I recently posted a summer reading list. Perhaps I need to make it a longer list. I've recently completed The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart and The Bar Book by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager at Portland's Clyde Common.

I enjoyed both - I like to think I pick up (steal?) something from every bartender I observe and books are a natural extension of that process.

Even above that, The Bar Book was a revelation. I want to get a copy for everyone I know that has even a passing interest in mixing cocktails at home (or beyond). There is literally page after page of no-nonsense information.

My 3 favorite things about the book:

It taught me things I didn't know, such as optimal shaking time on a cocktail (I often over-shake a cocktail it seems) and inspired me to learn a real damn technique to stir a cocktail.
It re-enforced things I understood to be right. The ratios in a drink are not accidental and measuring is important. No, really.
It didn't directly contradict any habits I've developed (sigh of relief).

I'm going to go re-read it and then finish Potions of the Caribbean.