The New Craft of The Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to Think Like A Master Mixologist, with 500 Recipes by Dale Degroff
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Web ID: 14789505No Better Time to Upgrade Your Home Cocktail Game!
More than ever, your home cocktail skills could use some fine tuning. THIS is the book you need while trapped at home in 2020. I loved the ease of reading the recipes and the familiarity of most of the ingredients. This isn't trying to test you ability to procure the most obscure ingredients, rather it will up your skills and knowledge. I LOVED all the tips sprinkled without. Some simple, like how to cut the perfect citrus coins for a drink to plenty more elaborate tips. The glossary is comprehensive and helpful and the recipes are grouped thematically, which I enjoy. It does occasionally make them hard to find, so you'll have to use the index a bit....which is my only minor criticism. I received a free copy of this book from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review, but I will be using this fabulous reference for years to come.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A veritable cocktail textbook
Six months into quarantine, a lot of us have picked up a casual drinking habit and this book is just what you need to elevate your home cocktail game. With more than five hundred recipes, detailed explanations of techniques, tips, and best practices, this expanded and updated edition of The New Craft of the Cocktail, first released in 2002, is a veritable cocktail textbook. It starts off with a history of the cocktail, followed by an overview of every type of liquor imaginable and its uses, concepts and techniques, and glassware. Seventy pages in we get to the goods: the recipes. One thing that bothers me about this section is the alphabetical order. It seems to assume that people are either looking up cocktails by name or actually reading through all of them to find one they would like to make. I would personally have preferred some sort of system of categorization, whether by type of liquor, sweet/sour/botanical/dry, or something else. This seems like a small thing but it's kind of a dealbreaker for me, although the choice might point to the intended audience for this book--if you are a professional or a seasoned cocktail connoisseur who knows exactly what you're looking for, this structure should work out just fine. I do like that the Bloody Mary, martini, Manhattan, and cobblers all have their own section. I've received a free copy from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Everything you need to know
This book is glamorous, with photography and design that takes you back in time, but gives you the tools to experience classic cocktails now. I'm interested in food history, so I really enjoyed the history behind spirits and cocktails, including the geographic and political history to shaped them, and the revival of cocktails and the art of bartending. There's everything from a guide to tasting, advice on what kinds of ice to use, tools and glassware, and of course recipes. As a food history fan, I'm excited to learn about the backstories of certain drinks, and of course how to make them so I can try them myself. I received a free copy from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Excellent Resource About Cocktails and the Recipes
This revised edition of the 2002 Craft of the Cocktail is a fascinating read with sections on the craft of the cocktail, the recipes and tales associated with the recipes, and resources for more information about mixing drinks and what's needed to make them. I was intrigued with the history of the cocktail and how they were named. Who knew there could be 500 recipes? This is an excellent book for bartenders, for those that entertain and mix drinks for their guests, and a novice like me, needing recipes for mixing drinks. I walked down memory lane during my college days, my 20s, and my 30s. I came across recipes for those drinks I've had. I think this is an excellent addition to one's cookbook collection for those wanting to learn to mix drinks and know the names and history of these cocktails. I've received a free copy from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wealth of information
This book is sexy from it's black cover to the bold typeface used throughout the book. It brings that swanky bar, where drinks cost more than your car, right to your home. Best part is you can have fancy cocktails right in your pajamas if you chose to. The book is a wealth of information from history to tools and technique. I like the tidbits of bar tales that preface each recipe. I started with an old favorite, the old fashioned, and then moved my way up to something more difficult, the painkiller, made with rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice, and orange juice with a garnish of nutmeg (yum!). I took off one star because some of the recipes have alcohols that even an incredibly well stocked bar wouldn't have. However, there are so many recipes you will definitely be able to find one that works with the ingredients you have on hand. Cheers! I've received a free copy from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
An encyclopedic compendium of craft cocktails
