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The Best Mixology Book

Last updated on August 6, 2023

We looked at the top 6 Mixology Books and dug through the reviews from 19 of the most popular review sites including and more. The result is a ranking of the best Mixology Books.

Our Review Process

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, do-it-yourself bartending was an understandably popular hobby, and social media has only furthered that popularity. Flair bartending is now a great way to show off for friends and possibly even go viral. Luckily, mixology has never been easier to learn.

First, you’ll need the top tools of the trade. That starts with the right glasses, especially if you’re making martinis or stocking your bar with the world’s finest wines. You’ll need a shaker for mixing your drinks, a blender for frozen concoctions and garnishes for social media-friendly imagery. You’ll also need some tools for measuring, muddling, straining, stirring and more.

Once you have your toolkit well stocked, it’s time to learn the art of mixology. If you and your frequent guests have favorite drinks, you can easily take those on first, but you might want to impress friends and relatives by learning some new tasty beverages. That’s where a good mixology book can help.

Of course, a true pro can make drinks from memory. That takes study and practice, though, so starting with a few core drinks is helpful. You’ll want to rehearse basics like margaritas, martinis and whiskey sours. Just two ounces of liquor and a mixer of choice can make popular drinks like rum and Coke, scotch and soda and rye and ginger.

Just as a cookbook is a go-to tool for home chefs, a mixology recipe book is essential for learning how to bartend. You can find books that not only share hundreds of recipes but offer basic instruction if you’re trying to learn. An explanation of why certain liquors are combined with certain mixers can equip you with the knowledge you need to become a stronger bartender.

Our Picks For The Top Mixology Books

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Product Overview
Our Take
Pros
Cons
 Top Pick

Mittie Hellmich The Ultimate Bar Book

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Mittie Hellmich

The Ultimate Bar Book

This attractive hardcover book offers 1,000+ recipes and mixing guides, plus historical information, basic information on how to set up your bar, the right glasses for each drink and much more. Easy-to-follow directions make this a great tool for any setup.

Overall Take

Beginner-Friendly OptionWith its easy-to-follow directions and classic appeal, this mixology book is a must-have for beginning bartenders.

Pros
" A great starter guide to the art of drink-mixing, and it gives fully detailed, user-friendly descriptions of each recipe."
Cons
"I wish the background commentary on each type of alcohol had been a little more extensive (I was looking for a cover-to-cover book) but I still enjoyed it."
 Runner Up

Shane Carley The Home Bartender

Shane Carley

The Home Bartender

In this book, you’ll get more than 175 recipes, including 50 original ones and non-alcoholic beverages. These drinks all have four ingredients or less. The book also helps you learn terminology, discover the right drink for every occasion, and find helpful resources.

Overall Take

For the EntertainerImpress your friends with this mixology book, which offers easy cocktails that use four ingredients or less.

Pros
" I read the recipe book cover-to-cover. I loved the sprinkling of mixology tips and the insightful knowledge on why certain flavor combos work (giving me my own ideas of recipes I can create myself). Highly recommend!"
 We Also Like

Kaplan & Fauchald Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails

Kaplan & Fauchald

Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails

From a famed New York City cocktail lounge comes this mixology book, which combines more than 500 drink recipes with tips on troubleshooting common bar issues. You'll get a definitive education on everything from buying and mixing to mastering techniques.

Overall Take

Learn and GrowGo beyond recipes — here's a mixology book that offers a complete cocktail education on buying, mixing and more.

Pros
" Context is given to every liquor used, why and how to cut garnishes into different shapes, why you might use different shaped glassware to mix drinks, and which shaped glassware to serve them in. Furthermore, there is instruction for how..."
Cons
"The only problem with this book is that, for those of us with a 12-bottle (or less) bar, the overwhelming majority of these drinks are quite cost prohibitive."
 Strong Contender

Parragon Books The Art of Mixology

Parragon Books

The Art of Mixology

More than 200 recipes fill this book, which comes with an attractive cover and a quirky interior design. The recipes are a combination of classic and contemporary concoctions along with mocktails, so you'll have just the right drink for every occasion.

