BOOK REVIEW: COCKTAIL ATLAS by Chris Vola

BOOK REVIEW: COCKTAIL ATLAS by Chris Vola
Union Square & Co via New South Australia
Hard cover, $69.99, March 2025
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
99%

Chris Vola has researched his new Cocktail Atlas impeccably, identifying over 200 mixed drinks from just about every part of the world and providing a brief history of the culture (organised by continent then country) and the drinks themselves.

What it adds up to is a fascinating history of humanity’s predilection for a tasty beverage, and our innovativeness in using whatever local ingredients are available to create good booze.

Many drinks feature lovingly detailed illustrations courtesy of Zoë Barker, and if there is a downside to this hefty coffee table tome, it is that we can’t afford to rush out and buy all these extra bottles for the liquor cabinet right now. Maybe one a week will be in order?

From Algerian Picon Punch through Venezuelan Guarapita no style of spirit is ignored – including many which I’ve never even heard of (and a few may even be difficult to source outside of their home regions).

Favourites include the Trinidad and Tobagoan Queen’s Park Swizzle, the Marshall Islander Bikini Atoll, the Namibian Rock Shandy and a Norwegian Arctic Summer – they even have two Australian entries: The Japanese Slipper (it’s been decades since I’ve tried one of them) and the Blow My Skull, which is new to me. Featuring rum, brandy, dark beer, lime juice and sugar syrup, it’s likely to do exactly what it says on the label.

Oh, keep an eye out for little tidbits Vola includes in many country sections, including this winner from New Zealand: Apparently in 2011 co-owner of the Green Man Pub in Wellington, Steven Drummond, invented a cocktail blending horse semen from a local stallion farm and apple flavouring. That’s a hard pass for me, thanks anyway.

Category: Book Reviews