Dale DeGroff’s The New Craft of the Cocktail is an updated version of his classic 2002 guide to cocktails. DeGroff’s first edition of the book ushered in the craft cocktail movement that quickly swept across the world. The book begins with a history of the cocktail from early American drinking habits through Prohibition and the 1950s innovations in cocktails. A section on ingredients includes everything from ice to various alcohols from around the world. “The Tools, Techniques, and Garnishes of the Cocktail” explains the equipment needed to make cocktails, and a beautifully photographed spread illustrates how to make garnishes from fruit peels, vegetables and spices. The recipe section is encyclopedic: alphabetized by drink name, explained with background anecdotal and historical information, and accompanied by variant recipes. The section on the Bloody Mary has seven different recipes, a page-long history of the recipe, and instructions for a Bloody Mary Buffet, an inspiring party idea. The recipes are concise and clearly written, encouraging for any experienced or newcomer to make. Photographs by Daniel Krieger are bright, colorful, and helpful with ideas for presentation. The book ends with a section of resources including information on classes, online sources, newsletters, and vendors. A glossary thoroughly defines terms and ingredients. I made several of DeGroff’s cocktails, all to much acclaim. The Democrat was inspired by a biography of Harry Truman and his penchant for front-porch politics, a “boozy lemonade” of mint, honey syrup, bourbon, lemon juice and peach liqueur. The Mark Twain was based on an 1874 letter from Twain to his wife Livy with instructions for a cocktail with Scotch, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Angostura bitters. DeGroff’s Dark and Stormy is a straight-forward mix of black rum, ginger beer, and lime. All were light, bright and delicious. I can’t wait to try more of DeGroff’s cocktail recipes! This book is authoritative, complete, and inspiring. It would make an excellent gift for someone who enjoys making cocktails or is just learning the craft. A welcome addition to any cocktail enthusiasts' bookshelf. I’ve received a free copy from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review. Thank you so much, Clarkson Potter!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Obviously a Classic
I received a free copy of this book from Clarkson Potter for a free and unbiased review. Before opening this book I had been largely ignorant of the history of alcoholic drinks and drink-making, how rich and deep a culture it is and how in more recent years it has come out of the lingering shadows of the Prohibition Era and rebuilt itself into a proper industry. I am also not much of a cocktail drinker. I prefer sweet wine or my preferred beer when I want something alcoholic. On my 19th birthday when I was studying abroad my friends gifted me with a bottle of pineapple-flavored Bacardi Breezer and knowing nothing else I felt like I had reached peak cool. It’s been more than ten years since then and truthfully, I have never had an interest in delving into the art of Cocktail making until now. Skimming through this book made me want to know more and drink more, which I imagine are both the overall goals of this publication. I hadn’t heard of Dale Degroff before this book, but I had heard of The Rainbow Room, albeit by name alone, but it becomes very clear very quickly that he is the expert on all things mixology. The book is a trove of valuable information, good advice, clear instructions and solid recipes that are the building blocks of lots of other modern creative drinks and appeal to nearly every taste and whim. More than a fan of recipes, I am a fan of technique and I find that this book suits my desire for it. One recipe in particular caught my attention really quickly and now has me desperate to make this drink sometime later this Fall: The Cafe Brulot which involves lighting rum on fire and a special bowl in which to complete this dessert drink (vaulted ceilings definitely a plus, but I will likely be making it outdoors). In fact it was this recipe that led me to search “Cafe Brulot Bowl” and land upon a video of Mr. Dale Degroff himself making the Cafe Brulot with the unmatched finesse of a man who lives and breathes the Art of Mixology. I suppose now I must find myself a Cafe Brulot bowl set-up that doesn’t cost $700. I was also pleased to find many recipes that don’t call for sweetener of any kind, including the Bloody Bull and its less bloody cousin, the Bullshot. This book is such an utter pleasure to read that I found myself reading it through cover to cover several times over the course of the week. I honestly do not remember the last time I had a cookbook open all week on the table all the while searching key words and terms and relevant videos, taking notes and jotting down all the interesting cocktails I wanted to try but more so, reading of gin and lime zest, brandy and coffee, staring at filled and chilled glasses with ice cubes bobbing inside libations of varying hues made me thirsty, so much so that I had to make a special trip to the liquor store, on the way dreaming up drinks that weren’t even in the book. Clearly my brain has been in cocktail mode since I cracked the cover on this one. This is yet another version of a classic, to be sure, one I’ll be enjoying very much, especially during the long winter months.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
My new go-to cocktail book!
I’m really excited about this book – it will definitely be my new go-to for cocktail how-tos and inspiration! I own a few cocktail books, but they are all pretty specialized (tiki drinks, aperitifs, etc.). For all of the other stuff (like figuring out the correct ratios for a margarita, or Manhattan, for example) I always turn to google. The issue with google is, it’s hard to know which sites are trustworthy and which ones aren’t. There’s always a gamble at play. That’s where this book comes in – I not only trust the tried and true recipes, but the content of this book covers more ground than I can imagine, offering very traditional cocktails, variations on those cocktails, and also a large handful of unique, one of a kind cocktails! The photos are beautiful, the recipes are written clearly, and most importantly, these are what I would call, “no frills” cocktails (ie. you don’t need 20 ingredients to make a good cocktail – just the basics!). Lastly, recipes are organized in alphabetical order, which I can appreciate; the only thing missing, is an index based on type of alcohol, which would also be helpful. In other words, it would be really nice if I could see a list of cocktails based on tequila for example… but maybe that will get included in the 3rd edition! Please note: I’ve received a free copy from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com