The Bartender's Library

The ultimate guide to whiskey, brandy, rum, agave spirits, gin, vodka, and more—and how best to drink them. From Portland’s Multnomah Whiskey Library spirits educators and authors of Raising the Bar.

Here is the ultimate guide to curating your spirits and building your home bar. Knowing the process of making spirits, from fermentation to distillation and manipulation, is key to understanding what goes into the bottle, how to select them, and what you’re tasting. Seasoned bar professionals Brett Adams and Jacob Grier walk you through the fundamentals of spirits—from fermentation and distillation to cask aging—so you can pick bottles confidently and curate your collection.

The Bartender’s Library is a comprehensive handbook and a tool for discovering what you like and how best to drink it, whether as a pour, a flight, or a cocktail. Included are:

• Guides to curating and collecting individual spirits
• Specific flights to help you explore categories and develop your palate
• Recipes for cocktails, including the Whiskey Library’s signature old fashioned
• And much more.

Whether it’s demystifying myths (older does not necessarily equal better) or helping you decipher industry lingo, Adams and Grier equip you to purchase with precision. With encyclopedic knowledge and surprising curatorial insights, this book is a chat with your favorite bartender, best enjoyed with a glass in hand.