J_Ozzy

oh, solid callout; I read it over the holidays and definitely enjoyed it. A worthy reference complement to The Oxford Companion, particularly for filling in detail and developments in more recent years (past the Oxford's self-imposed cut-off) ... and now I can't find my copy, it seems I've got some investigating to do

Coming Soon (and releases into the summer, per Amazon's listing) The Connaught Bar: Cocktail Recipes and Iconic Creations (Agostino Perrone, Giorgio Bargiani, Maura Milia) April 2024 The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home (Nicola Nice, foreword by Robert Simonson) April 2024 A Quick Drink: The Speed Rack Guide to Winning Cocktails for Any Mood (Ivy Mix, Lynnette Marrero, Megan Krigbaum) April 2024 The Bartender's Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar (Jim Meehan, Bart Sasso, Emma Janzen) June 2024 Liqueur: A Global History (Lesley Jacobs Solmonson) July 2024 2023 release retrospective: The Maison Premiere Almanac, Tropical Standard, and The Ice Book were all solid additions to the repertoire. The Maison Premiere Almanac covered not only the drinks and service program at the now venerable Williamsburg establishment, but also much of the initial design process and detail on the initial open and evolution (what worked, what did not). Tropical Standard is both a creative and analytical take on the tiki and tiki-adjacent drinks landscape. The Ice Book is the practical summation (along with some further ideas around creative execution) of more than a decade of Camper English's deep dive into the near-universal cocktail ingredient, direct and to the point in a small form factor. Honorable mention to For the Love of Cocktails (Evelyn Chick) as a very well-rounded home bartending tome covering the gamut of novel full-proof, low-ABV, and non-alcoholic cocktail options. Back-catalog pickup mention to 2022's Dicktales, an intensely personal journey through the stories, notes, and letters of the late Dick Bradsell's life and career, an (strong arguments can be made for the pre-eminent) anchoring force of the early cocktail renaissance in London.

An early look forward into some 2023 releases: The Maison Premiere Almanac (Joshua Boissy, Krystof Zizka) April 2023 The Ice Book (Camper English) May 2023 Tropical Standard (Garret Richard, Ben Schaffer) May 2023 The Book of Cocktail Ratios (Michael Ruhlman, Marcella Kriebel) May 2023 How to Fix the Perfect Cocktail (Adam Elan-Elmegirab) August 2023 Drinks With Friends (Sother Teague, Dale DeGroff) February 2024 2022 release retrospective: I particularly enjoyed (in no particular order) Drink Lightly, The Bartender's Manifesto, Cure, and Paddy Drinks for original content. Drink Lightly presents an interesting take on a fun-yet-still-serious, lower-ABV program, and is a beautiful swan song to Nitecap, for those who never had the pleasure of visiting. The Bartender's Manifesto walks the reader through an impressive drink design approach, which provides an interesting contrast to that of The Cocktail Codex and other works. Cure is the bar-centric New Orleans book I've wanted ever since Rogue / Beta Cocktails was released over a decade ago. Paddy Drinks is a serious deep-dive into Irish whiskey, backed up by the talented folks from The Dead Rabbit. Honorable mention to Modern Classic Cocktails as an excellent curation of great drinks from the late-80's forward.

Spring 2022 new/updated releases: Soon Drink Lightly (Natasha David); April 2022 Claridge’s – The Cocktail Book; April 2022 Looking Forward The Bartender's Manifesto (Toby Maloney, Emma Janzen) June 2022 Doctors and Distillers (Camper English) July 2022 The Art & Craft of Coffee Cocktails (Jason Clark) September 2022 Modern Classic Cocktails (Robert Simonson) October 2022 Raising the Bar (Brett Adams, Jacob Grier) October 2022 A Bartender's Guide to the World (Lauren Mote, James O. Fraioli) October 2022 Cure (Neal Bodenheimer, Emily Timberlake) October 2022 Drinks With Friends (Sother Teague, Dale DeGroff); February 2024 (!) (per Amazon.ca)

