Colonial Spirits by Steven Grasse

(2016) An entertaining modern book about eighteenth-century and early Republic drinking in the U.S. Though Grasse sometimes over-romanticizes this period in American drinking, he also recognizes some of the issues of the period, like enslavement, general inequity, and a disorganized society that often left its most vulnerable behind. This book is both a history and a handbook; Grasse’s background in the spirits industry (Hendrick’s, Sailor Jerry, Art in the Age, etc.) makes his recipes particularly effective and enjoyable.