Customer Reviews

Luscious Liqueurs: 50 Recipes for Sublime and Spirited Infusions to Sip and Savor (50 Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll admit it. I was a little scared of liqueurs. Those fancy-dan bottles, those sweet gooey snifters of purple stuff. Yikes! After taking the plunge and trying a few of the recipes in Luscious Liqueurs, I've now seen the light. First of all, almost anything can be in a liqueur: tart lemon in a Limoncello, hazlenut in the Heroic, or even horseradish in the Hot Horse. You heard me. Horseradish! You'll never think of Bloody Marys the same way. Second, liqueurs aren't built out of some mysterious gunk. Vodka is the simple base for most of the liqueurs in the book. And fresh ingredients bring a lively taste to each drink I've tried. Liqueurs aren't scary, they are great. They are fun and easy to make... and drink... and share with friends. (And then... talk your friends into making a different one for you and share the love!)

I can't get enough of the lemoncello! I feel like I'm relaxing by the pool in my Italian villa with each sip! Thanks Mr. Rathbun for another yummy book.

I attended a party class taught by the author last year and one of the cocktails he made featured a delicious blackberry liqueur that he had made himself. I had to have the recipe! It was late June, strawberry season, so I followed the simple directions for Strawberry Gold and ended up with a heavenly elixir that I bottled up and handed out at Christmas. It tastes like summer in a bottle! This summer I'm planning to make more liqueurs with different fruits. The hardest part of making the berry liqueurs is waiting the few weeks it takes for them to steep. Other than that, it's simple, easy, and delicious. If you're the impatient sort, you can make the Chocolate Cream Liqueur and serve it for grown-up dessert tonight.

This is okay if you don't have other books or can't use the Internet. I recommend: Classic Liqueurs: The Art of Making & Cooking with Liqueurs(Sibyl Publications).

So I caught the author on some morning show in Boston and thought he was so charming and made making liqueurs sound so easy and fun. I'm always looking for something to make for gifts for the holidays and this is perfect. The book is super fun to read and I think the hardest thing is picking which liqueur to make next.

This is one book I'll come back to again and again!

LP

This book is one sweet number. At 93 pages it's a rather demure addition to your bookshelf, but it packs one heck of a punch! The photography here is pure eye candy and is all the motivation you'll need to try one or all of these luscious liqueurs! With easy recipes, pleasant anecdotes, and those gorgeous pictures of the finished product, it's hard to decide whether this book makes a better jealousy-inducing coffee-table book, or a great gift for your liqueur-loving friends. It's also difficult to decide which of the recipes in this book is tops, but I'm especially fond of the Amande and Nocino--YUM!

A cookbook is just a book until you actually try the recipes. And try is just what I've done. Here's my take on Luscious Liqueurs:

PROS:

1. I've made three recipes using, for two of them, fruits (blackberries and pomegranates) from my own garden. The third was a coffee liqueur which is still in the 'resting before tasting' stage. But those that have been tried and tasted -- marvelous!

2. Lovely photographs accompany each recipe -- as they should. No skimping on photography or paper here.

3. Quite an assortment both in ingredients and in bitterness and sweetness. You'll probably find several of your favorites here.

CONS:

1. I'm beginning to think of forming a one-woman protest in front of publishing houses that use standard binding for cookbooks. Think, ladies and gentlemen, think of the cook who is trying to assemble ingredients and follow a recipe all the while holding a book open with one hand because it refuses to lay flat. Is spiral binding really too much to ask?

OVERALL:

In spite of my binding complaint, the recipes for liqueurs in this small volume are just too good to miss. So, if you're a fan of good liqueurs, and if you've been astonished at the recent price hikes for your favorites, try making it for yourself and your friends. If I can do it, you're a cinch!

Five Stars!

Very nice book of easy to follow infusions for a great party. With a small amount of pre-planning make your little get together into an elegant soirée. I have many similar books and love to tinker.

Very easy to follow recipes. The grapefruit recipe and the "October Prescription" are my favorites so far, I can't wait to sample the others. This book is worth every penny!!!

Lots of the recipes are good, or okay. I'm not thrilled with a lot more. Vanilla rum and limencello delicious, but the blood orange not so good. A lot of it has to do with personal taste. I'm not crazy about certain herbs in with my citrus. It's a good point of departure, making you think of your own ideas. Do that. Maybe i've been infusing too long on my own and by the time I bought the book, i was already there or beyond.