Collection: Black-Owned Cocktail Books & Bar Guides

Black Food is a powerful collection of stories, art, essays, and recipes from across the African Diaspora, curated by chef, author, and food activist Bryant Terry.

With contributions from more than 100 Black cultural voices, this book explores food as memory, migration, creativity, resistance, celebration, and community.

Great for: Cookbook lovers, African Diaspora recipes, Black food history, food culture readers, holiday gifts, and anyone building a meaningful kitchen library.

Love & Whiskey tells the remarkable true story of Jack Daniel, master distiller Nearest Green, and the rise of Uncle Nearest.

Fawn Weaver blends historical investigation, personal discovery, and whiskey history to bring forward the legacy of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the African American distiller whose story reshaped how many people understand American whiskey.

Great for: Whiskey lovers, bourbon fans, Father’s Day gifts, Black history readers, business biography fans, and anyone interested in the story behind Uncle Nearest.

Danni’s Juke Joint Comfort Food Cookbook is packed with bold Southern-inspired home cooking from internet personality and Food Network personality Danni Rose.

Inspired by church potlucks, family gatherings, fish fries, and her daddy’s juke joint, Danni shares recipes like Cajun deviled eggs, fried cheese grits, Ole Skool mac ’n’ cheese, pot likker greens, and more.

Great for: Soul food cookbook lovers, Southern comfort food fans, Mother’s Day gifts, family cooks, holiday meals, and anyone who loves big-flavor home cooking.

Appetizers & Cocktails - Bite Your Tongue brings together Chef Martine Courtney Clark’s favorite appetizers and cocktail recipes, including the Stradka, made with her New Orleans-inspired Strango mixer.

This compact recipe book is built around easy entertaining, bold flavor, and the taste of N’awlins, with food and drinks that work for gatherings, celebrations, and casual nights in.

Great for: Cocktail lovers, appetizer ideas, New Orleans food fans, host gifts, housewarming gifts, and anyone who likes entertaining at home.

Wine Pairing for the People is Cha McCoy’s accessible guide to pairing wine with foods from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, and beyond.

Part practical pairing guide and part culinary travelogue, this book expands wine education beyond traditional European pairing rules, with menus, regional context, and recipes from chefs and mixologists.

Great for: Wine lovers, food pairing, cookbook lovers, host gifts, dinner party planning, African Diaspora food culture, and anyone who wants wine to feel more welcoming.

Harlem Brew Soul brings beer-infused soul food recipes from Celeste Beatty, founder of Harlem Brewing Company and the first Black woman to own a brewery in the United States.

With 80+ recipes, family stories, brewing history, and reflections from Beatty’s journey, this cookbook connects soul food, craft beer, Harlem, African American culture, and home cooking.

Great for: Soul food cookbook lovers, beer lovers, Father’s Day gifts, host gifts, Black food history readers, and anyone who likes cooking with craft beer.

Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails is Shannon Mustipher’s guide to modern tropical drinks, fine rums, and tiki-inspired cocktail craft.

With original recipes, techniques, tasting notes, and practical guidance, this book helps cocktail lovers explore Caribbean rums, fresh juices, syrups, presentation, and the layered flavors behind tropical cocktails.

Great for: Rum lovers, tiki cocktail fans, home bartenders, tropical drink collectors, host gifts, Father’s Day gifts, and anyone ready to upgrade their cocktail shelf.

The Infused Cocktail Handbook is a practical guide to creating homemade spirit infusions, blends, syrups, shrubs, and signature cocktails.

Kurt Maitland shows how to pair flavors with vodka, gin, tequila, whiskey, rum, sherry, and more, giving home bartenders a creative starting point for better drinks.

Great for: Home bartenders, cocktail lovers, DIY drink makers, host gifts, Father’s Day gifts, and anyone building a more creative home bar.

Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice explores the history of Black mixology and its influence on American cocktail culture through 70 rediscovered, modernized, and celebrated recipes.

Toni Tipton-Martin draws on two centuries of African American cookbooks to spotlight the creativity, hospitality, and skill behind Black drinking culture, from classic tipples to modern favorites.

Great for: Cocktail lovers, home bartenders, Black food history readers, African American cookbook collectors, Father’s Day gifts, and anyone interested in cocktail history.

Mezcal and Tequila Cocktails is a collection of 60+ cocktail recipes for anyone who wants to explore agave spirits at home.

With recipes like the Mezcal Negroni, Oaxaca Old Fashioned, Mezcalita, and Cactus Flower, this guide helps home bartenders understand the flavor, history, and versatility of mezcal and tequila.

Great for: Tequila lovers, mezcal fans, cocktail lovers, home bartenders, Father’s Day gifts, host gifts, and anyone building an agave-forward home bar.

Free Spirit Cocktails is a refreshing collection of 40 nonalcoholic drink recipes with the look and feel of crafted cocktails, without the alcohol.

Camille Wilson offers easy mocktails for brunch, parties, Dry January, baby showers, holidays, and everyday zero-proof sipping.

Great for: Non-drinkers, sober-curious shoppers, mocktail lovers, wellness-minded hosts, inclusive parties, housewarming gifts, and anyone looking for zero-proof drink ideas.

Dinks and Drinks is a playful cocktail book for pickleball fans, with 40+ drink recipes inspired by the game.

From the Backspin Spritz to the Pickletini, this compact cocktail guide brings easy recipes, bar tips, colorful photography, and courtside energy to happy hour.

Great for: Pickleball lovers, cocktail fans, summer drinks, host gifts, housewarming gifts, stocking stuffers, and fun gifts for a favorite foursome.

American Soul is a richly illustrated food history and cookbook exploring how Black culinary traditions shaped American cuisine.

Anela Malik traces American foodways from the trans-Atlantic slave trade to modern restaurants, with voices from more than 30 Black chefs, historians, and food luminaries, plus 40 historically rooted recipes.

Great for: Cookbook lovers, food history readers, Black food history, Mother’s Day gifts, holiday gifts, and anyone who wants to understand the roots of American cuisine.

The Barrister’s Book of Old Fashioneds & Other Cocktails is a bourbon and whiskey cocktail guide that blends approachable recipes with historical storytelling.

Written by licensed attorney and executive bourbon steward Brandi Lowery, this hardcover includes old-fashioned recipes, other cocktails, and “Bourbon & Bits” for readers who enjoy the history behind the glass.

Great for: Whiskey lovers, bourbon fans, Old Fashioned drinkers, home bartenders, Father’s Day gifts, host gifts, and cocktail-table book collectors.