Dave Wondrich

David Wondrich is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on cocktails and their history. "A living iPod of drink lore and recipes", as the New York Times has labeled him, Dr. Wondrich is a former English professor who gave up Shakespeare and Freshman Comp to write about spirits and cocktails for Esquire magazine (where he's a contributing editor) and numerous others. He's also involved in a whole lot of other things having to do with cocktails and their history, including helping to found Beverage Alcohol Resource, America's first serious training program in spirits and mixology. His two cocktail books, Esquire Drinks and Killer Cocktails have been widely praised, as has Stomp and Swerve, his book about the deep roots of jazz and rock and roll. He lives in Brooklyn, where he is at work on a book about Jerry Thomas, the author of the word's first bartender's guide.