Doctors and Distillers by Camper English is perfect for dads who like to pair their booze with a little science, medicine, and history. Camper explores the connections between alchemy, religion, and medicine with the development of liquor and it’s full of fascinating facts about humanity’s complicated relationship with booze over time. I devoured this book and will be doing a full video about it soon. 

Doctors and Distillers on Amazon

If your dad loves cocktails but doesn’t want to buy a million bottles to make them well, 12 Bottle Bar shows you how to do more with less. It’s full of amazing classic recipes, and if you tell him you bought it used he’ll probably be extra proud.

12 Bottle Bar on Amazon

The impeccably dressed filmmaker Paul Feig came out with a cocktail book last year. It describes cocktails and drinking in the most charming, nostalgic terms and reading it will make your dad feel like he’s stepping right into The Thin Man.

Cocktail Time! on Amazon

Prominent booze writer Robert Simonson delivers countless versions of the classic cocktail in this homage to the drink and explores why the details really matter in a cocktail that can sound deceptively simple. My favorite part of the work is the collection of excellent martini quotes in the back. 

Bonus: this book is particularly suited for Father’s Day because it starts off with a touching section about Simonson’s own father and his favorite martini.

The Martini Cocktail on Amazon

In other words, hunting, fishing, sailing, smoking, womanizing, and bullfighting dads. 

(Or maybe dads who just like classic literature).

To Have and Have Another is one of my all-time favorite cocktail books because while Hemingway isn’t role model material in a number of ways, he made booze sound more romantic than anyone. The author Philip Greene covers essentially every mention of drinking in both Hemingway’s books and in his personal life, so your dad will have plenty of recipes to choose from.

To Have and Have Another on Amazon