Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
This Book changed my life (or at least my drinking habits), 24 April 1999
By A Customer
Everything about this book is high class and stylish. The cocktail is the highest expression of Western culture and this book does it justice. A manual for your kitchen, a conversation piece for your coffee table, and a classic for your bookshelf.
|
|
|
The foundation for an excellent bar library, 6 Jan 1999
By A Customer
This book focuses on "classic" cocktails -- for the most part, those that were around before Prohibition. You won't find Sex on the Beach, but you will find a bunch of almost-forgotten morsels like the Pegu and the Mojito.The book is divided into three parts. The first part is a primer to mixing and stocking a bar, with lots of background on various ingredients and techniques. The second part, my favorite, focuses on 64 cocktails, mostly old-school drinks like the aforementioned Pegu and Mojito. In addition to these recipes, there is also a nicely-pretentious discussion of each drink, including its history (as near as can be determined). The third part is the reference section, with a couple hundred recipes -- again, still fairly old-school -- and a nice glossary. This book is very highly recommended. After buying this, you'll want a couple more books for your bar shelf, but you'll find yourself returning to this one again and again.
|
|
|
Original, a refreshing change., 10 Nov 1998
By A Customer
Cocktail : The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century by Paul Harrington and Laura Moorhead may not be the biggest book about mixing drinks around, but it certainly is one of the best. With 275 recipes, it certainly does cover its fair share of drinks, but fans of the shooter beware, you'll find no such drinks in this book. Harrington is focused on bringing back the classic cocktail, and while some may find him pretentious, or even snooty, no one can say he doesn't know what he's talking about. The most refreshing thing about this book is that it doesn't just give recipes, it give background on the cocktail, the time period it was created, and even who some of the more famous imbibers of the particular drink were. There are even well done pictures of some of the cocktails. So, if you're looking for more than just a recipe book, and you want to create some classic cocktails, check Cocktail out. However, if you're looking for Atomic Bodyslams and Sex on the beach, find another book.
| |