Bar Books
Create Great New CocktailsOne of the most important of all bar supplies is a good cocktail book. Here are 10 essential reads.
The Bar Book by Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Those new to cocktails could have no better guide to the basics than the genial and informative Playboy columnist.
Meehan’s Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan. Everything a home or professional bartender needs to know, by one of the world’s most influential contemporary bartenders.
The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock. The classic, written by the head bartender at London’s Savoy Hotel back in the 1930s.
The Craft of the Cocktail and/or The Essential Cocktail by Dale Degroff. “King Cocktail” is credited with leading the revival of the cocktail back in the 1990s, and his two books are still indispensable guides for how to do it right.
Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition by David Wondrich. The world’s greatest cocktail historian tells the tale of “Professor” Jerry Thomas, the first celebrity bartender, who back in the 1860s changed the way the world would drink.
The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart. This is for the passionate cocktail nerd 
who wants to know exactly what plants are used in every drink.
Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails by David Kaplan and The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan. These books from two of the world’s most innovative cocktail bars are for the ambitious bartender unafraid to tackle a challenge.