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The Encyclopedia of Cocktails

The People, Bars & Drinks, with More Than 100 Recipes

Author Robert Simonson

Hardcover

$25.00 US

Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed | Ten Speed Press

6.27"W x 8.56"H x 1.15"D | 30 oz | 16 per carton

On sale Oct 17, 2023 | 320 Pages | 9781984860668

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A lively A-to-Z compendium of the notable drinks, bartenders, and bars that shaped the cocktail world and produced the vibrant spirits culture we enjoy today, from two-time James Beard Award-nominated author and New York Times cocktail and spirits writer, Robert Simonson.

“The Encyclopedia of Cocktails is akin to a perfect bar, chock-full of traditional wisdom along with intriguing new information.”—Toby Maloney, founder of The Violet Hour and author of The Bartender’s Manifesto

How did the Old-Fashioned get its name, and why has the drink endured? What drinks were invented by Sam Ross? What was the Pegu Club, and who bartended there? In The Encyclopedia of Cocktails, Robert Simonson catalogues all the essential people, places, and drinks that make up our cocktail history in a refreshing take on the conventional reference book.

New York Times cocktail and spirits writer Robert Simonson's witty and opinionated presentation of the bar world is a refreshing look at all things cocktail-related. There are more than 100 drink recipes, from the Adonis to the Zombie, with vivid illustrations throughout. Simonson also includes entries for spirits from absinthe to vodka and illuminates the origins of each. This guide isn't a strictly academic text, nor is it simply a collection of drink recipes—it is an animated, sometimes irreverent historical journey highlighting the preeminent bars and top bartenders of record.

The Encyclopedia of Cocktails is perfect for cocktail nerds as well as anyone interested in learning about cocktail culture. It's both a recipe book and a reference guide to keep near the bar or flip through while sipping your favorite libation.

“There is no greater authority on the culture and history of all things cocktail related than Robert Simonson! This book is a deep and factual dive into cocktails, spirits, bartenders, bars, and the modern history of the cocktail revival told in Robert’s signature witty style. An informative and entertaining read for cocktail enthusiasts and professional bartenders alike.”—Julie Reiner, co-owner of Clover Club, Leyenda, and Milady’s; cofounder of Flatiron Lounge and Pegu Club; cohost of Drink Masters

“The Encyclopedia of Cocktails delivers the goods, in hugely entertaining fashion. Robert Simonson, one of America’s most stylish and knowledgeable writers on drink, conducts a brilliant, panoramic tour of his subject, traveling on and off the beaten path. It’s all here: the cocktails past and present (and the stories behind them); the bars and the bartenders; the trends and the tastemakers. It makes for a heady concoction, equal parts erudition and panache. Can an encyclopedia qualify as bedside reading? In rare cases, yes. This is one of them.”—William Grimes, author of Straight Up or On the Rocks and former New York Times reporter and restaurant critic

“The Simonson Encyclopedia is akin to a perfect bar, chock-full of traditional wisdom along with intriguing new information. Simonson offers us a dram of his Algonquin wit with each turned page. This book is a go-to when conducting research, seeking inspiration, and attempting to quench one’s thirst for knowledge.”—Toby Maloney, founder of The Violet Hour and author of The Bartender’s Manifesto

“Robert Simonson’s take on essential cocktail history is told with that great combo of wry wit and intellectual edge. From the bars and barkeeps to finely-tuned recipes, his well-observed entries made me an instant expert in all things booze.”—Alice Feiring, author of To Fall in Love, Drink This and Natural Wine for the People

“The Encyclopedia of Cocktails is a crucial addition to any drink aficionado’s library. From Adonis to Zombie, every page of Robert Simonson’s opus is filled with insightful, amusing histories of the cocktails, bars, and people who transformed drinking culture. I loved it.”—Kevin Alexander, James Beard Award–winning author of Burn the Ice: America’s Culinary Revolution and Its End and bestselling coauthor of California Soul and The Lemon

ROBERT SIMONSON writes about cocktails, spirits, bars, and bartenders for the New York Times. He is also contributing editor and columnist at PUNCH. His books include The Old-Fashioned (2014), A Proper Drink (2016) and 3-Ingredient Cocktails (2017), which was nominated for a 2018 James Beard Award. He was also a primary contributor to The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails (2015). Simonson won the 2019 Spirited Award for Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer, and his work, which has also appeared in Saveur, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, New York magazine, and Lucky Peach, has been nominated for a total of eleven Spirited Awards and two IACP Awards. A native of Wisconsin, he lives in Brooklyn. View titles by Robert Simonson

Introduction

The name of this book was chosen carefully. This is an encyclopedia of cocktails. Its focus is cocktails, just as mine has been for nearly twenty years. Every entry, be it of a spirit or a particular historical bar or a notable person or a professional tool, is written with a view of how that spirit, bar, person, or tool played a role in the history, progress and proliferation of cocktails and cocktail culture. So, the entry on rye whiskey, for instance, does not dwell overly long on how rye is made or who makes it—information better left to books whose subject is whiskey or the making of spirits, of which there are many—but rather how it is used in cocktails, and how that use has changed over time. In other words, I wrote this book wearing cocktail-colored glasses, and you should read it with the same frames.

The time frame covered by this book ranges from the earliest days of mixology to the current day. There are classic cocktails and modern classics; bars that live in legend only and bars that operate today; bartenders famous in their day and famous today.

Regarding the tone of the text, I have tried to write a popular, people’s history of cocktails. During my years as a cocktail historian, the texts I have enjoyed best and gotten the most out of, be they books or individual pieces of journalism, were the ones written with a point a view and heavy dollops of opinion. That sort of attitude is, I believe, natural. It’s almost impossible to sample a drink or experience a bar without developing almost instant impressions of them. The urge to express those impressions follows almost immediately after. I’ve tried to follow in that outspoken tradition in these pages. Throughout, one of the models I kept in mind was Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language from 1755. I don’t pretend to Johnson’s greatness, but I have admired since college his decision to inject humor and opinion into his definitions. (Classic example: “Oats: a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.”) When’s the last time you laughed, or even smiled, while reading a reference book? I hope you will at this one.

That air of playful bias extends to the entries themselves, which number more than three hundred. All were selected by me and me alone. Some choices were obvious. Of course, I had to include the Martini, Jerry Thomas, El Floridita, and gin. If not, there would have been hell to pay. But mixed in between expected topics from absinthe to Zombie you will find more than a few wild cards.

Robert Simonson