I'm Just Here for the Drinks: A Guide to Spirits, Drinking and More Than 100 Extraordinary Cocktails Hardcover – Illustrated, August 28, 2018

I have a weakness for cocktail based literature and I have an embarrassing number of books on the subject. During my journey, I have landed some stinkers, some keepers, and some genuine treasures that I return to time and time again. This book is firmly in the treasure category.Sother Teague's "I'm Just Here For The Drinks" is a must for any level of mixologist/bartender/drink lover. It is a perfectly balanced collection of history, pragmatic tips based on experience, and recipes. His humor, thoughtful opinions, and genuine passion for his craft leads to an enthralling read compared to the myriad of cocktail book offerings available. The style is even top notch, including the layout and typesetting. In addition, the photography is fantastic which just adds to the experience.I generally don't have many things I "learn" from these types of books at this point. That is not arrogance or ego, it is just admitting to having read too many redundant books (and wasting some hard earned money in the process). This book is an exception. Sother's love of Amaro including his overview of it and some of its most recognized offerings was worth the price alone.If I were to criticize anything about the book, I may have to warn some that the recipes can be a little indulgent on far flung ingredients. It is somewhat discouraging to need a $50 bottle of one-time-use-booze to complete a drink that you think sounds delicious. That being said, there are a very fair number made using more common offerings, and he does clearly start the book out by encouraging exploration in ingredients when you lack an item. The only other wish I had is that the valuable tips were consolidated a little better to one section at the front. They are spread out randomly throughout the book. It makes for a great reason to revisit the book, and use markers or take notes, but it can be frustrating to go back and find, even with the index. This is of course, splitting hairs, and I still HIGHLY recommend the book. You will NOT be disappointed. I'd include it with Dale Degroff's Craft of the Cocktail, Gary Regan's The Joy Of Mixology and Megan Krigbaum's The Essential Cocktail book as my favorites.

This book is very similar to Sother’s bars: friendly and approachable, but full of depth. I’m Just Here for the Drinks features over 100 well-balanced cocktail recipes, including Sother’s own creations, his takes on various classic cocktails (both ubiquitous and lesser-known libations), and favorite recipes of industry luminaries like Dale DeGroff and Gaz Regan.Sother’s superpower is teaching; he’s able to distill complex cocktail concepts & techniques into easy-to-follow overviews & instructions, as well as summarize hundreds of years of spirit history into a few short pages per category. The “Sother Says” sidebars are loaded with tips of the trade and suggested variations to adjust cocktails to meet the needs of differing taste profiles. Sother is great at explaining the “why” behind his recipes; why this specific spirit (when any old whiskey or gin will do, he’ll tell you), why these specific proportions, and why James Bond arguably set back sophisticated drinking culture by a few decades!The end result is one of the most accessible and enjoyable cocktail primers available; a great introduction for those just starting out on their cocktail journey, but with plenty of depth and unique insights to enlighten even the most knowledgeable bartenders and aficionados. As a bar patron on his way down the mixology rabbit hole, I wish this book had been around when I started my journey as it’s a perfect jumping off point to other books. If you enjoy the history of spirits and drinking, you can move onto David Wondrich’s Imbibe! or Dale DeGroff’s The Craft of the Cocktail; if you want to learn more about technique, pick up Jim Meehan’s Bartender Manual or Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s The Bar Book; if you’re interested in cocktail theory and what makes a great drink balanced, move onto Death & Co.’s Cocktail Codex; if you’re into the nitty gritty science behind cocktails, pick up Dave Arnold’s Liquid Intelligence.And if you love Amaro, stop reading this review right this second and order this book! Then head to Amor y Amargo, and tell Sother he sent you.