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The New Cocktail Hour: The Essential Guide to Hand-Crafted Drinks
The explosion of artisan bitters, craft spirits, and resurrected liqueurs ushered in by today’s craft cocktail movement means that home mixology is more exciting than ever. The New Cocktail Hour, a compendium of mixed drinks that have shaped eras, leads readers on a romp through wet bar classics, from pre-prohibition punches to the nouveau nogs that enhance a much-loved cocktail canon. The New Cocktail Hour makes the craft cocktail world accessible, offering essential tips on mixing balanced drinks, stocking a liquor cabinet, preparing your own syrups, shrubs, bitters, and more. There’s even a chapter of no-fail cocktail ratios to help you invent your own drinks.
Authors André and Tenaya Darlington’s shared passion for serving well-made drinks stirs together history, new trends, and stylish entertaining techniques for cocktailing at home. Featuring more than 230 cocktail recipes with an emphasis on quality ingredients, tasting notes, food-pairings, and useful sidebars throughout, The New Cocktail Hour is an approachable, must-have guide to making great drinks.
Authors André and Tenaya Darlington’s shared passion for serving well-made drinks stirs together history, new trends, and stylish entertaining techniques for cocktailing at home. Featuring more than 230 cocktail recipes with an emphasis on quality ingredients, tasting notes, food-pairings, and useful sidebars throughout, The New Cocktail Hour is an approachable, must-have guide to making great drinks.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2016
26 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
André Darlington
20 books54 followersAndré Darlington is the bestselling author of thirteen cocktail books including Booze & Vinyl Country, Forbidden Cocktails and Cowboy Cocktails as well as A Booze & Vinyl Christmas, Bar Menu, Gotham City Cocktails, Booze Cruise: A Tour of the World's Essential Mixed Drinks, John Wayne: The Official Cocktail Book and The Unofficial Big Lebowski Cocktail Book. In 2020, he became the first cocktail writer to circumnavigate the globe since Charles H. Baker a hundred years ago. His work has been translated into French, Korean, Italian, Russian, and Chinese. He is currently at work on a 10th Anniversary edition of The New Cocktail Hour. For upcoming tour information and press inquiries, visit www.andredarlington.com. Follow him on social media @andredarlington
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 17, 2018
Very interesting book! It was rich in history and interesting facts. Most of the recipes were not for me but I did walk away with quite a few new cocktails to try! I particularly liked the sections on Ernest Hemingway.
May 12, 2016
Must-have resource for anyone who wants to elevate their home cocktails. From my review on Mother Nature Network (click on link to see full write up)
"It's not just a book of thoroughly explained cocktail recipes; it's also a cocktail history book, a guide to stocking your home bar with necessary basics, and an indispensable cocktail party-planning resource.
The book is well-organized. Instructions for each drink include suggestions for specific brands of spirits to get just the right flavor profile. Cocktail building methods are expertly explained. Each of the 214 vintage and modern cocktail recipes is accompanied by an appropriate food pairing, making choosing food at a cocktail party a simpler task."
"It's not just a book of thoroughly explained cocktail recipes; it's also a cocktail history book, a guide to stocking your home bar with necessary basics, and an indispensable cocktail party-planning resource.
The book is well-organized. Instructions for each drink include suggestions for specific brands of spirits to get just the right flavor profile. Cocktail building methods are expertly explained. Each of the 214 vintage and modern cocktail recipes is accompanied by an appropriate food pairing, making choosing food at a cocktail party a simpler task."
July 31, 2017
I have read a dozen cocktail books or so. I have marked more than 20 cocktails from this that I want to make which is quite a lot for me. I haven't yet made them but am optimistic about the book. I will rate the book once I make some of them.
October 10, 2016
Great stories behind the recipes, super photography, a stand out that wets ones whistle!
November 27, 2016
The only thing that would have improved it would have been some more large scale recipes.
April 11, 2017
A lot of great cocktail ideas in this book. Great photographs. Have made a few and liked them. Really nice home cocktail reference book.
July 4, 2021
A comprehensive, if somewhat overwhelming, guide to making cocktails. I did really like the historical details and the personable style of writing. I would have appreciated more pictures to better understand what each final product should look like. Overall, though, a really helpful and thorough guidebook.
August 24, 2024
Wonderful and accessible (if somewhat overwhelming)! I particularly enjoyed the historical dimensions, chronology, and delves into flavor profiles. Also, drinks were thoughtfully curated for various occasions, though maybe the organization of those would have been slightly better if they had been concentrated in one section instead of interspersed throughout the book.
March 27, 2020
Stellar. This book, virtually by itself, created my cocktail habit, which is now comprised of scores of bottles. The recipes are very well balanced, the extra information beyond just the recipes, such as homemade shrubs, syrups, bitters; recommended bottles; and tasting and pairing notes gave me virtually everything I needed to really understand cocktails. It remains my most referenced kitchen book.
My only complaint - should the publisher see this - is the index, which is emaciated. I would pay for a new edition of the book which included a much more fleshed out index. For example, if I have half a grapefruit lying around, I want to look up different drinks I could use it on!
My only complaint - should the publisher see this - is the index, which is emaciated. I would pay for a new edition of the book which included a much more fleshed out index. For example, if I have half a grapefruit lying around, I want to look up different drinks I could use it on!
May 19, 2021
Really great cocktail book with very make-able cocktails. If you've got a decently stocked bar already you could probably make a lot of these drinks already without having to run to the liquor store.
The part I liked best was the brief history blurbs behind most of the cocktails. Since booze and history are both infinitesimally fascinating to me I really enjoyed that aspect. It's pretty light on the vodka cocktails (which is perfectly fine for a whiskey/whisky man like me) but overall a very good mix of cocktails from all kinds of spirits and those little bits of history (like the 12 Miles Out) are great!
The part I liked best was the brief history blurbs behind most of the cocktails. Since booze and history are both infinitesimally fascinating to me I really enjoyed that aspect. It's pretty light on the vodka cocktails (which is perfectly fine for a whiskey/whisky man like me) but overall a very good mix of cocktails from all kinds of spirits and those little bits of history (like the 12 Miles Out) are great!
December 19, 2019
A great book of TONS of cocktails with pictures. Haven’t made one I did not like
May 11, 2020
How much of a recipe book do you have to read to count it as read? I love this book! I have so many post it notes in it. It’s a great reference.
August 9, 2020
What a fun book. History of cocktails, loads of recipes, lists of themed cocktails. Great!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews