A wonderful little ode to the cocktail. Playfully written, with selected drink histories and recipes throughout. Felten writes about cocktails not as a detached chronicler but as an enthusiast for a well made drink and the joy of social libation. ( )

I seem to have hit a ‘boozy’ streak in my reading lately, first it was dreadful Here We go( http://www.librarything.com/work/402211) then the well-written but wandering The Wet and The Dry by Lawrence Osborne (http://www.librarything.com/work/book/98940983) and then Eric Felten takes the next (virtual) bar stool and shows how to mix and enjoy a drink with true style.

Exploring the history of many favorite mixed drinks, and the heritage of the “cocktail” itself, including detailed recipes and instructions … yet a book so readable that one takes it in with a continuous draught. Not a dipping book at all, but a cover-to-cover read that is quite as delicious as many a cocktail.

A superb book celebrating classic cocktails, with recipes, anecdotes, history, and cultural significance. This book contains 50 extensively researched cocktails, with their recipes and variations, presented in nine chapters. While most bar books have far more recipes, these are more than enough to create both an appreciation of cocktail culture, inspire experiments to fit personal tastes and events, and meet the needs of almost any occasion. As Felten writes: "Let resolve to avoid tedium at the cocktail hour, and recognize that in some ways, drink choices are like those of wardrobe. I wouldn't wear a Hawaiian shirt to the Rainbow Room anymore than I'd don a charcoal flannel suit to stroll the beach in Waikiki; by the same token, the Martini and the Mai Tai each have their time and place."

For a more complete review, see my full review. ( )

This book is a delight! Felten is a true wit and accomplished collector of all the best anecdotes, myths, and literary tidbits about drink. While many books in this genre are meant (as often stated in introductions and forwards) to be read erratically, flipped through, referenced from time to time and possibly never truly completed, How's Your Drink? is a smooth journey from cover to cover. Even some of the classic histories are relived here as new, with a master's brevity. There's something about Felten's tone that persuades the reader, even as he reminds that much of the best cocktail lore has a spurious flavor, to determine his accounts as probably the most authentic. Or, at least, the most worth retelling over the next round of drinks. It's as if The Thin Man's Nick Charles, after being quoted here teaching bartenders the proper rhythm in which to shake particular drinks, sits down in a seat next to the reader and becomes the ideal drinking companion. ( )

“How’s Your Drink?” is an engaging mixture of historical anecdotes, recipes, and folklore behind mixed drinks. Felten also writes a column for the Wall Street Journal of the same name. The book includes such interesting historical facts on the consumption of alcohol as: during the training of the Apollo astronauts, part of their etiquette training was strict instruction on what they were allowed to drink in public. I also especially liked the chapter written in defense of the martini, in contrast to the overpriced sugary concoctions that bear the name in contemporary cocktail bars.

“How’s You Drink” should be read in a cozy chair with a well-made cocktail in your other hand. And, after reading the book, you will know exactly what a well-made cocktail should be. ( )