The sun has set on summer and we’ve immediately hit the books—the cocktail books, that is. Over the years there have been many great published works that combine enlightening facts and histories with brilliant photos and recipes. The earliest known compendium of techniques and drinks was mixology founding father Jerry Thomas’s Bartender’s Guide in the mid-1800s—and we’ve since lived happily ever after, with countless books that explore and inform the way we drink from almost every conceivable angle. 

This month we’ve taken three exciting new releases and packed a gin-centric sample from each into our Book Box: The First Gineration. As with many debuts, you’ll find the contents herein delightfully eye-opening and difficult to put down. Subscribe now through September 30th to get yours—it’ll ship the week of October 1st.

Drinking Like Ladies: 75 Modern Cocktails from the World’s Leading Female Bartenders, by Misty Kalkofen and Kirsten Amann, contains recipes and toasts to the unsung heroes of women’s history and aims to proudly redefine the relationship between a lady and what’s in her glass.

Misty has spent over twenty years honing her craft and has been featured in Bon Appétit Magazine, Imbibe Magazine, Food & Wine cocktail edition, and more. She’s the founder of the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of the Endangered Cocktail (LUPEC) and in 2013 joined the Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal team.

Kirsten has over fifteen years’ experience in the beverage industry as a brand ambassador, publicist, bartender, and writer. She’s a founding member of the Boston chapters of LUPEC and the United States Bartenders Guild and writes a monthly cocktail column for the Massachusetts’ Beverage Business Magazine under the byline “Pink Lady.”

Kate Durgin created the fruity, tangy, herbal Kitashima for Drinking Like Ladies to honor activist Tsuyako Kitashima. “Sox,” as she was nicknamed, lived a full life, from her family’s California strawberry farm, to multiple internment camps, to center stage advocating for justice and reparations for similarly affected Japanese-Americans. Kate nods to Sox’s heritage with a complex and pleasing strawberry-shiso shrub (to which we added sour plum, replacing the umeshu—which we aren’t able to ship—in the original recipe) that spans the globe in taste and influence. Brightened with lemon and topped with soda water, The Kitashima makes for a robust and celebratory gin drink quite befitting its namesake.

Kate has traveled and worked in many great cities. Her aim in bartending and the hospitality industry is to provide experiences that are curated to allow guests to enjoy what they love, to experiment to find new adventures, and to provide a little entertainment along the way.

What do a longtime professional wrestling announcer and the wonderful flavors of India have in common? One taste of the Gorilla Monsoon, a spin on the perennial favorite gin and tonic, and the answer will reveal itself. Author Maggie Hoffman turned to Brian Griffiths to deliver a (figurative, don’t worry) body slam of flavor with the compelling choice of a spiced and slightly savory garam masala syrup and a dose of richly perfumed mango chutney to the familiar trio of gin, tonic, and lime. Maggie’s book The One-Bottle Cocktail features a bounty of creative and tasty recipes and each utilizes just one spirit—a mission near and dear to our hearts!

Maggie is the author of The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 Recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit, which was a top-four finalist for the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Best New Cocktail or Bartending Book of 2018. She founded the drinks section of Serious Eats in 2011 and served as the managing editor of the site. She currently reviews bars for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Brian has lived in Miami for over a decade. Formerly of Lucali and Broken Shaker, he applies his love of subtropical ingredients and kitschy style to his cocktails and establishments.

The classic Pink Gin, a simple combo of gin and Angostura bitters, was created by the British Royal Navy and enjoyed on the high seas in the mid-nineteenth century. Leave it to bitters wizard Sother Teague in his brand new book I’m Just Here For the Drinks to re-engineer this two-ingredient icon and push it a step further in both color and flavor. Enter the Red Gin.

A hint of sweetness is introduced via a pomegranate-packed grenadine, and Peychaud’s is his bitters of choice for its spice profile and punchy red color. It’s an old-fashioned drink in composition and inspiration—exactly the type of clever headturner you’ll find on each of his pages.

Sother is the Beverage Director at acclaimed New York bitters bar Amor y Amargo, partner at both the tea-driven Blue Quarter and French-inspired Windmill, co-founder of NYC charity pop-up bar Coup, and host of The Speakeasy on Heritage Radio Network. In 2018, he was honored with Wine Enthusiast’s Mixologist of the Year award. His first book, I’m Just Here For The Drinks: A Guide to Spirits, Drinking, and More Than 100 Extraordinary Cocktails, was released in August 2018.

The Book Box: The First Gineration is one assignment worth getting excited for—and some lucky subscribers will be receiving extra credit. We’ll be scattering six “golden tickets” within this month’s shipment. If you find one, let us know—and we’ll send you a copy of one of the three books!

So ready your supplies and don’t be late for this tasty tour of the current libation-focused literary landscape!

📚 🤓 🍸,
The Shaker & Spoon Team

*not vegan: nothing