Is there a weird world of historical drink writing?
AJR: For sure. I started to get introduced to a wider world of cocktails and cocktail literature, which led me to a bunch of really old cocktail books and then spurred this interest in having an awesome cocktail library. I started hunting down old cocktail books. D: What is your absolute essential favorite? AJR: It’s not as canonized as some of the other old books, but one of my favorites is Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide And Ladies’ Companion [from 1946]. I really like the literary/silly feeling of it. I guess you could call it raconteurish, but it has really good drink recipes and also a whole helping of other little essays—some snacks, some random little asides. That was an influence on me because I realized, you know, everything we would talk about at the bar or while having a party is sort of fair game for me. D: What’s your favorite spirit? AJR: Gin is such a big part of my life that I’m going to say gin. I’ve been drinking a lot of Hendrick’s. There are so many new gins becoming
