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The Encyclopedia of CocktailsPenguin Random House LLC

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The Encyclopedia of Cocktails: The People, Bars & Drinks, with More Than 100 Recipes Hardcover – October 17, 2023

by Robert Simonson (Author)

4.8 17 ratings

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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.

From the Publisher

An A-to-Z compendium of all things cocktails

WARNING: California’s Proposition 65

Editorial Reviews

Review

“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

About the Author

Robert Simonsonis the author of six previous books about cocktails and cocktail history, including The Old-Fashioned (2014), which kicked off an ongoing cottage industry of single-drink cocktail books; A Proper Drink (2016), the first—and so far only—history of the current cocktail renaissance; 3-Ingredient Cocktails (2017); The Martini Cocktail (2019); Mezcal & Tequila Cocktails (2021); and Modern Classic Cocktails (2022). Both 3-Ingredient Cocktails and The Martini Cocktail were nominated for James Beard Awards; Mezcal & Tequila Cocktails won a 2022 IACP Award; and The Martini Cocktail won a 2020 Spirited Award. Simonson is also the recipient of a 2019 Spirited Award for best cocktail and spirits writer and a 2021 IACP award for narrative beverage writing. He writes about cocktails, food, and travel for the New York Times, where he has been a contributor since 2000. He is a primary contributor to The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails. Simonson is the co-author, with Martin Doudoroff, of two apps, “Modern Classics of the Cocktail Renaissance” and “The Martini Cocktail.” He is also the author of the prominent Substack newsletter “The Mix with Robert Simonson.” He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Mary Kate, and their children, Asher and Richard.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ten Speed Press (October 17, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1984860666
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1984860668
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.27 x 1.15 x 8.56 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #112,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #127 in Gastronomy History (Books)
- #145 in Cocktails & Mixed Drinks
- #152 in Cooking Encyclopedias

Customer Reviews:
4.8 17 ratings

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Robert Simonson

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Robert Simonson is a journalist and historian who writes about cocktails, spirits, bars and bartenders, both past and present. He writes primarily for the New York Times, where he has been a contributor since 2000, but is also regularly published in Imbibe, Saveur, Lucky Peach, Whiskey Advocate, New York magazine, Food & Wine, Eater and Punch, where he has been a contributed editor since 2017.

Simonson's first cocktail book, "The Old-Fashioned: The World's First Classic Cocktail," was published in May 2014 (Ten Speed Press). "A Proper Drink" (Ten Speed Press, 2016), was the first comprehensive cultural history of the modern cocktail renaissance. He was a significant contributor to "The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails," released in October 2015. His next book, "Three-Ingredient Cocktails," published by Ten Speed Press in September 2017, was nominated for a James Beard Award. His latest book, "The Martini Cocktail," was published in September 2019. His writings have been nominated for a Spirited Award a total of eleven times, and two IACP awards. He won the Spirited Award for Best Cocktail Writer in 2019.

Also a travel writer, his work appears frequently in the Travel section of the New York Times.

In February 2016, with Martin Doudoroff, he released the app "Modern Classics of the Cocktail Renaissance," which collects, for the first time, in one place, all the recipes for all the modern classic cocktails of the current era. In 2019, Doudoroff and he collaborated once again on "The Martini Cocktail" app. In 2018, he collaborated with Cocktail Kingdom, the barware purveyor, on a set of vintage Old-Fashioned glassware.

Prior to his career as a liquor journalist, he wrote extensively about theatre for many years, for the New York Times, Variety, Time Out New York, The Village Voice and others. He was the editor of Playbill.com from 1998 to 2006. He wrote four books about the theatre and a couple dozen plays between 1995 and 2012.

A native of Wisconsin, he has lived in New York for nearly three decades--most of those years in brownstone Brooklyn--with his son and wife.

