Playboy Bartender's Guide

by Thomas Mario, LeRoy Neiman (Illustrator)

A Playboy editor gives the skinny on whatâ s to drink in an illustrated, complete guide with more than a thousand recipes.

For professional mixologists looking for new taste sensations to serve or party-givers who want to offer their guests a range of drinks, the perfect handbook for â spiritualâ success comes from Playboy magazine. Written by Thomas Mario, the magazineâ s former food and drink editor, this expanded edition features 350 photographs, additional chapters on wine, beer, and sake, and much, much more. The 1,400 mouth-watering cocktail recipes suggest something for every season, mood, and occasion. Hundreds of useful tips cover every detail of bartending, from drink-mixing and presentation to stocking the bar. And itâ s all in an easy-to-use format with recipes organized by alcohol type, and tips for throwing swinging theme parties, in cool Playboy style, at your pad.

Genres: Reference, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food

Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Margie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally copyrighted in 1971, and renewed in 1979. I don't think it was updated in 1979 at all.

You won't find recipes here for Irish Car Bombs or Sex On The Beach. These are more old-fashioned, classic cocktails, with classic ingredients (the collection of apertifs is heavy on Dubonnet and Pernod, for example).

This might be a good place to start for the fledgling mixologist who just wants to learn more about the craft of mixing drinks. But if you're preparing for a younger crowd who want Colorado Bulldogs and Sand In Your Shorts, this isn't the book.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for over two decades and it’s been very useful for looking up drinks that I knew I wanted to make, such as a Godfather or, of course, a Singapore Sling. But having picked up a couple of vintage cocktail books over the last couple of years, I thought it would be a good idea to see how this somewhat more modern book stacks up against them.

I say somewhat more modern because I got this book as a Christmas present in December of 2003. It is now over twenty years old and nearly halfway toward being vintage itself.

Of the six cocktails I tried, five were added to my rotation, three to my favorites in that list. The best of these were the Daydream (brandy, triple sec, and anisette) and the Vermouth Triple Sec (dry vermouth, triple sec, gin, orange bitters, and a twist of lemon).

There was only one that I particularly disliked, the “Blenton”, which is just a martini with angostura bitters. Martinis have never been my favorite drinks, but this combination somehow managed to be completely unappealing.

It has a very useful index (it would have to, to be a bartender’s guide, although despite the subtitle the inside seems explicitly focused on the home bartender). So comparing the more modern Bee’s Knees to the one in the ABC of Cocktails was easy. The ABC was, as the title of the book might imply, much simpler: gin, lemon juice, and honey. The Bee’s Knees here is rum, orange juice, lime juice, sugar, orange bitters, and a twist of orange. It is, however, a much more interesting read.

Shake rum, orange juice, lime juice, sugar, and bitters well with ice. Strain into pre chilled cocktail glass. Twist orange peel above drink and drop into glass. A speakeasy heirloom whose orange accent is most mellow.

I prefer reading this one; I’m pretty sure I’ll prefer drinking the earlier.

The prefatory matter is much more informative than the other books I have; the “glassware for the bar” not only names and describes drink glasses, it has illustrations of them. So it’s very obvious what a cocktail glass is, or a rocks glass. It breaks them up, however, not by name but by the drinks that go in them.

And of course there’s another section on the various tools used, and the various non-alcoholic ingredients.

The drinks themselves are broken up by the main alcohol that go in them, though it does have a few short, specialized sections ahead of that: one for the Martini, one for Mists, and one for High Spirits. After those it segues into Wine Cocktails, Whiskeys, Rums, and so on. It ends on punch bowls and hot drinks.

It appears very comprehensive.

The Jamaican may know his rums, the Frenchman his Cognacs, and the Scot his single malts, but the American host in the last three decades has become expert in judging the entire worldwide range of bibulous pleasures.

[Hero · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good guide for old fashioned recipes like egg-flips and pousse cafe style drinks. Great if you're looking for a change from the usual cocktails, not so good if you just want to make at home, what you order at the bar. Also, if you intend to use this frequently, check the binding before you buy. My copy started losing pages very quickly.

[Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

An insipid tome that what it lacks in charm it makes up for in unnecessary volume. True to its namesake I suppose.

Can be had from the bargain rack in chain bookstores.

[Matt Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very useful and well-organized. Got it as a gift years ago and I still use it to plan our bar or parties. Worth having at home.

[J. Gowin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful starting place for entertaining at home. Though it is somewhat dated.

[Jordan G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated, but delightfully pretentious and pretty useful.

[Carol]

really cool.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think "Mad Men" meets "Mr. Boston". Comprehensive and full of charm with vintage entertaining tips.