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Robert Simonson head shot - Epicurious

Robert Simonson

Author

Robert Simonson writes about cocktails, spirits, bars, and bartenders for the New York Times. He is also contributing editor and columnist at PUNCH. His books include The Old-Fashioned (2014), A Proper Drink (2016) and 3-Ingredient Cocktails (2017), which was nominated for a 2018 James Beard Award, and The Martini Cocktail (2019), which was nominated for an IACP Award. He was also a primary contributor to The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails (2015). Simonson won the 2019 Spirited Award for Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer, and his work, which has also appeared in Saveur, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, New York magazine, and Lucky Peach, has been nominated for a total of eleven Spirited Awards and three IACP Awards. A native of Wisconsin, he lives in Brooklyn.

Recipes & Menus

Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Amaretto Sour

The ingredient that takes this cocktail from a tired trend to an improved classic is nearly an ounce of quality overproof bourbon.
Recipes & Menus

Art of Choke

Bartender Kyle Davidson created this bitter and fresh Cynar cocktail in 2008 at The Violet Hour.
Recipes & Menus

Naked and Famous

This equal parts mezcal drink is beloved by everyone who tastes it.
Recipes & Menus

Japanese Cocktail

One of the oldest and most perfect of three-ingredient cocktails, the Japanese Cocktail first saw print in 1862 but remains stubbornly unknown and underappreciated.
Recipes & Menus

Penicillin

No new drink of the twenty-first century has gone further in terms of fame than this complex, spicy, smoky turn on a Whiskey Sour. 
Recipes & Menus

White Russian

If vodka and cream and coffee are among your favorite things, this cocktail may be your jam.
Recipes & Menus

Allies Cocktail

This drink’s single deviation from the typical dry Martini is a couple of dashes of the liqueur kümmel, which tastes of caraway and cumin, in place of the usual orange bitters.