Amanda Schuster has worn many hats: trained sommelier, retail wine and spirits buyer, writer, author, metalsmith, aspiring cosmetologist (she’s a proud beauty school dropout), and medieval history scholar. Where she’s hung her hat careerwise with great success is writing about wine and spirits for numerous drinks industry publications, as co-creator and Editor-in-Chief of Alcohol Professor, and as the author of New York Cocktails and Drink Like a Local- A Field Guide to New York’s Best Bars.
Amanda Schuster. Photo by Gabi Porter
Her new book, Signature Cocktails (Phaidon) is a collection of 200 cocktails from around the world, each representing a place, person and time in the annals of the cocktail industry. Each recipe provides the date the drink was concocted, its creator, bar, city, and the story behind it with a recipe down to the glass type. It’s all neatly laid out with terrific photos to punctuate each recipe. The detailed glossary and indexing make it easy to navigate the book’s 400+ pages.
Whether you are looking for an Adonis (Page 46), a Japanese Slipper (192), a Pink Squirrel (156) or Hanky Panky (78), it can be found in between the red and black hardback (thank you!) covers of Signature Cocktails. You will also find seven versions of a Martini and six different recipes for a Negroni. Signature Cocktails is a solid book for any back bar or home shelf. Enjoy with a glass of your preferred libation and savor the stories and recipes.
A Brooklyn resident, Schuster grew up in NYC to parents who were bon vivants and who still enjoying going out on the town with her. She’s a cocktail documentarian who also straddles the world of fine wine with finesse. Schuster is also huge fan of the band, Duran Duran. Her Alcohol Professor article on cocktails inspired by Duran Duran can be found on the band’s website. When we interviewed her for this pre-record, she was wearing a Duran Duran shirt. Oh, and Abigail Gullo’s “Her Name is Rio,” a cachaça-based cocktail, can be found on page 402. Gullo currently works at the International House Hotel bar in New Orleans.
Fun Fact: Amanda Schuster is a Duran Duran fan-gal. Here she is during our ZOOM wearing a T shirt with the band on it.
Listen to The Connected Table LIVE! podcast with Amanda Schuster here
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