The Bar Book

The first cocktail book dedicated entirely to technique rather than recipes. Jeffrey Morgenthaler, an award-winning bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon, breaks down every physical skill involved in making drinks: how to shake, stir, muddle, juice, carbonate, garnish, and choose the right ice for each situation.

Why Start Here

Most cocktail books give you recipes and assume you know how to execute them. Morgenthaler flips that assumption. He starts with the question: why do two people following the same recipe get different results? The answer is almost always technique. How long you shake, how vigorously you stir, how finely you crush your ice, whether your citrus is freshly squeezed or from a bottle: these details determine whether a cocktail is ordinary or excellent.

Each chapter focuses on one technique and includes step-by-step photography showing exactly what to do. Morgenthaler’s instructions are precise but never fussy. He explains the science behind each technique in plain language, so you understand not just what to do but why it matters. The roughly 60 recipes in the book serve as practical applications for the techniques you have just learned.

What to Expect

A beautifully photographed 288-page hardcover organized around skills rather than drink categories. The chapters progress logically from simple (measuring, juicing) to complex (carbonation, infusion). If you already own a recipe-heavy cocktail book and find your drinks are not turning out as expected, this is the book that will close the gap. It pairs especially well with The Joy of Mixology: Regan gives you the theory and recipes, Morgenthaler gives you the hands.