Reading List: Fall Drink Books

Fall drink books have arrived, and this year’s lineup of titles offers plenty of opportunity to elevate your beverage IQ with topics covering everything from beer to cider to wine to cocktails.

Grasping the Grape: Demystifying Grape Varieties to Help You Discover the Wines You Love
by Maryse Chevriere
If you’ve ever been baffled by wine descriptions like “tightly coiled” or “fast, slippery, sappy,” then Maryse Chevriere is the wine writer for you. A sommelier and James Beard Award-winning humorist for her Instagram account @freshcutgardenhose, Chevriere brings her signature levity and whimsical illustrations to her new book, which breaks down 30-plus of the most prominent grape varietals from Albariño to Zinfandel with a brief history and fun facts for each, plus tips for finding your new favorite wine. August 20.

Cocktails with a Twist
by Kara Newman
With five cocktail books under her belt, including Shake Stir Sip and Nightcap, Kara Newman’s newest is right in line with her style of playful approachability. Cocktails with a Twist presents the concept of cocktail branches—riffs that can be created by building upon a classic. Flip to the section on the Gimlet, for example, to get the drink’s history and classic recipe. Then, open up the fold-out pages to reveal relatives like the Southside, Last Word and Corpse Reviver #2. Expand your repertoire with 21 classic recipes and 141 drinks total. August 27.

The Cider Revival: Dispatches from the Orchardby Jason Wilson
Keeping in line with the same signature storytelling style that made Boozehound and Godforsaken Grapes entertaining travelogues, Jason Wilson makes a clear case for why cider is back and better than ever. For cider nerds, it’s an enjoyable meander through the who’s-who of the cider world, and for novices, Wilson does a fine job of explaining the drink’s idiosyncrasies in an easily digestible manner. September 3.

The Martini Cocktail: A Meditation on the World’s Greatest Drink, with Recipes by Robert Simonson
Following up his 2014 book, Old Fashioned, Imbibe contributor Robert Simonson has tackled the single-topic drinks exploration again with The Martini Cocktail. The book is as beautiful as it is insightful, and Simonson does an excellent job of tracing the obscure roots of the Martini and offers a well-rounded collection of both historic and modern recipes. September 17.

Drink Better Beer: Discover the Secrets of the Brewing Expertsby Joshua M. Bernstein
Imbibe contributing editor and all-around beer authority Joshua Bernstein returns to press in September with a new book on his beverage of choice. Gathering insight from more than 100 beer experts, Drink Better Beer shares the basics of navigating your local beer store like a pro, and how best to enjoy your brewed haul. September 17.

Vignette: Stories of Life and Wine in 100 Bottles
by Jane Lopes
Jane Lopes’ beverage career has taken her across the world, from Catbird Seat in Nashville to Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan to Attica in Melbourne, Australia. Along the way she became a Master Sommelier, and her first book is as much personal storytelling as it is a guide to wine. In Vignette, Lopes weaves her personal narrative together with educational passages through 100 bottles of (mostly) wine and charming illustrations that depict, for example, the vine fungus botrytis as explained by the sweet-rotten behavior of Botrytis the cat. September 19.

How to Cocktail
by America’s Test Kitchen
As their name suggests, the folks at America’s Test Kitchen are sticklers about testing recipes, and their first-ever cocktail book takes the same rigorous approach. Organized by method of mixing, How to Cocktail not only offers up a slew of classic recipes and a handful of originals, but also explains how to properly use bar tools, breaks down the most common base spirits and mixers, and provides instructions for DIY syrups and infusions. It’s a perfect beginner’s guide for the cocktail-curious. October 8.

Last Call: Bartenders on Their Final Drink and the Wisdom and Rituals of Closing Time by Brad Thomas Parsons
Cocktail books typically lean in the direction of fun and entertainment—and while the latest book from Parsons (Bitters, Amaro) certainly doesn’t skip out on the good times, he strikes a tone more elegiac with Last Call, asking bartenders heavy questions about mortality and legacy. In 23 cities across the country, Parsons inquires about what their final drink would be—and the question opens a wider discussion into bar rituals, cocktail culture, and the inherent appeal of these welcoming rooms in the wee hours of the night. October 22.

The NoMad Cocktail Book by Leo Robitschek
Classy and compact, the new cocktail book from the famed New York hotel bar The NoMad is a stately addition to the world of bar-focused recipe books. Ideal for folks who are comfortable making advanced drinks at home, there’s no lengthy explanations of how to make cocktails, just a whopping collection of 300 recipes (more than 100 are new to the book) paired with elegant illustrations. October 22.

A Brief History of Lager: 500 Years of the World’s Favourite Beerby Mark Dredge
The lager family tree, which includes styles ranging from Pilsner to Dunkel, and its historic emergence is charted with carbonation-sharp precision in the latest from bestselling beer author Mark Dredge. Dredge defines the basics (what’s a lager?) in addition to excavating the beer’s ancestors and exploring the transformation of the style once it reached American shores. Full of shareable tidbits, Dredge’s book explains it all in an entertaining fashion, weaving in personal stories to keep the tale of the centuries-old lager fresh as ever. October 29.

Vineyards
by Fred Lyon
In the 1940s, Fred Lyon was an amateur photographer and wine lover living in San Francisco. Combining his interests, Lyon spent the next seven decades photographing vineyards across the globe, all while running his own small vineyard in Napa. His new book, the coffee-table style Vineyards, is a gorgeous retrospective of his photography, illustrating the nature, history and humanity found among the vines. November 5.