Wine and Cocktail Books to Improve Your Bartending Skills

When Ariana Madix famously discovered her partner was unfaithful, the incident — known as Scandoval — captivated audiences worldwide. She has now reclaimed her power, channeling her pain into a resounding statement of strength and resilience in Single AF Cocktails. Cleverly categorized into relationship-inspired sections — Honeymoon Phase, Betrayal, Devastation, Resilience, and Ad Astra — Single AF Cocktails offers a range of boozy concoctions for whatever your mood. Full of stunning, powerful photography and never-before-told stories, Single AF Cocktails is a singular experience for the reader as they ride the rollercoaster of Ariana’s story alongside her.

From award-winning sommelier Shelley Lindgren, who has long been recognized (and now knighted!) for her promotion of lesser-known Italian wines, and acclaimed cookbook author Kate Leahy comes a user-friendly and charming guide to Italian wines two decades in the making. The dynamic storytelling duo takes you through a beautifully photographed and delightfully comprehensive journey to understand what Italian wine looks like today: the makers shaping the industry, the innovative ways farmers are adapting to climate change, and the history that paved the path for this current movement.

Wine Folly became a sensation for its inventive, easy-to-digest approach to learning about wine. Now in a new, expanded hardcover edition, Wine Folly: Magnum Edition is the perfect guide for anyone looking to take his or her wine knowledge to the next level.

Filled with beautiful full-page photographs, this book showcases the rituals and customs of sake drinking and profiles prominent rice farmers and brewers. It illustrates the different varieties of rice and the fundamental production processes from rice-polishing to aging. Readers will learn about sake tasting; various types of drinking vessels; and the fundamental flavors and styles of Japanese cuisine. Breathtaking in its sweep and allure, this uniquely comprehensive book invites enthusiasts and connoisseurs alike to immerse themselves in the history, culture, and craftsmanship behind every glass of Japan’s famed rice wine.

Take a raucous romp through the essential stages of fashioning cocktails and learn the hows and whys of bartending with acclaimed mixologist Toby Maloney and the team from The Violet Hour. This manual from a James Beard Award-winning trailblazer will have you understanding and creating original drinks like a seasoned barkeep.

Cocktail aficionado Faith Hingey provides you with recipes for 75 historic, iconic, and easy-to-make cocktails, complete with photos and handy advice that ensure you’ll make them perfectly. With this essential cocktail recipe book, you’ll be shaking and stirring up the classics from negronis and Manhattans to mint juleps and French 75s — and impressing your guests — in no time.

The definitive guide to the contemporary craft cocktail movement, Death & Co features more than 500 of the bar’s most innovative and sought-after cocktails. Filled with beautiful, evocative photography; illustrative charts and infographics; and colorful essays about the characters who fill the bar each night; Death & Co—like its namesake bar—is bold, elegant, and setting the pace for mixologists around the world.

From the world-renowned sommelier Aldo Sohm, a dynamic, essential wine guide for a new generation. This visual, user-friendly approach will inspire readers to have the confidence, curiosity, and enthusiasm to taste smarter, drink boldly, and dive headfirst fearlessly into the exciting world of wine.

An indispensable atlas of the best cocktail recipes—each fully photographed—for classic and modern drinks, whether shaken, stirred, up, or on the rocks.

The New York Times bestselling author of My Paris Kitchen serves up more than 160 recipes for trendy cocktails, quintessential aperitifs, café favorites, complementary snacks, and more. Whether you have a trip to France booked and want to know what and where to drink, or just want to infuse your next get-together with a little French flair, this rich and revealing guide will make you the toast of the town.

With boundless curiosity, humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism, professional journalist and amateur drinker, Bianca Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive NYC restaurants, California mass-market wine factories, and even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what’s the big deal about wine? What she learns will change the way you drink wine—and, perhaps, the way you live—forever.

Meehan’s Bartender Manual is acclaimed mixologist Jim Meehan’s magnum opus—and the first book of the modern era to explain the bar industry from the inside out. With chapters that mix cocktail history with professional insights from experts, this deep dive covers it all: bar design, menu development, spirits production, drink mixing technique, the craft of service and art of hospitality, and more.

Martin and Rebecca Cate, founders and owners of Smuggler’s Cove (the most acclaimed tiki bar of the modern era) take you on a colorful journey into the lore and legend of tiki: its birth as an escapist fantasy for Depression-era Americans; how exotic cocktails were invented, stolen, and re-invented; Hollywood starlets and scandals; and tiki’s modern-day revival, in this James Beard Award-winning cocktail book.

The first definitive reference book to describe, region-by-region, how the great wines of Europe should taste. This will be the go-to guide for aspiring sommeliers, wine aficionados who want to improve their blind tasting skills, and amateur enthusiasts looking for a straightforward and visceral way to understand and describe wine.

From the team behind Death & Co, Cocktail Codex is a comprehensive primer on the craft of mixing drinks that employs the authors’ unique “root cocktails” approach to give drink-makers of every level the tools to understand, execute, and improvise both classic and original cocktails.

