How to Cocktail: Recipes and Techniques for Building the Best Drinks

by America's Test Kitchen (Editor)

All the kitchen secrets, techniques, recipes, and inspiration you need to craft transcendent cocktails, from essential, canonical classics to imaginative all-new creations from America's Test Kitchen.

Cocktail making is part art and part science--just like cooking. The first-ever cocktail book from America's Test Kitchen brings our objective, kitchen-tested and -perfected approach to the craft of making cocktails. You always want your cocktail to be something special--whether you're in the mood for a simple Negroni, a properly muddled Caipirinha, or a big batch of Margaritas or Bloody Marys with friends. After rigorous recipe testing, we're able to reveal not only the ideal ingredient proportions and best mixing technique for each drink, but also how to make homemade tonic for your Gin and Tonic, and homemade sweet vermouth and cocktail cherries for your Manhattan. And you can't simply quadruple any Margarita recipe and have it turn out right for your group of guests--to serve a crowd, the proportions must change. You can always elevate that big-batch Margarita, though, with our Citrus Rim Salt or Sriracha Rim Salt. How to Cocktail offers 150 recipes that range from classic cocktails to new America's Test Kitchen originals. Our two DIY chapters offer streamlined recipes for making superior versions of cocktail cherries, cocktail onions, flavored syrups, rim salts and sugars, bitters, vermouths, liqueurs, and more. And the final chapter includes a dozen of our test cooks' favorite cocktail-hour snacks. All along the way, we solve practical challenges for the home cook, including how to make an array of cocktails without having to buy lots of expensive bottles, how to use a Boston shaker, what kinds of ice are best and how to make them, and much more.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference

272 pages, Hardcover

Published October 8, 2019

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[Woman Reading (is away exploring) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ☆

Since my previous cocktail recipes book was disappointing, I had high hopes for How to Cocktail: Recipes and Techniques for Building the Best Drinks, published by America's Test Kitchen ("ATK"), a very reliable resource. I became excited by the introduction because this book targeted budding bartenders.

ATK had two main pieces of advice. First, cocktails reflect their ingredients so choose bottles priced at least in in the middle range for that particular liquor. Second, focus on techniques. The book's chapters were accordingly arranged by the primary cocktail building method: stirred, shaken, muddled, or blended. Big batch cocktails and some nonalcoholic concoctions have also been included.

This book had about 80 cocktail recipes with a description of their history and their test results. One unusual but appreciated aspect about this cocktail book is that ATK included recipes for homemade substitutes of common syrups (without high fructose corn syrup and other additives) and even some liquers.

This looks like a solid recommendation - both for neophytes and for those looking to customize their libations. And since I've also been reading books about nutrition, drink in moderation.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this! It was created with the home cook/entertainer in mind. It has recipes for just over 100 cocktails - a far from complete list. Across from each recipe is a full-page, color photo of the garnished cocktail, and it's the photos that really make this book work. Though there are several close seconds, my absolute favorite picture was of the Ramos Gin Fizz.

But it's not just a picture book. Each recipe has a section of "Why this recipe works," which offers tips on making the cocktail, as well as its history. There's also a section on how to properly muddle ingredients, make shrubs, what equipment and glasses to buy, etc.

Enjoy!

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really great little volume! ATK is very hit-or-miss for me, but I thought this book was a hit. This is a great application for ATK's scientific-ish approach to food prep, and the emphasis on technique here was helpful. The cocktail recipes feel classic, but fresh, and I really appreciated all the recipes for homemade bar basics like vermouths and bitters. In addition, I thought the various non-alcoholic cocktails were well considered.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drinks are broken down into your main alcohol categories: gin, brandy, whiskey, etc. Each page has a great photo.

Each drink starts off with a "Why this drink works" section that includes some history and the pros and cons in the Test Kitchen, the recipe, and helpful tips or suggested edits.

A fairly decent handheld bar reference in which perhaps you'll find an old classic or a new favorite!

[H James · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much as I love bartender‐written books, this is absolutely the first book I would point any home‐mixologist to.

[Dani]

America's Test Kitchen is known for their recipes for cooking and baking, but now they took on cocktails, too!  As always, their books aren't meant to turn you into a paid professional--in other words, this book won't make you a big-time bartender.  But the trade-off is that it *can* make you a pretty spiffy mixologist and party host in your own home.  As ATK says,
"We always kept the home cook in mind, solving practical challenges like how to make an array of cocktails without having to purchase lots of expensive bottles, what tools you really need (and how to wield them like a pro), how to make big batches for entertaining, and so much more." 

