Customer Reviews

Dark Spirits: 200 Classy Concoctions Starring Bourbon, Brandy, Scotch, Whiskey, Rum and More

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are in the mood for an adult beverage A.J. Rathbun has 200 offerings for your consideration. Dark Spirits focuses on the brown liquors (Whiskey, Rum, Scotch, Bourbon, Rye and the like). It is a visually attractive book that encourages its reader to pull out a cocktail shaker and experience the drink after seeing the recipe and accompanying photo. Previous reviews have noted that the recipes are not sorted by specific liquor but Rathbun notes that he intentionally organized the recipes into "thematic chapters" including Dark Classics (familiar standbys including Hot Toddys and Sidecars), Powerful Punches (party favorites including Honolulu Punch and Old Fashions) and Hot Stuff (warm drinks for cold nights including Hot Brick and Irish Coffee) to name a few. If you feel more comfortable looking up the drink recipe by liquor, there is a liquor specific index in the back of the book prior to the general index. Rathbun provides a great amount of information in an approachable/conversational presentation. From bar tools to garnishes to highlights of specific liquors, Rathbun includes beneficial information for his readers. I found the recipes were easy to follow and included many ingredients I already have in my home. This is a great cocktail book to add to your library.

Dark spirit-lovers unite! I'm a rum gal myself, and was pleased as punch to find a book that focused on the darker drinks. A.J. Rathbun delights once again (and here I thought Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist was un-toppable) with delicious recipes, fun historical references, hilarious personal anecdotes, and wise suggestions for top-notch imbibing. The photograpy is stunning--and is impetus enough to encourage one to try the recipes--but the ease with which most of the drinks can be concocted is also a major plus. A.J.'s vast knowledge and dedicated drink-related research come together in this amazing compilation of cocktail ideas. My personal favorite? The Lion Tamer, but something tells me this book is going to be covered in sticky-notes and dog-eared pages from constant referencing in no time!

Much like other coffee table books, Rathbun's "Dark Spirits" looks great and is a quick read. Since there isn't really much in the way of story here, I'll spell out the good and the bad in short order.

The Good:

The book is beautiful. My hardbound copy is heavy and well made with good stock in both cover and page. The photographs are superb and the design is one of the best things about this book. Legible fonts with attractive layouts throughout help make this a pleasure to look through.

The writing style is fun and playful and this book is an enjoyable, light read.

Along with the standards, there are tons of drink recipes I'd never heard of and plenty of liquors that share that same attribute. The sections about each spirit are informative and useful knowledge, perhaps in barrooms or if you get a slot on Jeopardy.

The Bad:

Let's face it, this is basically a recipe book. Having the drink selections divided by whimsy was a bad idea. While there is an index in the back in which one can find each recipe by base spirit, it would be far more useful had the author divided them throughout the book in kind. One can only imagine after having a few of these delights that it would be quite difficult to find a recipe otherwise.

Even if he had divided them up by Standards, Fruity, Aperitif, Dessert,etc., the book would have made a better bar companion. As it stands, I doubt many will refer to this when mixing. It may have added to the cost, but dividers with tabs are a standard in most drink recipe books or reference guides.

Many of the drinks featured are far too obscure and/or fluffy for my tastes. I can only imagine that they were added to help build up bulk but I doubt many will actually go to the trouble of finding the rare ingredients it takes to make them.

Note: Some of the recipes are a bit complicated and should only be tried prior to imbibing.

The first thing I noticed about Dark Spirits is how beautiful it is -- a thick, sturdy hardback with gorgeous pictures. A pretty book to show off. There are plenty of recipes for some thick, sturdy, and gorgeous drinks, too. There are a bunch of recipes which use ingredients that you're unlikely to have on hand, but perhaps finding these items is part of the fun.

