Customer Reviews

Drinkology: The Art and Science of the Cocktail

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I got a copy of this as a birthday gift, and am buying more now to give to others. Actually I'm writing this only because the other review (Pieter in South Africa) is so off the mark. This is not a coffee table book, but a handbook on how to mix drinks, and as such it is the best I've seen. It has a really elegant design, and when we tried several of the drinks (from the "favorites" list in the back) they all came out great. A friend of mine who said he'd never made a mixed drink made a wonderful Manhattan.

And it's more than just recipes, it's entertaining to read as well. So if you want to drink cocktails, rather than just look at them, I think this is the best choice.

Oh, by the way, I only found one misspelling.

I am not a cocktail snob like some of the reviewers here (who sound like nothing so much as chili or barbecue fanatics, usually men, who see themselves as keepers of the true flame). But I like a good cocktail, and I like cocktail guides. This is a classic of its kind.

Drinkology is an excellent, highly respectable bar guide that is very much in the spirit of Julia Child: approach classic recipes with an open and respectful mind, and rely on your own (finely honed) abilities to create your own version.

It is also a beautiful book and one meant to be used: a handsome waterproof cover, bound to lie flat and with a helpful grosgrain ribbon marker. It represents careful thought about reference works and is really state-of-the-art. The designer and the author clearly know books. One uses Drinkology, but one also enjoys the "feel" of the book. It's also very well written and gently funny and makes a wonderful armchair companion. A great gift--for others or for yourself.

As noted by other reviewers, this is a very elegant and functional book with an eclectic collection of sometimes hard to find recipes. I'm not sure why someone would have issues with the omission of pictures (though there are a handful of drawn illustrations). I believe the point of the book is for you to make your own cocktail and see what it looks like. As the title suggests, cocktail making is an art, but it is not related to photography otherwise. I am a huge fan of Robert Hess' Drinkboy website but I am disappointed in his selective review of this book. I am in full agreement with his analyses of these recipes (I also view the Manhattan and Old Fashioned recipes as low points in an otherwise great book, and the evaluation of the Mai Tai is nothing short of strange). HOWEVER-- what he fails to mention is that the writeup on these drinks explains that the recipe presented is a variation, and they go on to say that club soda in an Old Fashioned is sometimes considered a "travesty" and that one may feel absolutely free to omit the cherry syrup from their Manhattan (guilding the lily in my opinion) as well as use Bourbon (definitely). These handful of notable shortcomings aside, I believe this book more than redeems itself in other areas. It has several welcome features not present in many bartending guides, especially the description of what a drink tastes like (so as to know what to expect) and the favorites section, and while they are often traditional in their approach to making cockatils, they will just as often go with something they *like* as opposed to something "authentic," which I applaud as honest--and they ALWAYS encourage experimentation. Drinkology is not afraid to be biased in their presentation of recipes, but at least they let you know this, and by extension let you know that they have actually *tried* all of these drinks, which I also think is noteworthy among bartending guides. And as for the indexing scheme, I definitely prefer recipes arranged by base spirit as opposed to by name--if you're looking up a drink you've only heard of, use the index. I am not (yet) familiar with the books Mr. Hess recommends in his writeup, but especially for a beginning cocktail enthusiast, it would be hard to go wrong with Drinkology.

I already had one of those 1200+ recipe books, I wanted something that would spend a little time on each drink, explaining what it's like and how it's made, including any interesting history and a bit of editorial. That's exactly what this book is, and I'm glad I picked it out of the shelf of drink recipe books at the bookstore.

I love just looking through this book, reading the little paragraph that accompanies many of the recipes. One useful section: their list of favorite drinks. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the number of drinks out there that nobody ever makes. It's nice to have a place to start.

First, to comment regarding a previous review: I don't understand how the lack of pictures of cocktails in this book is a problem. Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" didn't have any pictures either, and I'd find pictures of the final preparation of food to be far more useful then pictures of a finished drink. And this book does have very good drawings in it of glassware, tools, and processes where it needs it.

However, that does not mean that I heartily recommend this book, because I don't.

The size, color, format of the book is amazingly similar to Charles Schumann's "American Bar"... amazingly similar. Although it doesn't appear to have any direct connection to that books publisher, printer, or anything.

When I first opened up the book, it came right up with the "Mai Tai". He has a short little write-up on this drink, and thankfully provides the correct recipe (besides the addition of grenadine). However, in his write-up he states:

"The Mai tai is, in a word, awful. But it's so
flamboyantly, so grandiosely awful that it wins
a place in Drinkology's otherwise unforgiving heart."

While the Mai Tai might not be a traditional and gentile "cocktail", it is still (in my own opinion) a very good drink, and when properly made, worthy of respect. Coming from such a big cocktail snob as myself, that says something.

But ok, everybody has a right to their own opinion, and if this guy doesn't like a Mai Tai, that's fine. Since he is dissing it so strongly, he's probably a real stickler for the real traditional cocktails, so let's take a look at his Old Fashioned.

"...And we hold with those upstarts who recommend
using soda in the drink. (Adding a splash of soda
to the muddled fruit helps blend the flavors; topping
with soda sharpens the taste.)..."

Ok... my blood pressure is starting to rise... Let's take a look at his Manhattan...

