Happy Hours: Bar Stories and Famous Cocktail Recipes

Winner of the 2016 Gourmand World Cookbook Award. Category: Cocktails.

What’s the difference between whisky and whiskey? Who went from herding goats at age 7 to starting an alcohol empire at age 27,  an empire that now serves millions of people around the world? Which respected statesman was known for drinking two bottles of brandy a day (and living to age 91)? What were the cocktails of choice for the protagonists of Mad Men and Sex and the City? And what problems could a cocktail called “the Orgasm” possibly cause?

Anecdotes, history, and myths are an essential part of alcohol and drinking culture, as are the stories and confessions that emerge in the wee hours at the bar.

Mira Eitan has seen the bar from all angles—as a bartender, a partier, and a wine and cocktail writer—and she has managed to mix her experiences into one very special personal cocktail. The result is an accessible book for anyone who has sat in a bar or enjoyed a few drinks at home, anyone who loves salacious stories or historical facts, and anyone who wants to try their hand at mixology.