Exactly as described in the title -- this is comic, history, and fun anecdotes about the cocktail all rolled into one. Maybe the most perfect coffee table book I've ever encountered?

I thought that this would be a fairly quick read, but it actually had a ton of information. I don't think it was necessarily too much, but it was a lot and not something I could just fly through. I think you really have to be interested in cocktails to read this, it's not really for the casual reader. However, I did like the art style and that it threw in cocktail recipes that went with each section.

A really nice illustrated book about the history of cocktails, full of recipes for those who fancy mixology.

Reading the title and description I thought that it was going to be a bit different, as I believe that this is not really a comic book but more of a graphic novel. It is really full of information and packed with texts, which sometimes are difficult to read.

An enjoyable reading, probably a great gift for amateurs.

This book was, ultimately, much denser than I expected it to be, the pages were fairly crammed with information and as a comic book that became rather hard to read after a while (especially as I was reading a digital ARC)
There's undoubtedly a lot of interesting information here, and it's nothing if not thorough, but I never found myself as interested as I expected. I love to experiment with cocktails and try new things, but my budget is limited so this felt like a window into bigger and bolder things, but there was just so much squeezed into less than 200 pages!
Not a bad time by any measure (pun intended) but maybe have a flick through a print copy when it's published before you decide!
Thanks as always to Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was expecting something more laid-back, but I was not disappointed reading this. It was definitely informative and insightful. I do wish it had a bit more recipes, but this is cute, and I like it.

Interesting story about the history of cocktails. I love the historical recreations and then getting the story behind it. The recipes are fun and they weren't the same recipes you see over and over in books. It was a bit wordy for a comic, but it was well written.

4 stars

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Comic Book History of the Cocktail is a graphic novel style book all about the history behind well loved cocktails.
I read the earc, which was beautifully illustrated, but I did get headaches trying to read the text on a screen zooming in and out to do so on every page. I'd advise reading this in physical format for this reason alone.
There's lots of interesting information in this book, and I loved how it was told in graphic novel style, which gave it an added edge.
Many of the cocktails do use the same ingredients, so some recipes can appear quite repetitive to an extent (as they do normally).
This would be a great gift for any history lover, cocktail fan, or as a coffee table book for social occasions.

Densely packed with information, there is a lot to learn here. The addition of an index at the end may be helpful for readers wanting to revisit certain recipes or points of history, as the amount of text in this book is rather daunting. Though the book is very thorough, it does mean it's also a pretty slow read. Recipes are sprinkled throughout, plus a collection added at the end as well. A good book for a history buff or someone who takes their cocktails very seriously, but not as ideal for a casual read despite the comic book format.

I am a big fan of cocktails. I have my own lil bar set up in my kitchen to make drinks when I host and I love making new drinks. I thought this would be a fun book to read because it would give some background on the drinks we make. To be honest I never really thought about the history that goes with cocktails until seeing this book. I thought the book would be amazing, while it lets down a bit with the expectations it did have the history and facts that it promised.

First of all I was expecting more of a comic style book and while this takes on a comic book feel almost every page is really busy, with lots of text and some pages bog you down with info. From a visual standpoint it can be a bit overwhelming with the small text and full pages. The art style is reminiscent of older comics which was promised with the cover image. I liked the little stories that came with the different drinks as well as what delivered to me like an Alton Brown type feel of explaining certain things (like there is a whole page on bitters that I could hear being said in Alton's voice being informative on ingredients).

All in all I would give this one 3 stars. It is a solid window into the past (and well cited at the end of the book), fun comic book art and delivers on history. Any fan of Alton Brown's Good Eats would enjoy this as well as any bartender who wants to learn some fun facts to talk about at the bar. I don't think this would be a fun read for anyone who isn't attached to cocktails in some way.
Lastly I think this book would make a great gift for the drinker in your family or a friend/acquaintance who fancies cocktails.

3.5/5

The art is great and definitely set the scene for the story and recipes.

It was a little text heavy for a comic style, at least in a digital format. I think a physical book it would probably be easier to read.

This would make for a fun gift or a coffee table book, but isn't something that I would pick up again to reread.

I believe this is the first time I've ever read a nonfiction comic and I definitely would read another.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC!

Publishing date: 23.09.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

I love cocktails. Learning more about cocktails would be for me right? Eh

Love the premise, first of all. History of anything is usually very interesting. But I am not sure the way it told the history here benefited the book in any way. The text is tiny, there is a looot of info cramped on almost every page. What is nice is the breaks between chapters with a drink of choice and how to make them.

Otherwise, the history is really just fine. There are a lot of repeats, naturally. Here is a group of people, on accident or due to desperation they have made an alcoholic drink. Over time it turned into a comfort instead of necessity. It really is just mostly that. I think if you have some kind of essay or task about this theme you may get more from this.

Mixed on this book, but I am giving it 3 stars. Maybe it just wasn't for me.

This book was fun! I don't drink any alcohol but I love learning new things and this book was perfect for that. It was well-writtten, with lots of fun facts. Also loved the illustration style. Just a little too dense for a graphic novel in my opinion.

