The Mocktail Bar Guide: 200 Recipes for Safe and Sober Parties [Hardcover]

Frank Thomas (Author), Karen Lancaster Brown (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Meadowbrook (September 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743223454
• ISBN-13: 978-0743223454
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #370,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Kids and adults alike!, July 30, 2002

By 

Ed Williams (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mocktail Bar Guide: 200 Recipes for Safe and Sober Parties (Hardcover)

This amazing book far exceeded my expectations. For the past several years, on Saturday nights we have friends over, and take stabs at new drinks in various Alcoholic Beverages books. We prefer the ones that show the glass to be used to clear up any confusion. The problem of course is the Kids can feel left out of the party, and those "pretty glasses" often get replaced with our regular glasses filled with soda and maybe some grenadine and a cherry. Also the non drinking adults are left to fend for soda's themselves if they're the designated driver, or are just not in the mood for a drink.

The bar books we have do indeed have a small collection of some fairly tasteless non alcoholic drinks, most without a type of glass, or worse, for like 7-10 people at a mixing (punch bowls, etc).

This book takes care of every single one of the problems listed above. This beautifully illustrated and well bound book, looks like a black version of the more popular Boston Drink Guide. Hardbound with a spiffy cover.

Inside is a wonderful section on the Essentials of running a bar, including equipment, displays of every type of glass (everything from highball to hurricane, even a pilsner glass is included).

Descriptions of basic ingredients, garnishes, a liquid measurement conversion chart, and more take up the beginning of this wonderful book.

There are three different classes of drinks to be made. From Mocktails, which as you'd assume are mostly highball and coctail glass drinks. Also Drinks for all seasons, which are a wide variety of drinks for winter spring summer and fall, and holiday sections for each season. Lastly something called Sweet Endings, which make up the more exotic drinks, everything from spiced coffee drinks to floats and shakes.

Each recipe has an image of the glass used next to it. The directions are clear and the drinks make liberal use of a wide variety of measurements; from ounces, to parts of cups, tablespoons, and so fourth; making drink making fun and quite exotic.

The book states that the royalties from the sale of this book go to support Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Which is very commendable. This wonderful book isn't full of those cutsie kiddie phrases for drink names, but contains things like Peach Sparkler, and Banana Hurricane.

It has the look and feel of a professional drink book, and makes liberal use of the various bar techniques, glasses, and equipment. So if your little one wants to be part of the action in a fun way, or if your teenager wants to throw a party and you'd like them to feel a bit more grown up, this is the book for you.

If I had one complaint it would be that the drinks are not indexed by ingredient, which admittedly would be a rather large undertaking with non alcoholic drinks, but you get used to that in regular bar books.

This is an incredible book, well worth the money, and the only book you'll need to cater to non-drinkers of any age without making them feel childish or different, which is worth its weight in gold.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars cute, but could be more substantive, January 14, 2008

By 

Hallie - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mocktail Bar Guide: 200 Recipes for Safe and Sober Parties (Hardcover)

most of the drinks in the front half (the traditional cocktail substitutes) turn out remarkably like sparkling lemonade. the drinks in the back are much more interesting. still, it gives people who don't drink an excuse to use a cocktail shaker and pretty glasses and feel generally froofy and sophisticated. i gave it to my best friend, a college freshman, and we have had lots of fun with it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mocktails, June 18, 2004

By 

Mike Pearson (Fort Valley, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mocktail Bar Guide: 200 Recipes for Safe and Sober Parties (Hardcover)

Love this book. The drinks are all delicious and I use the drink recipes to make ice cream and sherbet. The recipes are endless, very creative and fun.