In these more health-conscious, abstentious times this little book tends to cock-a-snook at the norms and, gasp, positively encourages (sensible) daytime alcohol consumption!
In a jovial, light-hearted style backed up by some great recipes and fascinating nuggets of information, the author has crammed in over 100 drinks recipes and 25 foods that are `paired' to alcoholic beverages to give a little variation to your libation. Setting out to free the social tippler from the tired-old, champagne-based, coffee-based, or fruit or vegetable juice-based cocktails the author also hopes to `help' you make the most of your brunch or whatever meal you might be considering.
For those who indulge a little too enthusiastically, there are also some hangover cures, their efficacy not guaranteed.
The book is written in a jaunty style that doesn't entirely take itself seriously, mixing up quips, scoops of information, trivia, recipes and quite a few laughs into the book equivalent of a cocktail shaker before giving it a damn good shake. The result is one of those books that can be a great gift for someone you know not to be an absolutist or teetotaller and, of course, it can help expand your alcoholic education (before any degradation that may follow due to over-consumption of various core ingredients).
Despite the frivolity and informality this is a book that is really full of great information and recipes. It doesn't take itself too seriously, unlike many of those thick tomes detailing the one and only way you can make an authentic version of cocktail X (invariably these books seem to come with a lot of pretension and perceived grandeur). Maybe this book serves as a great introduction to the enthusiastic tippler who wants to try something new but doesn't know where to turn. For the more advanced, studied scholar of such beverages there is still enough interesting material to hold the attention.
The review version of this book did not feature an index (to come, claims the teasing text) so it is hoped that the index is of a high standard and that it sorts the recipes by ingredient, so you can also consider what to make when you only have a bit of this or a dash of that in your `cocktail cabinet'.
The book is deceptive. At first this reviewer did not see a lot of hope for the book and couldn't see how it would carve itself a niche. Yet, it did, all this and more on a totally alcohol-free stomach (for the reviewer). With that in mind, just how great might it be with a little tincture or two inside? At this moment, the sun is firmly over the yardarm, so if you will excuse your reviewer a moment...
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About the author
Top reviews from other countries
Noble Smith
I'm a lover of Suffering Bastards (the drink, that is)
Reviewed in the United States on 30 August 2012
Tricia Fields
A winner - from the recipes to the anecdotes!
Reviewed in the United States on 25 November 2013Donald McClusky
Great for Cocktail Nerds or Those Looking to Get Artfully Tipsy on the Lord's Day
Reviewed in the United States on 29 October 2012