A.J. Rathbun's "Dark Spirits" makes an excellent edition (note: this is kind of silly spelling error that happens when testing the recipes in this book) to any kitchen or bar. A sturdy book of 300+ pages, plenty of photographs, and loaded with terrific recipes for some mighty fine drinks. This review is for the hardback edition--it's a heavy book, not bulky (shaped like one of those more expensive paperbacks), and with glossy pages. There's an index by organized by primary liquor, an index ordered by word (to include secondary liquor as well as photographs), and even a page on measurement equivalents (i.e., weight, temperature, and liquid conversions).

Rathbun writes in an entertaining and witty style. The book is well organized to include an introduction as well as a section on the various liquors celebrated within this recipe guide (rum, whiskey (American, Canadian, Irish, Scotch), and brandy). Tools of the trade are discussed and Rathbun gives good guidance as to what items and ingredients should be in a well-stocked bar. There are something like 200 drink recipes in "Dark Spirits" (I gave up counting at 143) and the book is organized into seven logical chapters (Classics, Bartender's Choice, Bubbly Refreshers, Chilled Cocktails, Scary Drinks (name only), Powerful Punches (yes!), and Hot Stuff (warm drinks)). There are plenty of pictures and educational sidelights as you traverse the book. This is a very well-organized, useful, and entertaining drinks guide and very highly recommended. Hail Caesar!!

I am very happy with this book. It is a tall, thin, colorful, and solid hardback reference book (which I much prefer over the wide and floppy paperbacks -like in the "for dummies" series).

I hadn't known until I received it that this author was also the author of another book that I owned: Good Spirits (which I also loved) so I was very pleased when I found out. It is in the same style, with the same great color pictures of many of the concoctions -with about one on every four pages. It is shorter (300 pages vs 450 pages, but also 30% cheaper, so that works out fine). In addition, there are many little tidbits of history, and full page asides about different topics. It makes it less like an alcoholic encyclopedia, and more like a coffee table book that you'd have fun paging through.

The recipes range from the simple to the complex -granted I wouldn't be able to make half of them, because of the requirements for various fresh or exotic ingredients, but if nothing else I enjoyed reading the book and I learned of several new ideas that I'd love to have someone else (i.e. a professional) make.

This would make a wonderful gift for those who like the "darker drinks", and is something you can read straight through, or just skim through -looking for those simple, yet sophisticated drinks that you could make with what you have lying around. Highly recommended for the genre.

Vesta and I lived on a sailboat in the Caribbean during the 90s. Ten great years of drinking dark spirits. In the world we drink red wine, but there we drank mostly rum, sometimes scotch, sometimes Irish Whisky, but mostly rum. And we mixed it with practically everything, Coke, of course, water, OJ, tomato juice (yes you can make a Bloody Mary with dark rum), pineapple juice (add a dash of coconut to that and it's darned good and sometimes Seven-Up. And we did drink it straight.

Don't get me wrong, we weren't rummy drunks, but when you live on a sailboat in the Southern Caribbean, you have to have a couple drinks when the sun goes down. It's like a rule. And in Margarita, Venezuela's off shore, duty free island, you can get good rum for a buck a bottle. On the Dutch side of St. Martin (also duty free) you can get rum for a song and a dance as well, so we bought it, we drank it, we smuggled it, we traded with it, we loved it.

So it's with that background that I come to this book. It's cover toutes that it's got, "200 classy concoctions, starring Bourbon, Brandy, Scotch, Whiskey, Rum and more." Wanna try Rye in a drink that you and your gal (or guy depending) will enjoy more than you ever thought possible, try a "Tombstone". You have to make the syrup, but it's worth it.

In the Caribbean we drank something very close to the "Bring the House Down" mentioned on page 242. We used real coconut, because it was free or if we did buy it close to free. We have tried several other Rum drinks in this book and have liked them all. If you like your spirits dark, then this is the book for you. It's a classy book with classy concoctions.

A.J. Rathbun returns with a companion to his earlier book Good Spirits, solidifying his status as the next best thing to having a personal bartender.

Many people write recipe and bartending books. Rathbun presents a bartending buddy, knowledgably and engaging without being snobbish. The book itself is very attractive, replete with rich, full-color photographs, mixology trivia, wit and culture. The quality design makes the book useful in your kitchen and entertaining in your living room.

