Modern Classic Cocktails: 60+ Stories and Recipes from the New Golden Age in Drinks

When contemporary bartenders began to revive the great drinks of bygone days, they combed through countless sources to identify cocktails which had either been forgotten or disconnected from what made them great.

Arguing that we are now in a second heydey of great mixology, Robert Simonson, a respected authority on the history of cocktails who is a regular contributor to The New York Times, offers here 60 drinks that he believes will endure for future generations.

Paying tribute to the bartenders who developed or refined them, Simonson makes a convincing case for the likes of the Amaretto Sour (saved from being déclassée by the insight of Jeffrey Morgenthaler) and the Bramble, which already seems like an enduring staple.

To be honest, a number of these drinks were new to us. And maybe that's the advantage of turning to someone with Simonson's background, who has the experience and long view to introduce us to good, new things.

(If you prefer the more established popular standards, consider Simonson's Three-Ingredient Cocktails.)

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.