Overall Take

Great GiftDelight the aspiring mixologist in your life with this beautiful mixology book featuring artisanal recipes.

Pros
" This comprehensive cocktail book is filled to the brim with innovative recipes and insightful commentary."
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We identified the majority of the mixology books available to purchase.
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In addition to our expert reviews, we also incorporate feedback and analysis of some of the most respected sources including: EATER, Good Reads, Cooking the Books, First We Feast, LifeSavvy.

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Our experts reviewed the top 6 Mixology Books and also dug through the reviews from 19 of the most popular review sites including and more. The result is a ranking of the best of the best Mixology Books.

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The Best Bang For Your Buck

Parragon Books The Art of Mixology

Our Expert Score

8.0
2 expert reviews

User Summarized Score

9.6
6,009 user reviews

Our Take

More than 200 recipes fill this book, which comes with an attractive cover and a quirky interior design. The recipes are a combination of classic and contemporary concoctions along with mocktails, so you'll have just the right drink for every occasion.

What other experts liked

This comprehensive cocktail book is filled to the brim with innovative recipes and insightful commentary.
- Style Caster
Great starter cocktail book. Explains how to make the different types of cocktails, which ice is best, which glass is best and how to layer the ingredients.
- Good Reads

What to Look For

  • Not all mixology books are made for beginners. Make sure you look for one that assumes you aren’t an expert. As you become more comfortable making drinks, you can then enhance your knowledge with a more advanced guide.
  • Don’t forget non-alcoholic beverages! Learning to make mocktails will help prepare you for that person who doesn’t drink. Whether you’re making drinks at home or being paid to work behind a bar, you’ll be a hit if you can craft delicious drinks for all ages.
  • Learning to make drinks can seem overwhelming at times. There are commonly-used terms that you’ll run into on your learning journey. Look for a mixology book that helps explain those terms if you don’t want to track them down online.
  • It can be tough to recall every drink you learn, especially at first. Feel free to make notes for yourself that you tape to the bar. You can then refer to those. The more you make those drinks, the better the recipes will stick.
  • It can be easy to underestimate the importance of illustrations in any recipe book. But having photos of how your drinks should look can help as you’re learning. It can also help you easily identify drink recipes you want to try.
  • If your goal is to make visually impressive drinks, to wow friends or share on social media, you need to spend some time learning to make gorgeous garnishes. Some mixology books help with that. You can also find helpful guides online that might take your garnishes to the next level.
  • Any good recipe book will have the items organized by type. Take a close look at how a mixology book is organized before you buy. If the recipes are organized by the liquor used, that might work well for your home bar, which may be limited in terms of liquor types. Some books are instead organized by drink type, which can help if you’re learning to bartend professionally.

Mixology Book Rankings

1. Mittie Hellmich The Ultimate Bar Book

Overall Score: 9.5
Reviews Included: 6

2. Shane Carley The Home Bartender

Overall Score: 9.4
Reviews Included: 4

3. Kaplan & Fauchald Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails

Overall Score: 9.3
Reviews Included: 8

4. Parragon Books The Art of Mixology

Overall Score: 9.2
Reviews Included: 5

5. Day, Fauchald & Kaplan Cocktail Codex

Overall Score: 9.1
Reviews Included: 7

6. Amy Traynor The Essential Bar Book for Home Mixologists

Overall Score: 9.0
Reviews Included: 4

More to Explore

Liquor consumption dates back thousands of years, but mixing delicious cocktails is a slightly newer innovation. Although cocktails are often credited to U.S. inventors, they were likely inspired by an early form of cocktail that circulated in 1700s England. Punch houses served guests spirits mixed with fruit punch and spices. In turn, this trend may have originated with the first such recorded beverages made in India in the 1600s from aqua vitae (a strong spirit), sugar, rose water and the juice of citrons.

The term “cocktail” was first defined in New York in the 1800s, when it was described as “a stimulating liquor composed of any kind of sugar, water and bitters” by weekly publication The Balance and Columbian Repository. An American bartender named Jerry Thomas, who worked throughout America and Europe, launched what is known as bartending today. He wrote a book titled “The Bartender’s Guide,” which quickly became a must-have recipe book for all bartenders to follow.

More to explore