The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual

No animals were harmed in the creation of this collection of classically inspired nogs, fizzes, smashes, and toddies. Dead Rabbit is a downtown Manhattan drinking establishment, considered by many critics to be one of the world’s best places to sip a flip. The name comes from the Irish gang that once controlled that neighborhood, and Muldoon, the bar’s founder, and McGarry, its manager and bartender, hail from Belfast, Ireland, where they ran the prestigious Merchant Bar. The first 50 pages of this collection are given over to their story of learning the ropes, making it big, and risking it all in America. If it is not quite Angela’s Ashes, it is a compelling read for bar-history aficionados. The drink recipes are all original variations of old-timey potables, broken out into 11 chapters that follow a time line across the mid-19th and early-20th centuries. They range from a low-key communal punch to a highfalutin gin and vermouth bijou with a couple dashes of absinthe. Despite all the European influence and Americana, the ingredient lists are often vast and obscure. For instance, an 1862 mix of hard cider and rum known as a stone fence is reimagined here with Calvados, bitters, crème de poire, green chartreuse, and cidre bouché. But for dedicated mixologists, this will only serve to encourage. Agent: Allen O’Shea Literary Agency. (Oct.)