David Wondrich: From Imbibe! to the Oxford Companion and beyond.

Aug 27, 2025

David Wondrich, a cocktail historian and author, shares his fascinating journey from punk musician to one of today's leading drinks voices. He recalls working with legends like Dale DeGroff and the impact of Imbibe! on the cocktail renaissance. David emphasizes the significance of storytelling in mixology and discusses the colossal task of creating The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. He also teases the release of his upcoming comic book on cocktail history, blending humor and wisdom with engaging bar stories.

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ANECDOTE

From Professor To Esquire's Drinks Guy

David Wondrich fell into drinks writing after editing an Esquire cocktail book and turning that into a drinks column and magazine job.
He kept the Esquire contributing editor role for 17 years and travelled widely reporting on bars and spirits.

ANECDOTE

Plaza Party Sparked Imbibe!

A Jerry Thomas tribute at the Plaza Hotel in March 2003 brought together leading bartenders and helped kick off the craft cocktail revival.
Wondrich used the event to research Thomas and then expanded a souvenir booklet into the full Imbibe! project.

INSIGHT

Internet Transformed Cocktail Research

New internet tools and scanned newspapers made historical cocktail research vastly faster and more productive.
Wondrich leaned on OCR databases and libraries to reconstruct recipes and histories that were previously buried in microfilm.

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This week I’m joined by none other than David Wondrich – cocktail historian, author, and one of the most influential voices in the modern drinks world. If you’ve ever picked up Imbibe!, mixed a punch bowl from his recipes, or thumbed through the monumental Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, you’ll know why this conversation was such a treat.

We dive into David’s journey from punk-era bass player, to English professor, to Esquire’s drinks guy, and ultimately to becoming one of the leading authorities on cocktail history. He shares stories of working alongside legends like Gary Regan, Dale DeGroff, and Sasha Petraske, and reflects on how those relationships shaped both his career and the wider cocktail revival.

David takes us behind the scenes of Imbibe!, the groundbreaking book that helped ignite the craft cocktail renaissance and explains how new technology and dogged research made it possible to reconstruct Jerry Thomas’s world. We also talk about the epic scale of The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails: curating 1,200 entries with 165 contributors, and the challenges of making a truly global reference work.

Along the way, David opens up about the art of hospitality, why history and storytelling matter just as much as specs and technique, and his excitement for his upcoming comic book history of the cocktail, due for release this September.

This one’s packed with wisdom, humour, and more than a few great bar stories.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

How David fell into drinks writing via Esquire magazine and ended up travelling the world covering bars and spirits.
The origins of Imbibe! and why Jerry Thomas deserved a serious biography.
The research process that unearthed forgotten ingredients, measurements, and recipes.
The scale and ambition behind The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails.
Why understanding the history and cultural context of drinks matters for bartenders today.
The enduring importance of hospitality in an era of batched cocktails and avant-garde menus.
A sneak peek at David’s next book a graphic novel-style history of cocktails.

Connect with David Wondrich

Twitter: @DavidWondrich
Books: Imbibe! | Punch | The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails

Connect with The Cocktail Academy

Instagram: @welovecocktails
TikTok: @welovecocktailsx
Website: www.thecocktailacademy.com
Email: sayhello@thecocktailacademy.com

🎧 For bonus content and the full Lock-In session with David, head to thecocktailacademy.com.

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