly inspired Anthony Bourdain’s portrayals of places in his fabulous TV series.

Once again, personal history meets drink history with this book about nightclubbing in New York’s Greenwich Village during the 1980s. Musto escorts readers through the hotspots that made Manhattan’s nightlife tingle and zing. Fuelled on vodka, vodka, and a side of whiskey and beer, Musto races through the Cat Club, Area, Limelight, Max’s Kansas City, Mudd Club, CBGB’s, Indochine, and other hideouts that kept the pre-cocktail revival night culture alive and kicking. 

Last but certainly not least, Amanda Schuster’s recipe collection spends more time weaving a fantastic fabric of anecdotes and origin stories about a range of famous and infamous mixed drinks made in Manhattan. From familiar concoctions such as the Cosmopolitan’s New York origin stories and the eponymous Manhattan to more contemporary classics such as the Penicillin and the Purple Rain, readers will find inspiration in mixing and conversing about the drinks and the people who mixed them in the city that never sleeps.