Rating:

Soooo, the beast has been burbling for ages about wanting to have a cocktail cabinet full of spirits. A chance Amazon search, followed by a surreptitious 10 minutes in Waterstones, confirmed this book would definitely do as a pretty definitive guide. Oh it is good. There’s about 6 cocktails to a page and they are listed alphabetically. It’s a big, big hardback- more like a Physics textbook than any cookbook/drink book I’ve ever known. In the back there’s a listing by ingredient. That part isn’t 100% accurate- there’s some links that are missing, and it’s in painfully small print for my sadly aging eyes. Still it gives a reasonable introduction and collection to each ingredient.

Difford is very firm about what he sees as the best liqueur brands to buy- and generally you won’t be able to buy them on the high street, only the less palatable versions, if you’re lucky. Happily the UK internet has a few sites which oblige (which seems to be with a standard delivery charge). It will cost to buy up your main ingredients and we still haven’t quite solved the storage problem (cocktail cabinets aren’t the best solution and do you really want a BAR in your home?). Difford does helpfully list the basic set of spirits needed. Supermarkets happily provide the range of fruit juices you’ll need.

Glassware is much easier to get hold of. Martini glasses are ubiquitous in the high street. Again online is the best place to get hold of the weirder shapes such as pina colada, margarita and (our favourite) the tall conical Kyoto glass. If you want a boston cocktail shaker (base and glass) and strainer, then again the global electronic village is your best bet. You’ll soon be muddling with the best of them (a muddler is a wooden bar with which you bash out the essence of fruit- amazing on strawberries).

Like fondues, this is a 70s thing that is in desperate need of revival. They aren’t all brilliant drinks, but wow, St Germain Elderflower liqueur is amazing - especially in a “Gin Atomic”. Stay at home and crunch on a few roasted cashews instead of your credit!

Rating:

For some cocktails like the Mai-Tai, Simon has documented several versions, including the original Trader Vic’s one and many of the modern variants. The recipies are accurate easy to follow and there is very useful index of cocktails by ingredient at the back.

I have one complaint though and that’s the constant referring to spirits by brand name. All the way through each ingredient is specified by brand; Ketel One Vodka, Remy Martin cognac etc. It is obvious sponsorship as more mundane products like ‘ginger beer’ and ‘ice-cream vanilla’ are not branded. I’m sure a cocktail made with the very cheapest ice-cream would suffer more than one made with a less expensive brand of vodka.

This is taken to the extreme in the index where under “Creme de Cassis” it says “See Giffard creme de cassis liqueur.”

However, I’ve given it 5 stars and it’s very well deserved. My advice, buy the book without hesitation. Then purchase alternatives to all the spirits he names by brand and then maybe we’ll see a new edition that says “Premium Vodka” instead of specific brand placement in future.