In the past decade, cocktails have undergone a revolution in quality and craftsmanship. Now more than ever, bars are serving up drinks that are carefully constructed using fresh, unique ingredients and paired with precise amounts of select spirits. Perhaps no bar has been more influential to this movement than Death & Co, which shook the cocktail scene when it opened in New York in 2006. Having been recognized as America’s Best Cocktail bar, Death & Co is truly a mixologist’s mecca. Many of their bartenders have gone on to open cocktail bars across the country, further spreading the legacy and ideals started in New York.

Now, Death & Co has further cemented it’s iconic status with their new, eponymous craft cocktail cookbook. Along with hundreds of drink recipes, the Death & Co Cocktail Book features interviews and insights into the inner workings of the bar. Entire chapters are dedicated to bar tools, garnishes, and tasting techniques, with an attention to detail not found in your typical bartender’s guide. The book emphasizes the craftsmanship involved in creating a perfectly balanced cocktail, encouraging experimentation to get the ingredient combinations just right.

The Death & Co team is currently touring select bars across the country to showcase cocktails from their book. ChatChow was happy to attend their Los Angeles book launch event, held in the downtown underground speakeasy, Honeycut. Opened by former Death & Co partners and co-authors, David Kaplan and Alex Day, Honeycut brought a taste of the craft cocktail scene to the west coast. With an expansive selection of liquor and a LED-lit throwback dance floor, Honeycut became an immediate downtown favorite.

Sponsored by Beefeater, Plymouth Gin, and The Famous Grouse Scotch, the book launch event featured Death & Co favorites like the Elder Fashion (Plymouth Gin, St-Germain, Orange Bitters, and Grapefruit) and the Scotch Lady (Famous Grouse Scotch, apple brandy, lemon juice, simple syrup, grenadine, egg white, and brandied cherry). Every drink on the menu is accompanied by the mixologist and date that brought the particular drink into existence.

With a little inspiration from the evening’s drinks, and armed with a tome of mixology knowledge from the masters themselves, we’re excited to give some of Death & Co’s creations a try for ourselves. If you aren’t in the mood to make the drinks for yourself, make sure to pick up tickets to the book’s release party at the Broken Shaker on Monday, December 1 from 7 to 9pm. The Death & Co family will be on site serving up cocktails featured in the book. Buy your tickets here.