"...The recipe below, which employs Canadian blended
whiskey [sic], is the one Drinkology likes the best...
is distinctive in that it suggests including just a tiny
bit of syrup from the maraschino cherry jar..."

Canadian whisky? Cherry juice? I'm sorry, this gentleman has every right to enjoy his cocktails any way he wants to, but in a world which is already too full of poorly researched cocktail books, and ignorant bartenders that try to use those books to learn the trade, we really don't need another one that will turn them down the wrong path.

This book also organizes the recipes by their main "spirit", which I feel for a book that is clearly designed to be used as a recipe reference, is the wrong approach. Recipes should be listed alphabetically. While somebody might have a bottle of rum, and wants to find out what drinks they can make with it, it is more common for them to hear about a drink, and want to find out how to make it.

To its credit, the majority of the cocktail recipes in this book are properly recorded, and he even includes the recipe for the "Tailspin", a hard-to-find recipe that is one of my favorites. But because of a few, and significant, miscues in regards to classic cocktails, I can't recommend this book.

Instead of this book, I would highly recommend "The Joy Of Mixology", "The Bartenders Best Friend", "The Craft of the Cocktail", or "Esquire Drinks", depending on what sort of book you are looking for.

If I were looking for a professional cocktail "bible" I'd do some research ahead of time to make sure that what I got was the bartender's equivalent of a scholarly work. The fact that Drinkology: The Art and Science of the Cocktail was issued by a publisher of art books should give the browser a clue that it's not intended as an encyclopedia but as the subjective views of the author about mixed drinks--the ART of the cocktail. Get it?

I won't quibble with the criticisms of some of the other reviewers because they just aren't relevant. I don't like to be personal, but do any of those critics have a sense of humor?

The book is just a pleasure to read, chock-a-block with lucid, witty descriptions and opinions. The writing is so good that you don't have to be fond of drinking to enjoy it--but I may be going too far, and the author might strenuously--though with astringent humor--disagree.

My love affair with this book started with a Moscow Mule.

I have a stash of bartender books at home that, to be honest, collect dust on the shelves. I received this book as a gift in 2003, and it fell to the same fate until about a year ago when I was looking for something good to make with lime juice. My gateway drink was the Moscow Mule, a refreshing choice with vodka, lime juice, and ginger ale (or ginger beer if you like it spicy). Quickly to follow was the mudslide, a classic take on the drink, not frozen, but served on ice with heavy cream; it is a decadent liquid dessert -- a great substitute for cake any day! I have actually read this book from cover to cover in addition to using it as a recipe guide when entertaining.

This book is informative in both recipes and in the history of the drinks and offers reasonable suggestions for the simple home bar set-up to the very elaborate. The drinks are classic, the list of recipes is thorough, and I have yet to make something in the book that I have not liked.

I gave this book to someone as a christmas present (I wanted to show them the bad, as well as the good books), they instantly thought I had bought them the Charles Schumann book.

The recipe are laughable in parts, some as obviously inaccurate, but then they get some wild explanation about how they are great.

For example, the "Old Fashioned" recipe listed is widely discredited as a product of the post-prohibition "era" (error?), rather than as the original recipe it is often portrayed here.

The "Manhattan" recipe listed is also a travesty, its use of cherry juice is deplorable, and there are many bartenders in London, England who like this. However, a small amount of detective work would have sorted this out.

If you can't trust a book with the classic cocktail recipes, then what can you trust it with?

People go on about there being loads of recipes, etc etc, and no-one being right. Most recipes can be traced back a long time, and in doing so discredit many claims of authenticity.

One cocktail book is never enough, a wide library is needed, coupled with on-going research of one's own (try web-searching for: drinkboy, kingcocktail, ardentspirits, ipbartenders)

I received this book as a gift several years ago and now I buy it anytime I need a fun gift for someone. Some of the recipes aren't traditional, but yummy just the same!

I'll get to the point first: This book contains no picture, drawing or photo of any cocktail whatsoever. If you are buying this cocktail book in hope of seeing a cocktail, don't buy it. If you are buying this book to get a comprehensive list of cocktails, you might give it a go. This is just a standard cocktail book with nothing special. If you own another cocktail book, don't buy this one. If you do enjoy using the net, rather explore cocktails on the many sites available, they contain just as much info if not more than this book.

In one of the first sections of the book the author mentions that there are few sights as beautiful as a Manhattan cocktail but not one single picture, photo or drawing of a Manhattan, actually not one single picture, photo or drawing of any cocktail exists in the entire book! They explain how important the presentation and looks of a cocktail is to the overall enjoyment of one, but no pictures!!???!?!?

When buying a cocktail book - the most important thing to me is how the cocktails within the book are presented. I don't really care about the history of cocktails or where whiskey or some specific cocktail originated from. This type of extra information does round the book off, but it does not make it a good cocktail book.

To my disappointment this book didn't come even near my expectations. (I don't know what I was thinking; why on earth should a cocktail book have pictures in it? Is oxygen important to sustain life?).

This book was written by amateurs. They wrote a book on one of their favourite pastimes - drinking cocktails. But they failed miserably in capturing the true essence of a beautiful cocktail - its looks.

This book is just another book with a lot of recipes for cocktails you will most probably never try because you don't know how they look. It has a lot of useless information that doesn't make up for the lack of pictures. There are a lot of spelling mistakes (being the 1st edition).