Cowboy Cocktails: 60 Recipes Inspired by the American West

Take a swig of the Wild, Wild West with 60 historically inspired cattle kingdom cocktails.

Based on trail life after the Civil War, the cow towns at the time, and on the drinks enjoyed there, Cowboy Cocktails gives you a true taste of the cowboy lifestyle. With charming sidebars throughout, learn some surprising history about cowboys and their experiences in the Wild West like:

• Free Lunch - During the cowboy era, American saloons offered ＂free lunch,＂ or small bites served gratis alongside drink orders. A typical free lunch included smoked oysters, crackers with Limburger cheese, rye bread, and sardines. If you want to recreate a free lunch and make it a feast, add salted peanuts, sauerkraut, cold cuts, pretzels, and dill pickles. Crafty saloon owners knew that such salty offerings not only kept customers around longer but kept them thirsty for more.
• Chili Powder - German immigrant William Gebhardt first pulverized dried chile peppers by using a meat grinder in the 1890s. The powder was popularized along the Wells Fargo stagecoach line in Texas and became a boon to home cooks and chuck wagon chefs alike. The powder also helped popularize chili as a recognizable dish across the US.

With whiskey-, tequila-, and gin-based cocktail recipes complemented by some serious cowboy lore, this cocktail book full of captivatingly photographed cowboy drinks will transport you to the rough and wild times of the American Old West. Some of the cocktails you can make include:

• Dead Man’s Hand - bourbon whiskey, agave nectar, spicy bitters, Peychaud’s bitters; fun fact: named for the cards Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot, now called the ＂dead man’s hand＂ (two black aces and two black eights)
• Watermelon Ranch Water - blanco tequila, lime juice, fresh watermelon juice, Topo Chico (or club soda); fun fact: ＂ranch water＂ is the name for the combination of tequila, lime juice, and sparkling water
• Madame Mustache - mezcal, agave nectar, Angostura bitters, beer; fun fact: named for Eleanor Dumont, who operated a series of gambling dens across the western frontier (and, yes, also had a mustache)
• I’m Your Huckleberry - bourbon whiskey, huckleberry syrup, lemon juice, Angostura bitters; fun fact: named for a real quote said by Doc Holliday, but made famous by Val Kilmer’s delivery of the line in the 1993 movie Tombstone
• Tombstone Tonsil Painter - rye whiskey, Tawny Port, Benedictine, Angostura bitters; fun fact: ＂tonsil paint,＂ or ＂tonsil varnish,＂ was a cowboy nickname for whiskey

Every cowboy enthusiast who enjoys a good drink needs this book in their cocktail-recipe arsenal.

André Darlington is a former restaurant critic and restaurateur turned award-winning beverage writer. He is the best-selling author of eight cocktail books, including Gotham City Cocktails, Booze Cruise, and Bar Menu. He abides in Greensboro, North Carolina.