Recent and upcoming 2022 releases on my radar: The Way of the Cocktail: Japanese Traditions, Techniques, and Recipes (Julia Momosé, Emma Janzen) released November 2021 The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Noah Rothbaum, Dave Wondrich); released November 2021 Death & Co Welcome Home (Alex Day, Nick Fauchald et al.); released November 2021 The Regency Book Of Drinks (Amy Finley, Niege Borges); December 2021 Paddy Drinks: The World of Modern Irish Whiskey Cocktails (Jillian Vose, Muldoon & McGarry); February 2022 Drink Lightly (Natasha David); April 2022 Claridge’s – The Cocktail Book; April 2022 The Bartender's Manifesto (Toby Maloney, Emma Janzen) May 2022 Doctors and Distillers (Camper English) May 2022 Drinks With Friends (Sother Teague, Dale DeGroff); August 2022

Thanks for the heads up, I'm very much looking forward to reading this encyclopedia.

Jameson Cold Brew, in anticipation of Irish Coffee season

I've heard it works quite well in a Bloody Mary and other savoury cocktails of that nature, in the place of the traditional vodka base.

If cost is no object, come by Montreal once the province opens up again; there's a world-class cocktail bar here (The Cloakroom) with most of the Buffalo Trace antique collection and Van Winkle ranges (minus the ryes) along with a few even rarer bottles, though they are all priced at aftermarket valuations. Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof, which had limited releases in Ontario and Quebec last year (and is pretty widely available south of the border), is really quite something; I'm not generally a JD fan, but this bottle won me over.

My current slate of 2021-2022 anticipated pickups: Mezcal And Tequila Cocktails (Robert Simonson); April 2021 Cocktail Dive Bar: New Orlean's Twelve Mile Limit (T. Cole Newton); May 2021 The Cocktail Seminars (Brian Hoefling); May 2021 The New Kindred Spirits (Paul Pacult); May 2021 The Japanese Art of the Cocktail (Masahiro Urushido, Michael Anstendig); June 2021 The Big Book of Amaro (Matteo Zed); August 2021 The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Noah Rothbaum, Dave Wondrich); October 2021 Death & Co Welcome Home (Alex Day, Nick Fauchald et al.); November 2021 Paddy Drinks: The World of Modern Irish Whiskey Cocktails (Jillian Vose, Muldoon & McGarry); February 2022 Drinks With Friends (Sother Teague, Dale DeGroff); August, 2022

yes, aged peach brandy (suitable for 19th century recipes) unfortunately carries a significant niche price premium. If you're looking for a viable substitute for something like Fish House Punch, a high-quality apricot / peach liqueur will get you close, with the appropriate modifications to balance sweetness.

If you've got the budget, Masters of Malt has a recent release from Koval (2 bottles left as of this posting) https://www.masterofmalt.com/fruit-brandy/koval/koval-susan-for-president-peach-brandy/

Looking forward through to 2021 (barring any pandemic delays): Spirits of Latin America (Ivy Mix); May 25, 2020 Drink What You Want (John deBary); June 2, 2020 Unvarnished (Eric Alperin, Deborah Stoll); June 23, 2020 The New Craft of the Cocktail (Dale DeGroff); September 22, 2020 Drinks With Friends (Sother Teague, Dale DeGroff); April 13, 2021 The Japanese Art of the Cocktail (Masahiro Urushido, Michael Anstendig); June 1, 2021

A few more for on my list: A Drinkable Feast (Philip Greene) Cocktail Codex (Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, David Kaplan) Drinking Distilled: A User Manual (Jeffrey Morgenthaler) Wild Mixology (Wood-ing, Valeria Margherita Mosca) The Joy of Mixology, Revised and Updated Edition (Garry Regan)

Looking to Amazon's 2018 publication list, I see a few books I'll probably pick up: And A Bottle of Rum (Revised) - Wayne Curtis Finding Mexcal - Ron Cooper and Chantal Martineau Drink Like Ladies - Misty Kalkofen et al. I'm Just Here for the Drinks - Sother Teague Mixology & Mayhem - Muldoon and McGarry