Signature Cocktails: Cool Cocktails from Cool Places

Cocktails have never been so good. From New York to London, Shanghai to Mexico City, you can now be sure of a decent drink. In fact, more than decent - the creative fervour surrounding cocktails has reached fever pitch, with top mixologists constantly jetting around the globe to consult on new bars, and talented bartenders letting rip with innovative combinations - the best giving a refreshing twist on the classics. Want to get your head around the scale of the trend? Then pick up a copy of Signature Cocktails: Cool Cocktails from Cool Places, by Bill Tikos.

The aim is to showcase the cocktail bar ethos of super-hip interior design, with more than 200 glossy photographs. There are recipes, too - 50, at the last count, focusing on the house special as the title suggests, from bars all around the world. Even Saigon - who'd have thought there was a cocktail scene there? Plus you get the lowdown on each bar - who owns it, who goes, who drinks what, with plenty of inspiring design detail that you might just want to nick.

There are more than 150 entries, from old-timers such as El Floridita in Havana, Cuba, and Café del Mar in Ibiza, to new-timers Moscow's Vogue Café and Supper Club in Rome. London's sole entry is Jonathan Downey's much-praised Milk & Honey.

Some I've been to - like Match in Auckland, New Zealand, and Fluid Ultra Lounge in San Francisco, whose signature Pink Cadillac was responsible for my worst hangover to date (I blame the Tequila).

Others I want to go to, such as Iceberg's in Sydney, to gaze out over the cliffs of Bondi Beach while sucking on a Bondi Crush - Bombay Sapphire gin, Pimm's No 1, fresh mint and dry ginger ale.

A nice homage to a vibrant, burgeoning industry.

Fiona Sims, food and drink writer

Signature Cocktails: Cool Cocktails from Cool Places
Bill Tikos
Mitchell Beazley, £14.99
ISBN 1 84533 032 3