Robert Simonson

Contributing Editor

Robert Simonson writes about cocktails, spirits and bars for the New York Times. He is the author of The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World's First Classic Cocktail (2014), A Proper Drink (2016) and 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon (2017).

Cocktails

How the Breakfast Martini Became a Modern Classic

Salvatore Calabrese's ingenious jam-infused sour reintroduced preserves to the bartender's arsenal.

story: Robert Simonson
photo: Lizzie Munro

Cocktails

The 21st-Century Cocktail Is Made

In the third installment of a four-part series, Robert Simonson examines the late aughts, a boom time for the drinks now deemed modern classics.

story: Robert Simonson
illustration: Raphaelle Macaron

Cocktails

The 21st-Century Cocktail Is Born

In the second installment of a four-part series, Robert Simonson examines the early aughts, a period influenced by Milk & Honey's trailblazing bartenders and a wave of contemporary cocktail books.

story: Robert Simonson
illustration: Raphaelle Macaron

Cocktails

The Top 10 Cocktails of 2020

Contributing editor Robert Simonson shares the best cocktails he drank this year.

story: Robert Simonson
photo: Eric Medsker

Cocktails

How the Cable Car Became a Modern Classic

For the spiced rum Sidecar riff, it all started in San Francisco.

story: Robert Simonson
photo: Kelly Puleio

Cocktails

Where It All Began

In the first of a four-part series, Robert Simonson examines the late 1990s, a period that re-introduced the bar world to a century of lost knowledge.