Oyster Bar Maison Premiere Debuts Comprehensive New Cocktail Book

If you're looking to bring a bit of New Orleans glamour blended with Brooklyn hipster energy to your home cocktails, a new cookbook has arrived on the scene to help out. The team behind the renowned oyster bar Maison Premiere in Williamsburg, New York has debuted their first cocktail tome that highlights standouts from the menu and beyond.  

Envisioned as part illustrated love letter to the Maison Premiere and part instructive manual to the craft cocktail, "The Maison Premiere Almanac" is just as handsome as a coffee table book as it is functionally propped open on your home bar. The book is co-authored by a talented quartet: bar owners Joshua Boissy and Krystof Zizka, as well as award-winning cookbook author Jordan Mackay and Maison Premiere managing partner William Elliot. 

The cookbook, according to the press release, is divided into five sections. The first highlights the history and aesthetic of the bar, from the proper way to nail table-side cocktail service to building your own baroque herb garden. The following sections tackle the over 90 boozy cocktails that made the Maison Premiere one of the Top 50 Bars in the World, according to the likes of William Reed and Drinks International. The final sections touch upon its other signature feature, the humble oyster, and all of the ways to prep and pair it with your favorite tipple. 

Diving deeper into all of the delicious details hidden inside this cocktail manual, you'll find that one spirit dominates. Absinthe, a signature alcohol for Maison Premiere and the star of many of its cocktails, gets a detailed treatment that includes a list of varietals and explanations of its smoky qualities. With recipes for NOLA classics like Sazerac and a verdant absinthe twist on the piña colada, the Maison Absinthe Colada, you won't be lacking in choices or styles including juleps, toddies, punches, and martinis. 

For those looking outside the world of absinthe, you can try your hand at one of the bar's most popular drinks, The Carondelet, a heady blend of citrus juice, orange blossom water, vanilla, salted honey syrup, and gin. If you need some inspiration for cocktail accompaniments, the cookbook is offering up recipes for Maison 7-Spice Chai Syrup, Maison Toasted Coconut Syrup, and Passionfruit Syrup.  

Even if cocktails aren't your forte, the cookbook shares ways you can pair oysters with wine, not just cocktails, so that every boozy taste is represented. If you're looking to invest in your next adventure in cocktails and seafood, you can get "The Maison Premiere Almanac," wherever books are sold for $40.