Nothing beats curling up with a good book when it’s frosty outside. Here’s our pick of the top tomes released this winter, including a guide to Scottish gins and a manual on sparkling cocktails.

Here is our pick of the top spirits books for winter

As we embrace the bitter cold in the northern hemisphere, spirits lovers may be swapping nights out on the town for at-home relaxation.

This season, imbibers can indulge in new books looking at cocktail creations for the home bartender, a manual on presenting drinks with style and an insider’s guide to distilling.

Click through the following pages to discover our selection of the top new spirits books to hit the shelves this season.

Have you read a new book that deserves a spot in our line-up? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem by Sean Muldoon

The second book from revered New York bar The Dead Rabbit tells the story of how its cocktail menus are produced in epic graphic novel style.

Dead Rabbit founders Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, along with bar manager Jillian Vose, have completely revamped the acclaimed bar’s menu, which features tales of personalities from the bar world.

The book features 100 cocktail recipes, along with recipes for special tinctures and syrups.

The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem is available to buy on Amazon in the UK for £19.60 and in the US for US$17.47. 

Gin Galore: A Journey to the source of Scotland’s Gin by Sean Murphy

Scottish gin is enjoying a spike in popularity, fuelled by the boom of small ‘craft’ distillers.

Gin Galore showcases this trend with a guide to 50 Scottish gins and the stories behind them. The book includes an expert introduction to the history of gin, gin styles, garnishes and the variety of traditional and more contemporary botanicals. This compendium is a treat for fans of all things Scottish and all things gin.

Gin Galore: A Journey to the source of Scotland’s Gin is available to buy on Amazon for £11.34 (US$15). 

Let’s Get Fizzical by Pippa Guy

 

The debut novel from Pippa Guy, senior bartender at the world-renowned American Bar at The Savoy, gives an in-depth look at cocktails made with Prosecco, Champagne and other sparkling wines.

From Bellinis and Mimosas to the Aperol Spritz and French 75, the book features more than 50 recipes for the bubbly cocktail lover.

It also includes an introductory chapter that explains the differences between sparkling wines along with essential cocktail shaking techniques for cocktail parties.

The book teaches you how to make your own syrups and infusions, pair flavours and present your drinks with style.

Let’s Get Fizzical is available to buy on Amazon for £9.18 (US$12).

Kitchen Cocktails: Recipes of the London Cocktail Club by JJ Goodman

Created by London Cocktail Club owner JJ Goodman, Kitchen Cocktails aims to inspire at-home cocktail creations using “everyday” ingredients, such as bacon, Coco Pops and Angel Delight.

Kitchen Cocktails also swaps certain traditional cocktail utensils, instead turning to items that can be found easily at home.

Chapters in the book cover different occasions, such as apéritifs and party starters, to hangover “cures” and “retox” cocktails.

Kitchen Cocktails: Recipes of the London Cocktail Club is available to buy from kitchen-cocktails.com at an RRP of £29.99 (US$39).

Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions by Alex Day, Nick Fauchald and David Kaplan

From the authors of the best-selling cocktail book Death & Co, Cocktail Codex takes a look at the craft of mixing drinks using the authors’ ‘root cocktails’ approach.

Alex Day, Nick Fauchald and David Kaplan, the visionaries behind noted New York bar Death & Co, reveal their simple approach to mastering cocktails: the ‘root recipes’, six templates that encompass all cocktails: the Old Fashioned, Martini, Daiquiri, Sidecar, Whisky Highball, and Flip.

Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions is available to buy on Amazon for £15.68 (US$20.63).

The Curious Bartender Volume II: The New Testament of Cocktails by Tristan Stephenson

The follow-up tome to Tristan Stephenson’s first book, The Curious Bartender Volume II features 64 cocktails – 32 perfected classics and 32 game-changing reinventions of classics.

The front of the book includes details on current trends in mixology, with new material on carbonation and fermentation. Sections from the original book have been either updated or entirely re-written.

The Curious Bartender Volume II: The New Testament of Cocktails is available to buy on Amazon for £10.24 (US13.50). 

The Art of Distilling, Revised and Updated by Bill Owens, Alan Dikty and Andrew Faulkner

The Art of Distilling, Revised and Updated presents an insider’s guide to distilling and its techniques.

Distilling Institute founder Bill Owens will teach you how master distillers transform water and grain into spirits such as whisky, gin, vodka and brandy.

Beginning with a brief history of distilling and introduction to the process itself, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the art of distilling today.

The book has been updated to include growth and development in the distilling industry over the last 10 years.

The Art of Distilling, Revised and Updated is available to buy on Amazon for £16.93 (US$22.27).