Drink Like a Man: The Only Cocktail Guide Anyone Really Needs

by Ross McCammon (Editor), Ryan D'Agostino (Editor), David Wondrich (Editor)

Drink Like a Man distills 83 years of drinking wisdom into this indispensable manual. With more than 125 cocktail recipes and 100 photos, including 13 drinks every man should know how to make, variations on classic cocktails, and drinks batched large enough to satisfy a crowd, it's an essential guide to cocktail making, but also a manual for how to drink. As a host, at a bar, with a friend, on your own—whatever the situation may be—Esquire offers wisdom, encouragement, and instructions. And also a damn good drink.

Genres: Cocktails, Food, Cookbooks, Reference, Cooking

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2016

About the author

Ross McCammon has been a senior editor at Esquire magazine since 2005, where he’s responsible for the magazine’s coverage of pop culture, drinking, cars, and etiquette. He has edited Esquire’s “Dubious Achievement Awards” and the long-running annual feature “The Best Bars in America,” writes the monthly feature “The Rules,” and is a frequent contributor to the magazine’s back-page humor section “This Way Out.” For three years he has been the business etiquette columnist at Entrepreneur magazine. His humor has been collected in Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney’s Humor Category, edited by Dave Eggers. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Rob Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you can have only one cocktail book (sad you) this would be an awfully good choice. It's a book that shows you, without an ounce of pretension, how a little care and the right ingredients really do make for a better drink, both in the glass and as a social experience. And the cocktails chosen are a solid cross-section of genuine classics. The cheeky yet reverent wordplay of co-editor David Wondrich is in abundance, making it a very fun read. My advice? Start with the first cocktail, the Old Fashioned, and progress drink by drink through the whole book. Though not in the same evening, of course.

[John G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe not the ONLY cocktail book you’ll ever need, but one you shouldn’t be without. This book is unapologetic about the joy of drinking, why we drink, how we drink correctly and with style, but not in an elitist, snobbish manner, more of a bold swagger really. This book is excellent in helping you understand how to mix cocktails as well as the tools and methods you should use.

[Aaron Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dumb title, good recipes

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gateway drug into the inner-workings of craft cocktails. I've made a few recipes in here, however I bought it more for the beautiful graphic design (I am a designer myself). It looks great sitting on top of the shelf of my home bar!

The Bloody Mary, Manhattan, and Gin & Tonic are my go-to drinks, however I found some of the recipes are better elsewhere (google search) as most of these are all "New York" style and bland honestly. Also, I never new New Yorkers were so serious about their fine cocktails — this book opened my eyes and set me straight!

[Mark Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the little extra side stories throughout the book

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book built around a structure of snarky contemporary Esquire articles as well as classics…and in my main domain of classic and three-ingredient cocktails, I can detect no flaws.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book of talky cocktail recipes, if you don't mind the "cool dude" mansplaining at you. Content is good. Photos are lovely, though none are particularly distinct from one another.