This cocktail book is so fun! My husband and I had a period post-pregnancies where we were exploring classic cocktails, but chose to give up alcohol about two years ago. This would have been so fun for that because he’s a big comic book fan and is working on one of his own. We have a lot of friends and family in that sort of intersection and I’m already planning this for a couple of Christmas gifts. What I like about it is the art and style, obviously, but the dedication to robust history through the book. It’s really interesting, even if you personally aren’t going to partake in the drinks. Thanks to Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions mine.

This was an excellent book. It was well-written. I would highly recommend this book. It's very easy to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

As someone allergic to alcohol but growing up in a country with an extremely strong drinking culture, I have always been fascinated by different mixology history and flavor pairings, etc. I don’t know what I was expecting from this particular story, but I don’t think it’s for me. I normally read on my tablet and it’s a fairly large screen. However, despite this, the font was so tiny that I just didn’t enjoy the literal physical act of reading it. All of the pages were aesthetically laid out and I’m sure it would be an amazing read through but I just couldn’t get through it. I skimmed ahead to see if maybe the layout would be better going forward, but it was all generally the same and I say this as someone fairly nearsighted.

A graphic novel that has beautiful illustrations and describes how alcohol and cocktails developed around the world. There also basic recipes of cocktails which are also talked through as if a bar tender is talking you through them. It’s really different and I’ve never seen anything like it.
I really enjoyed reading it and I think it would make an excellent present. I hope it does get made into a hard back as I think it would be a beautiful book to own. The amount of effort put into the writing, the story and I really appreciate the notes and further reading, the whole book feels like a labour of love with so much attention to detail.
Thank you to Ten Speed Press for providing this book for my consideration via NetGalley this is all my own rambling, honest and personal opinions.

The emphasis on this book should be the word “History” as it’s pretty dense for a comic book, I think graphic novel is a better descriptor for this one. It has a lot of interesting information, some of it felt a little redundant but that’s probably because there are overlaps in alcohol and the drinks presented use some repeating ingredients.

The artwork is detailed, I had a difficult time adjusting my eyes to the font it’s written in at times. I think because I picked this up thinking it was more of a comic book rather than the pretty historically dense graphic novel, it lost my interest at multiple points so I had to break it up into small sections. Likely a history buff looking for a story about alcohol will enjoy this very much.

Thanks NetGalley, David Wondrich, and Ten Speed Graphic for this advanced reader’s copy.

One thing about me: I love a good cocktail (whiskey-based preferably), and I love history. A graphic novel seems like a fun way to merge the two, and I think this would be a perfect coffee-table book or gift for either a history buff or mixology enthusiast in your life.

The Comic Book History of the Cocktail starts with the origins of different alcohols and then progresses throughout history and the evolution of cocktails as we know them today (one thing I don't think I'll ever forget was the name's origin). Intermixed (no pun intended) with the history are recipes and tips on making your favorite (or trying some new) drinks at home. I could absolutely see this book propped on a bar cart or nestled in with other recipe books and the novelty of the comic format makes it fun for that.

Graphic novels are, in my mind, influenced by two key pieces: the text and the art. Thoughts on both below:

*The Text: As mentioned, this book does a nice job of providing the history of mixology and different drinks. I found it informative and easily digestible, however, it does seem a bit over-simplistic at times. The tone of the text felt like it was for a much younger audience (I think it's fair to assume the target is 21+?). I also thought where the mixology tips/'recipes' were could have been enhanced if they had a recipe card on the page as opposed to at the end of the book. While it keeps all the recipes together, this would make it easier to reference the tips/instructions and make it more likely to be used for years to come. As it stands, it seems like it would be too much work (yes, I'm lazy) to flip back to find that one tip on how to make the perfect Amaretto Sour).

*The Artwork: This is not a style of art that I gravitate towards in graphic novels, and I don't think the artwork inside really matches what I pictured based on the cover (something more whimsical, perhaps). I felt there was too much blank space behind the comics, and some pages are too-text heavy so it felt unbalanced at times. This wasn't noticeable on the first page(s) of the chapters and I was disappointed the rest of the chapter wasn't as filled with artwork/backgrounds.

Ultimately, I do think this would be a unique gift and would make a fun coffee table book, but it's the kind where you flip through a few pages and set it down. Despite being a comic--something I usually fly through--this one took a while to read fully.

*Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an ARC for review!*

Not exactly my style or what I thought the book would be. I enjoyed the comic book idea but found that it was generally too dense with words and writing that defeats the purpose of the style.

thanks to netgalley and the publishers for providing me a arc in exchange for a honest review. My score would be around 3.5-4 so I'm rounding up.

to my delight and surprise I enjoyed this a lot. I am not a drinker of any alcoholic beverages and never plan to be but it was still fun to learn so much. so you can tell, I am not the target audience for this comic book, so the recipes didn't have any interest for me. I cant say anything about the quality. I really like the comic format of nonfiction. it makes the reading experience so fun. Id love to pick up other books like this in the future.
the things that I loved the most and see myself looking back on the most is Thomas Jerry, the 1900s era of cocktails as a whole, both Cubas and Europe's histories, etc.. I sometimes forget as a American that other places have American inspired food/drink places. the coca cola lore drop was interesting considering my grandma is a addict with that drink. Last time I asked if I could have one she said no because we aren't going to the store for a few days and there's little left, what a shame.
onto my criticisms the text was a bit blurry. I'm hoping this is just a thing with the arc copy? it is readable for the most part but irritating. I also wish it went into discussions of the cultures cocktails and bars create, good and bad.