“We may go to Europe for our chefs, but Europe comes to us for our bartenders.” —W. C. Whitfield

In the Gay Nineties, the American bartender was considered an institution—his fame spread across the globe and, according to Whitfield, visitors to America “bowed before his skill in concocting tempting mixtures.”

Whitfield felt this attraction and admiration of the American bartender was because Americans “will try anything once.” We enjoy experimenting and, when it comes to mixing drinks, “we stop at nothing.” This led to much creativity behind the bar.

W. C. Whitfield’s Mixed Drinks & Cocktails combines two fully-illustrated books of recipes from this time period—Just Cocktails (published in 1939) and Here’s How: Mixed Drinks (1941)—to teach readers everything they need to know about mixing drinks. In addition to information about equipment and measurements, this collection includes more than six hundred recipes, including:

The Bronx Express
Ladies Delight
Corpse Reviver
Brandy Blazer
Uncle Sam Highball
And many more!

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Good Books and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of cookbooks, including books on juicing, grilling, baking, frying, home brewing and winemaking, slow cookers, and cast iron cooking. We’ve been successful with books on gluten-free cooking, vegetarian and vegan cooking, paleo, raw foods, and more. Our list includes French cooking, Swedish cooking, Austrian and German cooking, Cajun cooking, as well as books on jerky, canning and preserving, peanut butter, meatballs, oil and vinegar, bone broth, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Illustrated by: Tad Shell
Foreword by: Joaquín Simó