For creative takes on cocktails galore, plus wisdom gleaned from behind the bar, it's hard to beat the delightful recipes and commentary from irreverent long-time Crescent City drink-slinger T. Cole Newton in Cocktail Dive Bar: Real Drinks, Fake History & Questionable Advice from New Orleans's Twelve Mile Limit.
Newton's collection brims with personality, stories and recipes, with thoughtful reflections on anti-racism and gentrification, and combatting sexual harassment in the service industry. Self-effacing humor and dive-y aesthetics make it enjoyable to peruse--and readers can drink artful cocktails while optionally coloring in illustrations from Bazil Zerinsky and Laura Sanders.
Or get it for Newton's Baudin recipe alone: "I could live a hundred years and might never invent a better drink." The dash of Tabasco is everything. --Katie Weed, freelance writer and reviewer