Customer Reviews

The Business of Spirits: How Savvy Marketers, Innovative Distillers, and Entrepreneurs Changed How We Drink

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's easy to see a lot of research and hard work went into this book.
It's insightful, interesting and fun to read. Lots of great interviews. enjoyable reading of How & why the cocktail has made a comeback in the last few years. An insiders look at the big business of Spirits.
Fascinating to see how Premium spirits were created and how they have become a significant part of our cocktail culture. An intriguing read all the way.
stephen visakay,
author Vintage Bar Ware, collector books, 1997
founding member The Museum of the American Cocktail

The book is a quick read on how the liquor industry really works. I found it interesting, engaging, and attention holding.

This thin volume contains an overview of the American spirits industry that manages to be very concise and to-the-point at the same time that it provides a broad look at the world of distilled spirit production, marketing, and consumption. Throughout the book Rothbuam provides historical information on the American booze biz, highlighting various trends in drinking from the pre-Prohibition era through to the modern day. Alongside this historical narrative of the overall industry, Rothbaum delves into the specific worlds of several individual types of spirits with chapters on Scotch, Vodka, and others. The author also tells the stories of the various mixed-drinks, bar-trends, and other factors that have shaped the public's demand for spirits over the years...
Read my full review @ [...]

Not so many years ago, vodka was a pedestrian liquor used to make Bloody Marys, single malt Scotch was for the rich and famous, and tequila was a mainstay at college parties. Walk into a retail outlet or well-stocked tavern these days and your head spins. You can choose from among hundreds of liquors, many in beautifully crafted bottles designed to catch your eye. You can pay $12 or $200 for a bottle - depending on what's in your wallet and how adventurous you feel. Noah Rothbaum tells a terrific story of how the spirits industry has exploded into a multi-billion dollar phenomenon that shows no signs of slowing. The author, who has extensive experience covering the industry, explains the history of many well-known alcoholic beverages and analyzes the consumer's modern-day thirst for premium brands. Rothbaum also introduces the distillers, entrepreneurs and marketing whizzes who create and shape industry trends. Whether you're a whiskey connoisseur or a teetotaler, getAbstract believes you'll learn a lot and have fun with this book. Cheers!

Good book; interesting read. However, I was expecting (for some reason) that this would be more of a how-to guide. I thought it might help the reader navigate some of the laws, marketing challenges, etc. To some extent, it provides some ideas, but falls short of being the guide I had expected it to be. More of a history book.

Poorly-written, boring, broad look at the liquor business. Read like a high school term paper, with paragraph upon paragraph of boring statistics, oft-repeated "findings" (lost track of how many times the author pointed out that vodka is a "flavorless spirit" -- great insight), and ostensibly interesting figures (the man who founded Grey Goose, for example) rendered two-dimensionally. Stay away.

I author statistical books that cover the spirits industry and I really enjoyed this book. It gave me new prospectives and useful information that will help me moving forward and shed more light on the trends shaping the business.