Since this book is about learning how to craft cocktails, it makes sense that it is organized around craft and technique.  The chapters are: 
Built
Stirred
Shaken
Muddled
Blended
Big Batch
Syrups, Shrubs, Bitters, And Garnishes
Homemade Liqueurs and Vermouths
Snacks

If you're looking for a drink but don't know the technique behind how its made, there is also a helpful list in the beginning separating drinks by categories such as type of alcohol, one-bottle cocktails, three-ingredient cocktails, low-alcohol cocktails, non-alcoholic cocktails, and spirit-only cocktails.

There is an introduction complete with tips and basics, including an explanation "of the fundamental categories of spirits and liqueurs" as well as recommendations for what the ATK team considers "essential versus optional in order to have a versatile home bar."  Again, this book doesn't assume you're a fully-stocked professional bartender--it helps you prioritize, find what you like, and teach you how to make things at home, even going as far as to have recipes for some of the ingredients in the cocktails, such as how to make your own liqueurs, bitters, and flavored rim salts.

In addition, there is a guide to the different kinds of glasses cocktails are served in, along with a guide as to what the ATK team sees as most important to least essential for making and serving cocktails.  Then, there is a small picture above each recipe showing which glass is needed for the cocktail (or if more than kind of glass can be used).

I appreciated that this book was well-rounded.  As I've mentioned, it gives options, and talks about what is most essential--not just to make things in the book, but based on the types of cocktails you enjoy.  It has recipes for making your own liqueurs, but also reminds you that you can use store-bought as well.  At the very end of the book is a small section for snacks that would go well at a party or during a cocktail hour.  Again, this isn't an appetizer cookbook, so it's only a few pages, but those few pages really round the book.

Also, it was great to see some non-alcoholic recipes!  I most appreciated that they put the same attention to crafting a drink deliciously even when it didn't' have alcohol.  "Calling them 'mocktails' does them a disservice. Spirit-free cocktails should be as attractive, thoughtfully balance, and indulgent as any carefully crafted alcoholic cocktail.  We developed our original nonalcoholic cocktail recipes as meticulously as we did our spirited cocktails, with the hope that they become part of your regular cocktail rotation."  As I said before, I feel it is a well-rounded book.

[Betsy Baltzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received “How to Cocktail” as a birthday gift, (Thank you Donnee & KayKay), and it could not have been more perfect! As someone who loves to entertain, this guide has been both informative and inspiring while I work on improving my mixology skills.🍸

What sets it apart is the balance of recipes and history—each drink comes with context that makes it even more interesting to shake (or stir!) up. It’s the kind of book you’ll return to time and again, whether you’re hosting friends or just experimenting on your own.

[Randy R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been pretty happy with the Cooks Illustrated group, so I thought I would give this book a try. I am very happy with it and tried cocktails that I never would have thought to try. The liquor recipes were fun and easy to make, at least for the easy ones. There will be some that I won't try due to the ingredient list commercial alternatives. If you are looking for a quality cocktails rather than a quantity of drink recipes, then give this book a try.

[Brittany Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough and clear. They have explanations of why they chose each recipe and what they did to ensure it was the best most consistent recipe. They tailor to the home cocktail maker and give recipes for simple syrups, shrubs, infusions, and liqueurs. Comprehensive for intermediate learners.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me laugh. The recipes are decent but the ingredient list for making your own tonic syrup was hilarious. I will have to look for cinchona bark chips the next time I’m at…a rain forest?!? I would say this is not for the casual at-home bartender.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes for drinks and for the building blocks of drinks such as tonic syrup.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too much make-it-yourself for my needs. I wanted to learn how to craft cool cocktails, not how to make tonic from scratch. Interesting though.

[Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous and inspiring. I haven't actually made a single drink from it, but I bet if I did, they'd be good.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas present from Heather and Erik. Read it cover to cover and learned a ton!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I’m an adult I gifted this to myself and because I love their cookbooks this is going to be used often.

[Missi Wendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't wait to begin experimenting with infusing. Some of the ingredients may be difficult to source

[torii uses the library]

I am not going to review a cookbook.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous book - lots of recipes, lots of explanations that help me understand why this recipe works.

[Hannah Shultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many cocktail books available and due to my love of America's Test Kitchen, this is the one I chose.

I bought this book at the beginning of the pandemic and have made 35 of the 78 cocktail recipes (excluding the syrups, etc.). There were definitely a couple I didn't particularly like but the huge majority are excellent.

Prior to this book, I made gin & tonic and very very occasionally would make another cocktail. In the past, my concern about wasting money on new ingredients has held me back from trying new drinks. This book has changed my cocktails tastes by introducing me to new spirits and flavors, and provided me a trusted source to try new recipes.

I love that this book has a mix of classic cocktails, new (to me) drinks, non- and low- alcohol options, and plenty of cocktails for a crowd.

The only problem I've found with this book is it's extreme ability to test my will power. I frequently make myself a cocktail and then want 7 more because it's so so delicious.

I was going to list some of my favorites but then realized that would include almost every recipe I made so I'll save you a long list and just encourage you to find this book and start experimenting!