Esquire Drinks: An Opinionated & Irreverent Guide to Drinking With 250 Drink Recipes

by David Wondrich

“Nearly every crucial fact regarding cocktail construction...is elevated by Wondrich’s erudite and estimably sharp wit.”— Wine & Spirits

Anyone can lift a glass—but drinking with class, taste, and wisdom is a completely different matter. David Wondrich, Esquire magazine’s renowned “drink pundit,” is here to remedy that sad situation and restore a tradition of intelligent, sophisticated drinking. Wondrich simply provides the liveliest history of drinks imaginable, serving up wit and wisdom that will help you sort out the classic from the crass and master the fundamentals of mixology. The the delicious drinks themselves. The recipes, with loads of information and variants, appear on pages brightened with vintage photos that perfectly capture the spirit of each cocktail. There are daiquiris, amusingly named gin drinks like “William Seabrook’s Asylum,” a Whiskey Sour, Margarita, Vodka Martini, and a barfull more!

Genres: Cocktails, Cookbooks

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Born on the banks of the Monongahela. Raised in major urban centers. Ex-bass player, ex-English professor, ex-ragtime writer. Mixographer. Brooklynite. Likes port and Stilton and Artemus Ward.

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever read a drinks-book more snobby and superficial than this one. Even the Mr. Boston one, which is like talking with your rich great-uncle Howard about drinking. I hadn't gotten ten pages in and I was already reading for the twentieth time how careful I have to be that I don't end up at a bar drinking one of the many, MANY drinks that Esquire and/or David Wondrich feel are not cool enough or not manly enough to drink. They didn't even want to discuss the possibility of a Romulan Ale or what might go into it, because god forbid anyone notice and think you might be (gasp) a nerd. Any color other than goldish or brownish or clearish obviously means you're a juvenile and callow youth who's emotionally still in kindergarten obsessed with the color wheel. And if it doesn't have some hip, swanky story about Hemingway or Sinatra or someone, then they'll leave that drink out, too, or make a hip swanky story up. I guess maybe this snobbery goes over better with their target audience, but if so, then I thank the powers that be that I'm not in that audience. I seriously just closed it and stopped reading after the hundredth time they warned me about a drink that "will not impress people". I've read better drinks-commentary on menus at dive bars.

[Jesse D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most 2002 book I have ever read. That said, it's still a very fun read.