Steven Roennfeldt is best known as “Steve the Bartender”, an Australian bartender that has a popular YouTube channel. I first came across Steve the Bartender when looking for mint julep recipes on YouTube. He had a very good recipe where he took two mint leaves and placed them in a cocktail shaker along with Bourbon and some simple syrup, shook the mixture and then poured it over crushed ice, garnished with a sprig of mint. I was impressed – the recipe would give the drink some flavor of mint without making it taste of mouthwash. I started following his channel as he is informative and entertaining. 

Steve contacted me on Instagram recently and asked if I would review his book when it came out and I agreed to do so. He had the publisher send me an advance copy and I am very much impressed by the book. It ranks up there with Gary Regan’s Joy of Mixology and other classic cocktail books.

Steve The Bartender’s Cocktail Guide. Steven Roennfeldt, New York, N.Y.  DK Publishing, 2022, Contents, Introduction, Index, Illustrations, 302 pp.

Steve The Bartender’s Cocktail Guide is an excellent book. It has a multitude of cocktail recipes, so you will be sure to find everything you would wish to drink in this book. The book also is very handy for setting up your bar with recommendations for spirits you will need to make that perfect cocktail. The book contains some history of the cocktail and cocktails books and includes a timeline of important dates in cocktail history. There are chapters on glassware, bar tools and equipment, techniques and sample cocktail menus.

The heart of the book is the chapters on cocktails, with each spirit having its own chapter. The recipes are two pages each. On one page is the recipe, with the top of the page listing “originated”, “Type”, “Method”, “Glassware” and “Garnish” Next comes a brief history of the cocktail followed by the recipe. In the bottom right hand corner is a QR code that will link you to a short video on making the cocktail. The second page is a color photograph of the cocktail.

The book is very well designed and organized. It is well indexed by alphabetical order, and the table of contents has the chapters by type of spirit used as the primary ingredient of the cocktail with the name of the cocktail in alphabetical order. The book includes many illustrations such as drawings of glassware, and the color photographs of individual cocktails. The recipes are clearly written and easy to make. There is another general index at the end of the book.

Steve The Bartender’s Cocktail Guide is a book well worth owning. It is well designed and easy to use. It has all of the classic cocktails and a few of the newer creations by bartenders around the world. It is a book that should be part of every spirits library.  

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller