The Spirits: A Guide to Modern Cocktailing (Hardback) - Richard Godwin

'A handbook of classic cocktails essential to every host's repertoire' Vogue

'Simple to navigate and fun to read, it's the only book I reach for on a Friday evening. The weekend starts here.' Felicity Cloake

'I truly love this book. No one writes about drinks like Richard Godwin - I enjoy his prose as much as anything in the glass.' Marina Hyde


Want to master the art of mixology from home?

Of all the skills you might acquire in life, learning how to make exquisite cocktails is the least likely to be a waste of your time.

In this classic guide to cocktailing, writer, columnist and founder of 'The Spirits' newsletter - "a book club but for cocktails" - Richard Godwin offers over 200 delicious, inventive and accessible recipes.

Beautifully written, laugh-out-loud funny and full of practical good sense as well as fascinating historical snippets, this little book contains everything that an amateur needs to up their cocktailing game - and increase the sum of human happiness.


Praise for The Spirits

'The Spirits is debonair, indispensable and easy enough to use after a few' Damian Barr

'Richard Godwin is such a smart, funny and intoxicating drinks writer. And The Spirits - accessible, authoritative and crisply written - is the perfect companion for cocktail-curious drinkers looking to seriously up their game.' Jimi Famurewa

'Richard is a charming and fantastically engaging guide, and this marvellous book captures all that great and glamorous about drinking well-made drinks.' Sathnam Sanghera

'Full of interesting stories... witty, thoroughly researched.' Guardian

'This is the ultimate in cocktail books' Waitrose Weekend

'The best place to turn if you want to make drinks' Independent

'The ultimate guide to drinks-making for beginners. And the ultimate guide to making friends and influencing people.' Buzzfeed

'Offers a wealth of modern and classic recipes' Evening Standard

'Inspirational' Stephen Bayley, Spectator

'Intelligent, humorous, crammed full of recipes' Rebecca Dunphy, Sainsbury's Magazine

'If you're going to buy one cocktail book, you can't go far wrong with this one' BBC Good Food

About the Author

Richard Godwin is a journalist and weekly columnist at the Evening Standard. He is an obsessive cocktail enthusiast but prides himself on being very much an amateur. He has a blog called 'The Spirits'. He was a co-writer of The Breakfast Bible.