For “Cocktail History 101” recommendations, obviously, as has already been stated, “Imbibe!” is top of the list. To the point of telling someone to simply read that first, then come back for the next salvo. It would provide the reader with a great grounding in the birth of the cocktail and the various bits of drama surrounding it.
A problem sometimes with starting too quickly with the “source” material, is that without having guidance which has the benefit of historical reflection, the information in the source material may not be apparent. Take Jerry Thomas for instance… simply reading his recipes for a cocktail (from a “101” mindset) you would simply be struck by the low number of cocktail it lists. You wouldn’t have the understanding that back then a cocktail was literally “spirits, sugar, water, bitters”, so being able to expand things all the way out to 10 was actually quite an accomplishment. Imbibe! does a great job at reprinting the specific source material in question, so this helps to make Imbibe! a one-stop-shop. Granted… once curiosity has been piqued by Imbibe!, getting access to the “historical records” is hopefully the obvious next step.
I might also similarly recommend the two volumes of “Mixologist” that MOTAC published. They are still available on Amazon, and contain curated essays which reflect upon specific (mostly) historical topics and can provide some well-targeted insights.
- Mixologist: The Journal of the American Cocktail, Volume 1
- Mixologist: The Journal of the American Cocktail, Volume 2
And frankly the historical reprints from Cocktail Kingdom are also a good direction to go, since they were specifically chosen for their importance and appeal.
-Robert