Rating: 3 stars
Headline: An interesting book, although it is not entirely clear who the intended audience is
Review:
Who doesn’t love a good cocktail? I would slurp on one of these fine beverages any time, any place if I could. Only trouble is, I never seem to be blessed with knowing where to start when it comes to making the delightful things.
To use its full title, Mastering Classic Cocktails: Recipes and Techniques for the Home Bartender is, in truth, more a cocktail bible than a cocktail recipe book. C. Townsend Brady brings his experience as a home bartender with a multitude of professional accreditations and connections on the San Francisco bartender circuit) to give a low-down on cocktails for the slightly less experienced.
Covered in this colourful two hundred page guide are not only recipes for all your cocktail favourites but also finer details around the tasting notes and history of each drink, with a wrap around history on the backstory of the cocktail beverages we know and love today. Beautiful shot photography can be found on every page, further enticing readers into rolling up their sleeves and giving these drinks a go.
Mastering Classic Cocktails itself is a good enough book, although personally I feel there is a little too much content to fully enjoy the nuggets of insight. For example, the introductory “brief history of cocktails” comes in at six pages of dense copy and a number of drink recipes contain somewhat extensive information, more than is needed to get the gist of the drink. The result can be at times a bit overwhelming.
Mastering Classic Cocktails is ultimately deep dive publication for cocktail fans, with bonus recipes. It is not entirely clear who the intended audience is, cocktail novices or cocktail purists, but who those who enjoy reading extensively on the subject there is a lot to take away from Townsend Brady’s insight.
AEB Reviews
Links:
Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Mastering Classic Cocktails” by C. Townsend Brady
Purchase Link: “Mastering Classic Cocktails” by C. Townsend Brady (Amazon)
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