Hollywood Cocktails [Paperback]

The book starts off with brief introduction and cocktail etiquette pages. These inform the reading without being too stale. Topics include; the basic equipment and types of alcohol, mixes, and garnishes used to make the classic cocktail. With the right equipment and accessories it's time to make some drinks.

The first of the four majors sections of Hollywood Cocktails, After Office Hours covers drinks for after work or before dinner. This section mostly covers the king of all drinks, the Martini and some of the many variations and twists one can use when making this classic. Other drinks include the Bacardi Cocktail, and Champagne Cocktail. The drinks are coupled with classic Hollywood movies that feature scenes involving libation. Some of the movies featured in this section include After Office Hours (1935), The Thin Man (1934), and Casablanca (1942). Feeling good? Let's proceed to dinner.

Dinner at Eight is the next section covering aperitifs and digestifs. This is the longest section of the book covering such popular drinks as the Manhattan, Rusty Nail, Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, and Gimlet. Movies include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Pal Joey (1957), and The Big Sleep (1946). The theme here is to offer options to the Martini.

From Here to Eternity, Drinks for all occasions. These are drinks that are a little more light-hearted, fun, or sweet. Here we see such concoctions as the Mint Julep, Planters Punch, and the hang-over-in-a-glass known as the Zombie. Many of the drinks are more complicated, requiring numerous ingredients and some even need a blender. Movies include From Here to Eternity (1953), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941), and Double Indemnity (1944). Now that you've had all these drinks, what's a person to do?

The final section, Remember Last Night, covers drinks to cure what ails you. These include the Corpse Reviver, Prairie Oyster, and the classic stand by Bloody Mary. If they don't cure the hang over then they will definitely get your day started Movies include Remember Last Night (1935), The Girl Can't Help it (1956), and Underworld (1927).

The book is very stylish and slick in its look and feel. The information is crisp, clear and concise. The drink recipes are easy to follow and understand. The movie stills are great and feature some of the biggest names to ever grace the silver screen. Hollywood Cocktails would make a nice addition to the bookshelf or coffee table. I would suggest taking notes and using the notes in place of the book while behind the bar.

On the down side, I found some of the text hard to read. The silver text on the white background and white text on silver background took away some of the ease of reading. Also there is a major error on page 36 listing the history of Barcardi for a Campari Cocktail.

Hollywood Cocktails is well worth its price for the movie buff or the cocktail aficionado. For those who enjoy both, Hollywood Cocktails is a can't miss. Call up some friends, head down to the video store, rent some classic movies, and have a Hollywood Cocktail party of your own.

First, a disclaimer: drinking does not make you cool, and emulating people who drink in order to be cool is a foolish thing to do. That said, if you're going to be drinking anyway, why not do so with a little style? Hollywood Cocktails makes a good case for bringing back the swanky cocktail-party-as-an-event, complete with nattily dressed movie stars to set the example. After a few words on the best way to stir ice without breaking it and the absolutely crucial importance of proper garnish selection, we're off to a fantasyland of shiny dresses and muddled cherries. Each cocktail comes with a step-by-step recipe and sample movie scene to set the mood. We start, as God intended, with the classic dry martini and a scene from the Clark Gable/Constance Bennett caper After Office Hours. The book then moves on to now-rare classics like the Champagne Cocktail (Casablanca) and the Rusty Nail (The Lost Weekend--not recommended viewing for a cheerful cocktail party). In the event of a particularly good party, fear not: hangover cures are thoughtfully included, such as the entertainingly named Corpse Reviver, featured in the appropriately titled Remember Last Night? Ben Reed's recipes are well-proportioned for flavor and come annotated with tips for proper service, such as waiting until the mixing cup has frosted before pouring your martinis and using real, fresh lime juice for the perfect daiquiri. If making cocktails look this cool is wrong, you may not want to be right. --

Ali Davis

Publishers Weekly, October 18, 1999

Celebrating the relationship between silver screen and silver shaker, Hollywood Cocktails by Tobias Steed, with drink recipes by Ben Reed, will delight thirsty film fans. Chapters are divided into cocktails, aperitifs and digestifs, and "drinks for all occasions," including the classic gimlet (paired with the 1952 film The Snows of Kilimanjaro) and a proper bourbon highball (matched with the 1949 classic DOA)

Playboy, December, 1999

While the drink recipes are great, the book's 50 doutone photographs of stars getting schnockered are alone worth the ... price.