Robert Simonson (born September 11, 1964) is an American journalist and author.^[1][2][3]

Robert Simonson was born in Wisconsin; he has lived in Brooklyn since 1988.

Robert Simonson began writing about cocktails, spirits and bars for The New York Times in 2009.^[4][5] He has also written frequently for Imbibe, Whisky Advocate, Saveur, Food & Wine and Lucky Peach. Since 2017, he has been a contributing editor at Punch.^[6] His book 3-Ingredient Cocktails was nominated for a James Beard Award.^[7] His other writings have been nominated for a total of 10 Spirited Awards, which are awarded annually by Tales of the Cocktail.^[8]

Prior to becoming a cocktail writer, he wrote about the theater for 15 years, primarily for The New York Times and Playbill, where he was an editor and writer for 16 years.^[9] He also wrote four books about the theater.^[10]

• Simonson, Robert (2014). The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World's First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-1607745358.
• Simonson, Robert (2016). A Proper Drink: The Untold Story of How a Band of Bartenders Saved the Civilized Drinking World. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-1-60774-754-3. OCLC 933567553.
• Simonson, Robert (2017). 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-0399578540.