Like his earlier work, Rathbun fills "Dark Spirits" with anecdotes that run the gambit from classic literature to popular music references.

"O Whisky! soul o' plays an' pranks!
Accept a Bardie's gratefu' thanks!"
-- Robert Burns, "Scotch Drink"

On page 74, Rathbun offers "Who Let the Drinks Out: 5 Animal Drinks". The list includes "The Eagle" (page 282), "Polynesian Donkey (page 84), "Gaslight Tiger" (page 202), "Honey Bee" (page 154) and "Lion Tamer" (page 79).

"Dark Spirits" uses whiskey (Scotch, bourbon, rye), brandy (Cognac, Armagnac), and dark rum as bases to 200 recipes. So, do you need to purchase "Dark Spirits" if you already own "Good Spirits"? There is some recipe duplication but not enough to waive off this worthy addition to your bartending library.

I'm fond of the Rusty Nail, a drink I first learned of in my childhood. My father ordered two at a company Christmas party and arrived home in a never-before-seen jovial spirit. I inquired what had lightened his mood and he said, "A Rusty Nail, son!"

Rathbun introduces the drink thusly:

"Some might quibble with the venerable-ness of the Rusty Nail. Pshaw, is what I say to them. In the Midwest, there are bevies of Rusty Nail dousers dotting the landscape (as well as many old fences, ba-dump-bump). They keep reappearing, and transferring their love of Rusty Nail to their progeny, because of the Scotch's potency combined with the Drambuie's touch of melodiousness (which is birthed by combining Scotch, honey, and secret ingredients that have been passed down from generation to generation in whispers and ciphers)."

In summary, "Dark Spirits" is the next best thing to having a personal bartender. I cannot offer a higher recommendation. Buy a copy for yourself this holiday season and several more copies as Christmas gifts (or risk having your copy kidnapped by friends).

Rating: Five stars.

You are considering the purchase of a beautiful hardback book with 200 drink recipes, some of which are accompanied by an artistic photo of the finished product. The writing is quirky and fun, and never fails to take advantage of a riff on the spooky-sounding subject: DARK SPIRITS, wooooooo.

Despite the thick cover, the book will lay flat if you -- *gasp!* -- break the binding. That is pretty helpful when you need your hands full with ingredients and shakers.

The down side is actually related to the book's quirkiness: The contents are arranged not in an orderly and logical manner (by alcohol type), but in a whimsical and subjective manner (by "mood"). This can make it difficult to find a particular kind of drink just by scanning the table of contents, and sometimes one wonders why the author chose to arrange drinks within a section as she did. The up side is that the book has a fairly detailed index that will let you find your desired drink pretty quickly.

The book has pretty much all the standard "dark spirit" drinks, and a whole slew of innovative ones for which you almost certainly don't have all the requisite ingredients.

Overall, I recommend this as an addition to any quirky home bar.

I have another comprehensive bartender's guide which is purely utilitarian, and very boring. This book is very different. Sure, this book has a lot of cool drink recipes but it also has some great drink trivia, party suggestions and spotlights many lesser known liquors and liqueurs.

The chapters are organized by themes but there is a general index and an index of drinks by primary liquor (just in case you wanted to know what you can make with that bottle of Cynar that Uncle Bob gave you for Christmas) in the back. The author also demystifies the different types of Dark Spirits, like what's the difference between VS, VSOP and XO or the difference between Brandy, Cognac and Armagnac. And while the author often recommends certain brands in recipes he also states, "...there's no need to get a second mortgage on the house to purchase a specific bottle, as you'll be mixing it with other items". Don't have all the ingredients necessary for a drink recipe? No problem, the author often gives recommendations for substitutions. You say you don't drink alcohol? (Okay, why are you reading this book again?) Not to worry, the author gives "virgin" variations of some drinks just for you.

I must say, this is the ONLY drink book I've ever read cover to cover and I enjoyed every drink (I mean word).