The NoMad Cocktail Book

This book from the bar director at the NoMad in New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas brings the hotel bar’s creative cocktails home. A Service Guide offers a deep dive into ingredients, garnishes, tools, ice, and techniques, and details Robitschek’s drink-making methodology as well as suggestions for developing one’s own creations. Helpfully organized into Aperitifs, Light Spirited, Dark Spirited, Classics, and Soft Cocktails, each of the nearly 300 recipes includes a short description—the Original Sin is “a fig-forward, rich brandy sour with hints of young coconut”—along with the preferred glass and type of ice. A welcome chapter of nonalcoholic cocktails re-creates Tiki drinks and classics such as Guidara’s Sober Manhattan (seedlip spice, verjus, maple syrup, cold brew coffee, and walnut bitters), which are just as complex as their boozy brethren. Recipes for the necessary syrups and infusions—from orgeat to kabocha squash water—are also included. Some obscure ingredients and multiple homemade syrups may make this a challenging book for mixology novices, but straightforward design, easy-to-follow instructions, and detailed front matter will help committed home bartenders create wow-worthy drinks.