Speed Rack founders create cocktail book

From award-winning bartenders Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix with co-writer Megan Krigbaum, A Quick Drink is due out this April.

A Quick Drink: The Speed Rack Guide to Winning Cocktails for Any Mood will feature over 100 recipes from more than 80 international women+ contributors. The book, which will be published by Abrams, is set for a release date of 30 April.

Founded in 2011, women-only bartending competition Speed Rack has raised over US$1.5 million for breast cancer education, prevention, and research, as participants compete head-to-head in timed challenges for a cause.

A Quick Drink furthers the principles of high-energy and efficiency, featuring recipes from more than a decade of Speed Rack participants and original creations from both Marrerro and Mix, who will be donating a portion of their royalties.

At 272 pages, A Quick Drink will be a guidebook to creating both original and classic cocktails at home, shining a spotlight on influential women bartenders and their creations. It will be published by Abrams Books, and cost US$27.50/CA$34.50 for the hardcover edition.

For their first book together, Mix and Marrero relied on their time spent in the drinks industry, and drew inspiration from their shared Speed Rack experiences.

Mix is the co-owner of Leyenda in Brooklyn, New York, and in 2015, was named American Bartender of the Year at Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards. She has previously published Spirits of Latin America in 2020. Marrero is partner and chief mixologist for DeLola, the new ready-to-drink line that singer Jennifer Lopez launched in April 2023, as well as a MasterClass host.

Krigbaum meanwhile, is a wine, cocktail, and travel writer, who is currently a contributing editor for Punch and was previously an editor at Food & Wine magazine. She has also edited two books, The Essential Cocktail Book, published in 2017, and The New French Wine, published last year, both written by Jon Bonné.