Books for beginners, books for old hands, books for enthusiasts looking for recipes, bartending books for every occasion!
Each year, hundreds of books are published with their own take on cocktail recipes, bartending practices, and more. Itâs the same with books to help you learn about wine. It can be difficult to find the books that offer the best bang for your buck.
Weve collected 13 of the best bartending books on the market for you below. Whether youre learning how to become a bartender or are already a world-class sommelier, theres a book for you! You may even get some tips to help you ace those tough bartender interview questions.
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Best Bartending Books for Beginners
Our top pick for beginners comes from renowned bartender and cocktail blogger Jeffrey Morgenthaler. This technique-driven cocktail and bartender book breaks the complicated world of mixology down into an easy-to-understand guide. The book features more than 60 cocktail recipes illustrated with how-to photography to make it even easier to replicate yourself. Juicing, garnishing, chilling, and more are also covered. It is a must-read book for the beginning and at-home bartender. You can even learn the basics, like what is 1 part.
If youve ever wondered how plants became alcoholic beverages, Amy Stewarts book has got you covered. Hailed by the New York Times as the “essential, bestselling guide to botany and booze”, this book takes a novel approach to bartending. Biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology all come together in a fascinating and informational guide that beginners will love. It comes with more than 50 drink recipes and even tips for gardeners to grow their own ingredients. It is one of the most unique books on the market, jam-packed with information. You will make yourself the most popular guest at any cocktail party once you read this book.
The “For Dummies” series has one purpose, to make complicated subjects easy to understand. They certainly achieve that with this book. The book features more than 1,000 drink recipes in an A-Z format with clear, easy-to-follow instructions. It also outlines how to stock a bar, what glassware to use, how to make frozen drinks or freeze wine, and even how to cure a hangover. Once youre done with this book, you wont feel like a dummy anymore and youll be ready to make drinks like a pro.
Best Bartenders Guide Book
Dave Arnolds 2015 James Beard award winner for Best Beverage Book marries bartending with science to create a masterpiece. From topics like the ideal ice cube shape to cocktail acidity to new-age techniques like using liquid nitrogen, the book covers it all. Bartenders looking to up their game and become master mixologists can learn a lot from this book. The recipes and techniques can take an average drink and make it special. Which in turn means more business and higher profit margins. Give the book a read and see what you can implement in your own bar.
This classic bartending book from John K. Waters is a comprehensive guide to the profession. It offers step-by-step mixing instructions, mixology term definitions, and a complete liquor index. Not to mention more than 2,000 drink recipes for the expansive mind. If youve got club soda on hand and youre not sure what drink to mix, youll have more than enough options here. This is a bartenders guide through-and-through. If youre looking for a simple cocktail guide for parties, youre looking at the wrong book. If youre looking to become a better bartender, expand your knowledge, and grow revenue, then youve found the book you need.
Bar & Cocktail Books you’ll actually use!
What books should a bartender read?
The Craft of the Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Master Bartender An essential book for all bartenders, authored by Dale DeGroff, fondly referred to as the “King of Cocktails,” tops our list of recommendations.
What is the best book on bartending?
The bartending community considers Jim Meehan’s James Beard Award-winning book one of the best publications on everything bartending. Meehan’s book examines the contemporary bar business from the inside out and includes global perspectives. It is the essential guide for anyone interested in mixology and bartending.
What is a bartender’s guide?
It’s an (almost) complete bartender’s guide and it will give a solid foundation for everything else that’s to come. It covers the history of cocktails, bartending etiquette, techniques, tools, an ingenious system for categorizing (and memorizing) cocktails, and over 300 cocktail recipes you can play around with.
Who wrote ‘the Ideal Bartender’?
Written in 1917, “The Ideal Bartender” is the first-ever cocktail book published by a Black American. The son of former slaves, Mr. Bullock would eventually become a bartender at the famed Pendennis Club, as well as The St. Louis Country Club. His hospitality and cocktails charmed the world.