December Book Club: Time to Toast the New Year!

From the "bible of all cocktail books" to a rare Prohibition era song book, this month's coffee table book club will get your year off in style.   

Death & Co.: Modern Classic Cocktails

Ask pretty much any mixologist and they will cite Death & Co. as the cocktail bible. Clocking in at over 500 recipes, the book is not only filled with unique and innovative flavor combinations, it also serves as, “the complete education to buying and using spirits.”

The Savoy Cocktail Book

Gentility mixed with prodigious debauchery characterized London's high society in the 1930s. When The Savoy Cocktail Book was first published, it became an emblem of the era.  Also, the illustrations painted throughout are outstanding. 

Chiltern Firehouse: The Cookbook

If you're looking to a more modern zeitgeist, look no further than the Chiltern Firehouse Cookbook – the first half is dedicated to cocktailing. Popular amongst former presidents, royals, Hollywood celebs, and the international jet set, Chiltern Firehouse is hotelier André Balazs’ pièce de résistance in London’s Marylebone neighborhood. The book invites you into this impossibly glamorous world with guides to all the classic cocktails as well as instructions on making crystal clear homemade ice and yummy syrups.  

The Home Bartender’s Guide and Song Book (1930) 

Published at the end of prohibition, this is as legit a cocktail book as you can find. Proving the old adage that every generation thinks they invented sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, the “songs” (which are more just naughty limericks) and illustrations are racy enough to shock our 21st century sensibilities. The recipes range from delicious to mysterious. For example: 

The Canvas Back: Three parts Whiskey, Two parts Vermouth Cinzano, One part White Satin Gin, Two parts lemon juice, five drops Curacao, Five drops Angostura Bitters, Shake well with ice and serve.