The Joy of Mixology
by: Gary Regan

Clarkson Potter

A truly unique guide to the art of the cocktail, one that spends more time investigating the structure of a well made drink then simply regurgitating yet another recipe for one.

What to Drink with What you Eat
by: Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page

Bulfinch

It’s hard not to be impressed with the work of Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. With such industry favorites as Becoming A Chef (1995), Culinary Artistry (1996), Dining Out (1998), Chef’s Night Out (2001), and The New American Chef (2003) you can only expect their latest endeavor “What to Drink with What you Eat” to be a welcome addition to any library.
I was first introduced to Andrew and Karen’s work through “Culinary Artistry”. It was their extremely succinct and detailed examination into what it meant to be a chef that caught me, and it was the expansive and well researched collection of flavor pairings that then held my attention. I have since made it a habit to recommend this book to chefs and mixologists alike.

This new volume continues on with the core pattern set forth in Culinary Artistry. It similarly addresses the concepts of flavor pairings, but with the specific goal of showing how flavors can, and should, be worked together in matching both food and drink. Wine of course is the primary liquid accompaniment that will come to most people’s minds, but they don’t stop there. They expand their reach to include beer, cocktails, coffee, tea, and even how water can play a role in the culinary experience.

While there are eight chapters that make up this book, there are essentially two different roles that this book embodies. The first is reading material that provides insights and suggestions regarding how both food and drink complete one another and how famous chefs and restaurants across the country are starting to expand their culinary horizons to embrace liquid cuisines as well. The second, and perhaps most important, feature of this book is the comprehensive listings of various food products, and their recommended liquid accompaniments. This listing is then reversed, and for various liquids, they list the food flavors that would be best to be paired with them.

I feel that What to Drink with What you Eat is poised to be an important and indispensable resource for anybody in the restaurant industry, as well as for amateur culinarians who wish to expand their horizons.

The Essential Bartenders Guide
by: Robert Hess

Mud Puddle Books

The Essential Bartender’s Guide is a great overview guide on proper technique, details, recipes, and overall mixology guidance that almost anyone, regardless of their skill level, will find useful.

DIY Cocktails
by: Marcia Simmons, Jonas Halpren

Adams Media

DIY Cocktails provides a step by step guide to understanding why the "classic" cocktail recipes work, and then encouraging the reader to try their own modifications in an effort to become more comfortable with coming up with their own recipes.