The Cocktail Workshop: An Essential Guide to Classic Drinks and How to Make Them Your Own

The student becomes the barmaster in this fun, easy-to-follow tutorial. The reading list for this independent study in mixology consists of short chapters covering 20 classic cocktails. Each is accompanied by a brief history of the drink’s origins; three adaptations that “proceed up a ladder of increasing complexity”; and is rounded out by a “workshop” assignment, which might involve learning a specific technique and creating a unique ingredient (such as making oleo-saccharum, an 18th-century cocktail syrup derived from citrus and sugar). Whiskey sour aficionados will be amused to learn that any drink built on a foundation of spirit, citrus, and sweetener (including daiquiris and margaritas) could essentially be called a “sour,” and will undoubtedly appreciate the New York sour riff—which floats a layer of red wine atop the drink’s foam. Martini enthusiasts shouldn’t skip the workshop on homemade vermouth (which takes two weeks to mature). Elsewhere, homemade Earl Grey syrup puts a teatime twist on the French 75. Novices and connoisseurs alike will find this a bottomless resource. Agent: Clare Pelino, Pro Literary. (Oct.)