In this groundbreaking and deeply personal book, Ron Cooper—a leading voice in the artisanal mezcal movement, and the person largely responsible for popularizing the spirit in the United States—shares everything he knows about this storied, culturally rich, and now hugely in-demand spirit, along with 40 recipes.

There are few greater pleasures in life than enjoying a wonderful glass of wine. So why does finding and choosing one you like seem so stressful? In The New Wine Rules, acclaimed wine writer Jon Bonné explains everything you need to know in simple, beautifully illustrated, easy-to-digest tidbits. And the news is good! For example: A wine’s price rarely reflects its quality. You can drink rosé any time of year. Don’t save a great bottle for anything more than a rainy day.

Design, cocktail, and culinary enthusiasts Eric Prum and Josh Williams realized that while cocktail bars have sprouted up just about everywhere, good drinks still couldn’t be found in the one place where they always mixed them: at home with friends. So, from their Brooklyn workshop, where they designed, created, and launched The Mason Shaker, they also created Shake. One part instructional recipe book and one part photo journey through their year of cocktail crafting, the book is a simple and inspirational expression of their seasonal, straightforward approach to drinks and entertaining.

The story of how Julian Van Winkle III, the caretaker of the most coveted cult Kentucky Bourbon whiskey in the world, fought to protect his family’s heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears, in a world where authenticity, like his product, is in very short supply.

With its studious devotion to tradition, craftsmanship, and hospitality, Japanese cocktail culture is an art form treated with reverence. In this essential guide, Japanese American bartender Julia Momosé takes us on a journey into this realm. She educates and inspires while breaking down master techniques and delving into the soul of the culture.

A delicious, comprehensive playbook that pairs 75 wine styles—including where and who to buy them from—with 75 recipes that complement them perfectly.

The renowned cocktail bible, fully revised and updated by the legendary bartender who set off the cocktail craze—featuring over 100 brand-new recipes, all-new photography, and an up-to-date history of the cocktail.

The Essential Bar Book is full of indispensable information about everything boozy that’s good to drink. This easy-to-navigate A-to-Z guide covers it all, from the tools of the trade to the history and mythology behind classic and modern drinks, and features 115 recipes for the world’s most important cocktails.

A compact illustrated guide to the emerging and enormously popular category of natural wine, a style that focuses on minimal intervention, lack of additives, and organic and biodynamic growing methods.

Gary Regan has revised his original tome for the 15th anniversary with new material: many more cocktail recipes—including smart revisions to the originals—and fascinating information on the drink making revival that has popped up in the past decade, confirming once again that this is the only cocktail reference you need.

The path to drinking wine with confidence begins with this very informative, very relatable, very entertaining book, thanks to award-winning sommelier and restaurateur Grant Reynolds and acclaimed writer and founder of The Infatuation, Chris Stang. From grape to glass, this highly readable, charmingly illustrated guide will teach you everything you need to know to enjoy wine.

At their moody and atmospheric West Village bar-restaurant Employees Only, master mixologists Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric can regale you with colorful tales of cocktail origins — or just pour you a mean drink. In Speakeasy, Kosmas and Zaric take their inspiration from traditional favorites, then use the finest spirits, the freshest ingredients, and a good measure of reverence for their craft to elevate the mixed drink to artisanal status.

With its rich history, stunning photography, and impeccable recipes, The Old-Fashioned is a celebration of one of America’s greatest bibulous achievements. It is a necessary addition to any true whiskey—or cocktail—lover’s bookshelf, and destined to become a classic on par with its namesake beverage.

From Peter Liem comes this groundbreaking guide to the modern wines of Champagne—a region that in recent years has undergone one of the most dramatic transformations in the wine-growing world. This luxurious box set includes seven vintage vineyard maps by Louis Larmat. With extensive grower and vintner profiles, as well as a fascinating look at Champagne’s history and lore, Champagne explores this legendary wine as never before.

Amaro is the first book to demystify the ever-expanding, bittersweet world, and is a must-have for any home cocktail enthusiast or industry professional. With more than 100 recipes for amaro-centric cocktails, DIY amaro, and even amaro-spiked desserts, you’ll be living (and drinking) la dolce vita.

A field guide to the new world of wine, featuring an overview of today’s most exciting regions and easy-to-use advice on properly tasting wine, discovering under-the-radar gems, and finding the perfect bottle for any occasion.

A James Beard Award-nominated bartender explores the history and culture of Latin American spirits in this stunningly photographed travelogue—with 100+ irresistible cocktails featuring tequila, rum, pisco, and more.

Cocktail writer and historian David Wondrich presents the colorful, little-known history of classic American drinks—and the ultimate mixologist’s guide—in this engaging homage to Jerry Thomas, father of the American bar. This colorful and good-humored volume is a must-read for anyone who appreciates the timeless appeal of a well-made drink—and the uniquely American history behind it.