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Great gift
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2024
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Was struggling to find a gift for someone and I love the color on this the pages are so fun and creative

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This book was fun!
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2023
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I bought this book to give as a gift, but I’ve spent so much time flipping from entry to entry, I think I need to buy another newer looking copy! Beautiful artwork, informative and fun entries, this book is a winner.

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Fun to read.
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023
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Great cocktail ideas.

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Aaron Goldfarb
Everything you need to know from the world's best cocktail writer
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024
Robert Simonson has long been the premier cocktail writer in America and I'll eagerly read anything he writes. With "The Encyclopedia of Cocktails" he has created an easy-to-access and fun-to-read compendium which pretty much covers all one would possibly want to know about the foundation of the modern cocktail industry, including bar, bartenders, and, of course, the drinks that got us where we are today. Whether you are already a connoisseur, or still a neophyte eager to educate yourself, this book is an ideal place to start. The friendly design and beautiful imagery makes it a great book for keeping on the coffee table, at your bedside, or, better yet, your home bar; perfect to flip to a random page and read a few entries when you have a little time to kill—perhaps while waiting for your next drink to be made!

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Gregg Hollmann
The Coolest Encyclopedia You'll Ever Read!
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023
As an intermediate-level cocktail afficionado, I've immensely enjoyed reading entries from Robert Simonson's new book. The book does a wonderful job tying together the past and present, all the while sharing a wealth of delicious craft cocktail recipes. The author's writing is crisp and playful. In reading entries from the book, I've re-lived some of my own cocktail adventures (such as the bars and cocktails of New Orleans), plus launched plans for new escapades.

Sample entries include: The Oaxacan Old-Fashioned, the Harvey Wallbanger, Irish Coffee, Julie Reiner, The Carousel Bar, The Ramos Gin Fizz, the Hemingway Daiquiri, the Rainbow Room... and so many more!

The colorful illustrations and photos add to the experience. The Encyclopedia of Cocktails is the perfect stocking stuffer for the cocktail lover in your life!

I recently had the good fortune to meet Robert Simonson at an event with Dale DeGroff ('The Cocktail King') at a book signing event in New Brunswick, NJ. I found Robert to be knowledgeable, cool, and approachable.

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Gregg Hollmann

The Coolest Encyclopedia You'll Ever Read!

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023
As an intermediate-level cocktail afficionado, I've immensely enjoyed reading entries from Robert Simonson's new book. The book does a wonderful job tying together the past and present, all the while sharing a wealth of delicious craft cocktail recipes. The author's writing is crisp and playful. In reading entries from the book, I've re-lived some of my own cocktail adventures (such as the bars and cocktails of New Orleans), plus launched plans for new escapades.

Sample entries include: The Oaxacan Old-Fashioned, the Harvey Wallbanger, Irish Coffee, Julie Reiner, The Carousel Bar, The Ramos Gin Fizz, the Hemingway Daiquiri, the Rainbow Room... and so many more!

The colorful illustrations and photos add to the experience. The Encyclopedia of Cocktails is the perfect stocking stuffer for the cocktail lover in your life!

I recently had the good fortune to meet Robert Simonson at an event with Dale DeGroff ('The Cocktail King') at a book signing event in New Brunswick, NJ. I found Robert to be knowledgeable, cool, and approachable.

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@LagoonLane
A Wonderful Collection of All Things Cocktail
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2023
As a cocktail enthusiast with a mini-library of cocktail books (many by this author), I really enjoyed, and recommend, this entertaining, informative read of cocktail basics, personalities and history … relaxed presentation, with a touch of humor, covering a wide-range of interesting topics, classic recipes and beautiful illustrations throughout

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great gift

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5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need to know from the world's best cocktail writer

5.0 out of 5 stars The Coolest Encyclopedia You'll Ever Read!

The Coolest Encyclopedia You'll Ever Read!

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Collection of All Things Cocktail

Great gift

This book was fun!

Fun to read.

Everything you need to know from the world's best cocktail writer

The Coolest Encyclopedia You'll Ever Read!

A Wonderful Collection of All Things Cocktail