With How’s Your Drink?,³³ Eric Felten accomplishes no small feat, writing a cocktail/cocktail history book that walks to a different drummer and approaches cocktails and their histories a unique way. Where most cocktail books separate the history of the cocktail, cocktail recipes and their specific history (if they’re included at all), and any bar gear/bartending techniques sections and put them in chaste silos of chapters never meant to meet or marry, How’s Your Drink? traipses through the history of the cocktail and weaves the recipes in-line with the narrative of the history of the cocktail and often, more specifically, historical events or famous or intriguing characters.

See, above all, this is a literate book. Felten spends what, at first glance, appears to be an inordinate amount of time discoursing on oil speculation in North Dakota, salacious gossip rags in Colonial America, or pilgrimage practices of Native American tribes of New Mexico³³ leaving the reader to wonder, ‘Exactly where are we going here?’, only to turn the page and find a recipe bringing the narrative to a point where cocktail intersects history and culture and provides a rich feel for the context in which the cocktail came to be, and often, who enjoyed it and why. This is where Felten’s jazz influence comes into play. The sections between recipes often feel meandering and loose and finally hit a strong rim-shot where a recipe is sprung on the reader and, more often than not, the reader finding the idea of having that drink right away extremely appealing. For example, in discussing the Negroni, Felten includes not only how the drink originated with Count Negroni in Florence but what its significant role in everything from Tennessee Williams’ The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone to Nick Naylor’s film Thank You for Smoking has been and further illustrating how both demonstrate the Negroni’s “touch of corruption”.

The only complaints I have against the book are that the Jazz riffing tone of literary and historical subjects and their intercession with various cocktails sometimes leaves the transitions falling flat or feeling awkward and tacked-on, and that it would be very difficult to use as bartending guide given how the recipes are interspersed throughout. And, while being a bartending guide is not its primary intent, even having a final section that compiles all of the drinks into one area for reference would increase its value, especially since there are so many worthy ones here. The index will serve this, I know, but sometimes I just want to flip through a list and see what strikes me and I won’t be able to easily turn to for this or that purpose.

All in all, while Grimes’ Straight Up or On The Rocks works the intellectual side of cocktails as a sociological phenomena, Felten uses his Jazz training and improvisational ear to work a literate and historical perspective to mixed drinks that strikes a perfect note between education and enjoyment. It’s a perfect counter-point to Grimes. I suggest owning both as between the two you will have a very thorough and enjoyable understanding of mixed drinks, how they came to be, and why they are such a fine idea. Also, you’ll be inspired to try a few new things, put on a classic jazz album, or put on a tux and dance, and that’s never a bad thing. It’s a great small gift or stocking-stuffer for the cocktail enthusiast in your life and you can click here to pre-order, and I suggest you do.

How’s Your Drink Rating: 3

1. note to publisher: the original cover was far better, if more staid and formal – that whole cursive script thing just ain’t working for me333
2. and yes, they’re all covered333

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