Part recipe collection, part travelogue, part love letter — cocktail authority Brian Bartels travels the country to document the spirits, bars, and people behind America's most iconic drinks. More than 100 recipes are organized state by state, each accompanied by the history, local lore, and cultural context that gave them life. Why does Wisconsin love Brandy Old Fashioneds? What makes the Sazerac the soul of New Orleans? Bartels has the answers.

Filled with colorful illustrations and a foreword by Brad Thomas Parsons, it's an opinionated and distinctively designed guide to American bar culture that earns its place on the shelf and behind the counter.