The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Degroff (The Craft of the Cocktail) likes to be referred to as the King of Cocktails, and it is hard to argue the point. During his stint as bartender at Manhattan's Rainbow Room, he shunned packaged mixes and ushered in the use of fresh ingredients for classic drinks as well as potables of his own device. In this book, he offers 100 popular whistle-wetters and 100 variations thereof—martinis, sours, highballs and punches are all well represented. A Bloody Mary is never shaken, but rather rolled back and forth, while a Bloody Bull adds beef broth to the recipe and can stand up to a vigorous shake. There's the lowly Long Island Iced Tea, mated with a variation called a Full Monte, which calls for Champagne instead of cola. And a basic Daiquiri (rum, simple syrup, lime juice) is out-boxed by Dale's Hemingway Daiquiri, which adds Maraschino liqueur and grapefruit juice to the mix. 150 full-color photos help sweeten the deal, and historical asides provide fine fodder for party chit-chat. The Tequila Sunrise, it turns out, was created south of the border during Prohibition and included fresh lemonade and French cassis. But when the drink traveled north, inexperienced bartenders dumbed it down to today's mix of OJ and grenadine. Where was a cocktail king when we needed one? (Oct.)
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From Booklist

DeGroff, who with David Wondrich and Eric Felten forms a triumvirate of indispensable drinks writers, can also claim a major role in the start of the still-flourishing cocktail revival. His inspired work behind the Promenade Bar at New York City’s Rainbow Room during the 1980s helped create a bulwark against the encroachment of wine coolers and lite beer, and demand for his services as a corporate consultant is a testament to the public’s continued thirst for high-test, high-taste concoctions. Far more focused than his 500-recipe Craft of the Cocktail (2002), The Essential Cocktail is a carefully selected, judiciously blended mix of recipes, instructions, and historical lore, garnished with well-seasoned advice on tactics, techniques, and tools. Oft-consumed classics and overlooked also-rans sit comfortably alongside DeGroff’s and others’ variations, and cutting-edge innovations like foam supplement rather than supplant tried-and-true preparations. DeGroff is a man to trust with the details both small (Angostura bitters or Peychaud’s?) and large (shaken or stirred?). If you’re not thirsty after consulting this volume, there’s no medicine for what ails you. --Keir Graff

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307405737
• ISBN-13: 978-0307405739
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,137 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, but..., December 2, 2008

By	scratchline "apbt lover" (NYC) - See all my reviews

Proofread! Please! While this book isn't as riddled with misprints as Mr. DeGroff's first book, there are still mistakes aplenty. No excuse. The book is beautiful and arguably better laid out than Craft of the Cocktail which is also essential. And, of course, Dale DeGroff is as close as you can get to a cocktail oracle. But, for Chrissake, proofread it! Next time, just drop me an email, and I'll do it for free. It would be an honor. Oh, and throw some o.j. into that Ward Eight.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drink Porn or should I say Pornography for Mixologists..., October 30, 2008

By	Christopher Carlsson "Spiritual Advisor" (Rochester, New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Beautifully done in both material and layout,this is bound to be a must have classic tome on mixology.While it covers only about 500 recipes,it covers 500 worthwhile or essential(hence the title)cocktails, all well worthy of inclusion in a cocktail reference book - not just a compendium of every drink ever concocted (for better or worse). Almost every drink is given a short but interesting history/intro, then ingredients, directions, and photographs of the finished drink.
Larger format (quarto or about 10 1/2" Tall and 8" wide)with a rarely seen (in drinks books past or present) decent binding so it stays open nicely with tasteful graphics,easy to read type fonts,and even a nicely retro cover (under the more modern dust jacket),it combines the practical and the high art both in its content and production. A lot of thought must have gone into not only the contents of the books but also the practical aspects of it.Built not only to please the eye and palette it works well on a counter,(or better yet behind one of those clear plastic book holders),laying flat, easy to read/consult,easy to wipe pages,and logically organized with a fine array of carefully chosen drinks.
While not as exhaustive as Dales other classicThe Craft of the Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to Make 500 of the World's Best Drinks and Host Legendary Parties It is a precis on how to do the included cocktails properly and artfully.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cocktailers, Stand Up and Salute Dale Degroff, February 6, 2009

By	Amy Senk "Read it, Loved it" (Orange County, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When it comes to cocktails, Dale DeGroff is the expert. His book, Craft of the Cocktail, is a classic. But we like Essential Cocktail as well. You just can't have too many of his books. When you flip through, different things catch your eye. It also seems to get into a little more technique, and we like the appendix section with the different barware and garnishes. It's our go-to book before weekend house guests show up, and we never run out of inspiration for the perfect weekend drink.