September 12, 2025

New York Cocktails Turns Eight!

Celebrating 8 years of my book 'New York Cocktails' and the resilient NYC cocktail scene.

“One can’t tell with the naked eye, but despite the hustle and bustle, New York City is a ghost town.” 

Those are the opening words to New York Cocktails, my first book, which was published eight years ago today. 

The cocktail scene in the city continues to delight with its mix of legacy standbys and bold new concepts and I’m impressed that since NY Cocktails’ publication in 2017, the majority of the featured bars are still with us. Some of the notable exceptions (sadly) include Pegu Club, ‘21’ Club, The Shanty at the old location of New York Distilling Co., Saxon + Parole, August Laura, Leyenda, Pouring Ribbons, and Blacktail to name just a few. You can’t replace the experience of being at any of these bars — hey, in most instances nothing else has physically moved into their old location at all! 

At least with this book you have the recipes for some time travel to experience a taste of those special places, as well as so many that have stood the test of time, really too many to name (get the book!). 

The deal was finalized in mid-January and the deadline was early March for design, production, and distribution by September, in time for the autumn and holiday season. I’ve said this before, but what some people might not know is that I only had six weeks to write this book, which was commissioned by the publisher, Cider Mill Press. It’s far from ideal, but it’s how many of these inhouse contract-for-hire titles work sometimes. 

Though the deadline sounded quick, in many ways, I had already written the bones of this book on my beat as a wine, spirits, and cocktail writer. I could make it work because I knew people who knew people and I could get the interviews and recipes I needed quickly from them. I am forever grateful for their assistance. 

So I just had to write the damn thing. What was expected to be the definitive book about the state of cocktails in the City That Never Sleeps. No pressure or anything. 

There was other work I had already committed to that I couldn’t back out of or postpone. Silly me, I thought the accelerated pace of writing a book — something I hadn’t done before — was going to be the most stressful part of those six weeks. 

The day I signed the contract was the day after the 2017 inauguration, the day the news cycle forever switched from occasional “Breaking News” to a whirlwind pace of “Oh fuck what’s broken now?” 

I mean, at least my main job was telling people what to drink and where. 

I was having trouble concentrating. One of my techniques for this type of quasi-academic writing is to knock out the busy work aspect of it — in this case, the various basics like the listing and defining of cocktail tools and equipment, technique explainers, etc. as well as some of the recipes I already had at my fingertips. I could put my head down and deal with the straight up reporting rather than wordsmithing. Usually, the rest falls into place. 

The busy work was only a few pages, though. This thing needed a voice and my brain was feeling pretty ragged already. 

Because the theme was conceived as part of a city cocktail book series (others already included Paris Cocktails and New Orleans Cocktails), much of it had already been outlined to fit the “brand” aesthetic. Still, getting from point A to point Z and making all the moving pieces fit together was going to be like the writing equivalent of trekking by subway from the way Upper West Side to Alphabet City. There would be no direct route, and a lot of extra steps. 

I was overwhelmed and needed strategic advice. So I did what I knew I could always do in those moments. I called Francine. 

With Francine Cohen there was no, “Do you have a minute to chat?” She always made time, but also, it was never going to be just a minute, more like at least an hour. 

“Hey, do you have a minute?” I texted. 

The phone rang almost immediately. “Hi!” came the familiar, delightful squeak on the line. 

“So… real quick. I’m writing a book about NYC cocktails and I have only six weeks. I thought I could handle it but…” 

“You’re… oh! [another squeak] That’s not a lot of time.”

“No.”

“You can do this.”

“I’m trying.”

“No. I mean, there is a way to do this. How much do you think you can reasonably get written in a day? Have you set a goal?”

This was a thing she was so good at: taking a few breaths while cursing the situation, yet finding a way to come up with a strategy and timeline, offering to make connections, and following through on every one of them. An hour or so later, (ahem) by the end of that call, there was a much clearer path forward. 

One of the outline requests from the publisher was “sidebars” (get it?) with various NYC cocktail personalities. I had already planned on including Francine. She deserved her due as much as the bartenders who invented the modern classics and shared their recipes. 

Page 276: “Though she doesn’t work behind a bar, writer Francine Cohen is the great unifier — bartenders, chefs, consultants, publicity teams, spirits brands, media and the rest. She has a knack for knowing exactly what to say to help them all communicate and learn from one another.” 

Anyway, of all the things that have changed since that time, I miss Francine the most. These past few weeks I’ve had many WWFD (What Would Francine Do) moments. Just yesterday I as at Trader Joe’s and needed a bar of plain dark chocolate. I was overwhelmed with choices, then I spotted the Peruvian 70% and felt like she was saying “pick that one!” from beyond. (For years she worked extensively promoting Pisco and other Peruvian delicacies for the Peru Trade Commission).

But you know what? She wouldn’t want us to end on that note. She was all about making the best of things and celebrating all the moving parts of the cocktail industry. So if you’re having a classic or modern classic New York cocktail today, let’s raise a glass to creativity and delicious things. 

Much thanks as ever to all the bartenders, publicists, brand managers, fellow writers, and friends who helped make it New York Cocktails happen. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Cheers to everyone who bought the book, sent me photos of it spotted in the wild (I never get tired of that, keep ‘em coming!) and most of all, cheers to the Big Apple!