However, I’ve never been a fan of the recipes found in the Mr. Boston’s Guide.

I always try to talk someone into something better, “Lemon Drop, huh? Have you ever tried a Sidecar?”, but when that fails, it’s nice to know that I’ve got the recipe for just about anything in my little library behind the bar.

I can never remember what goes in a Brave Bull, a Sex on the Beach, a Purple Hooter or a Hop Skip and Go Naked. I don’t get orders for them that often, and I don’t really care that much.

But when someone comes in to my bar and I can’t convince them to try one of our fabulous cocktails, I’m always more than happy to make them whatever they’d like – I can almost always find the recipe in the Black Book.

In my experience, the Bartender’s Black Book is indispensable. I’ve purchased one for every bartender I’ve ever trained.

I’ve also found great inspiration in the Diffordguide series of cocktail books.

Diffordguide to Cocktails
Simon Difford
http://www.amazon.com/Bartenders-Black-Book-Eighth-Classic/dp/1891267310

Bartender’s Black Book
Stephen Kittredge
http://www.amazon.com/Bartenders-Black-Book-Eighth-Classic/dp/1891267310

Have you checked out “The Art of the Bar”? It’s one of my “new” favorites. Check it out if you get a chance.

I did have the good fortune to meet Dale DeGroff in Las Vegas earlier this year, and he is as pleasant as he is brilliant. His book “The Craft of the Cocktail” was on my original list until I remembered the Harold McGee book.

And as for Stephen Beaumont… I’ve been meaning to give his books a read for quite a while now. Gawsh, this shopping list is getting longer by the day!

Dale DeGroff is a nice guy, consummate professional and I love his “The Craft of the Cocktail” book.

Also some guy named Stephen Beaumont knows a fair bit about beers as well and has written some books that should be in every beer lover’s library. :)

I’m sure anyone reading an erudite website such as mine is familiar with the works of Bernard DeVoto, but in a nutshell he was one of the great American historians, a celebrated writer and editor and the curator of Mark Twain’s writings.

In 1951 he wrote The Hour, which to the best of my understanding is a treatise on the sacred qualities of the great American bar. An excerpt:

Never be cynical about bars, though it is right to be wary. A glory of American culture is that there is no place so far and no village so small that you cannot find a bar when you want to. (True, in some of the ruder states it must present itself fictitiously as a club or nostalgically as a speakeasy.) Many are more resourceful than the label admits, many others water their whiskey, many are bad or even lousy. Amost all provide instructions for the inquiring mind in the cubic capacity of glassware and how the eye may be misled by the shape and the hand by weight. But do not scorn any of them, not even the neon-lighted or the television-equipped, for any may sustain you in a needful hour. And each of us knows a fair number of good bars and perhaps even a great one. The good bar extends across America, the quiet place, the place that answers to your mood, the upholder of the tavern’s great tradition, the welcomiing shelter and refuge and sanctuary — and any man of virtue and studious habits may count on finding it. If you hear of any I’ve missed, let me know. Let us all know.

Yeah, it looks like something right up my alley. You can find a few fairly expensive copies here, but as far as I know it’s not in reprint.

Oh, and that excerpt came from here.

The Beer Companion is a good option, and I would highly recommend Jackson’s book on Belgian beers. There are a lot of questionable titles in the beer field, but both of those are solid.

Eh, looks like the Companion is out of print and Amazon is quoting ridiculous prices. You can borrow my copy, or ask Ryan if he’s got one.