Cocktail Time!: The Ultimate Guide to Grown-Up Fun – 125 Recipes, Celebrity Drinks, and Hollywood Stories from the Bridesmaids Director

by Paul Feig

Elegant man-about-town and the director of  Bridesmaids, Spy,  and  A Simple Favor  Paul Feig serves up a beautifully designed cocktail and lifestyle guide with hilarious stories from his life. Famed TV and film writer, director, and producer Paul Feig is obsessed with cocktails and cocktail culture. It’s about having great conversations with friends. It’s about putting on your best clothes and throwing a smart gathering or heading to your favorite bar and having an interesting chat with the bartender. And it’s about staying home, mixing a drink and sipping it in a beautiful glass as you watch a great old movie by yourself. Paul has made an art and a science out of creating these elegant and festive environments and living his best life, whether at home in LA or New York or London or on location around the world, and it’s all here in  Cocktail Time! —how to make the drinks, how to throw the parties, what music to play, what glassware you need and more, along with 125 cocktail recipes, each served along with funny insider stories about Paul’s Hollywood life and famous friends. Cocktail Time!  covers everything, from classics (and variations on them) like martinis, negronis, and hot toddies to original concoctions such as “The Feigtini” and holiday cocktails, as well as recipes from film and TV industry friends, such as the Charlize Theron Gibson, the Very Cherry Kerry (Washington), the (Angela) Kinsey Gin Fizz, Henry (Golding)’s Honey Plum G&T, and The Five (Michelle) Yeoh-Larm Fire. Cocktail Time!  is a love letter to the aesthetics and culture around cocktails. It’s guaranteed to make you want to up your party-giving game—or at least your home bar situation. And it’s an immensely charming and readable window into one man’s friendly obsession.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2022

About the author

Paul S. Feig (born September 17, 1962) is an American director, actor and author. Feig directed the Oscar nominated 2011 film Bridesmaids featuring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. Feig directed The Heat, also starring McCarthy and Sandra Bullock.

He created the critically acclaimed show Freaks and Geeks and has directed several episodes of The Office and Arrested Development; plus select episodes of 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Mad Men and other television series.

Feig has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for writing on Freaks and Geeks and three for directing on The Office. He is also known for playing Mr. Eugene Pool, Sabrina's science teacher, on the first season of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, as well as Tim, a camp counselor, in the film Heavyweights.

Reviews

[Ben Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.

Part of it was, this book was hard to read at work, for obvious reasons. I'm going to file this as quarantine writing because I didn't realize that it was 2022 when written. I requested it in 2025 or 26 because it was a new hook, apparently.

He writes really funnily and he's accesible- to a point. He has different friends than I do becuase he lists off favorite bars like no bodies buisness that I would take 4 months waiting to get in there. Unless there's a fire alarm. Then I can get in.

He said also he tried to diversify it but there are a lot of gin focused or gin heavy cocktails.

But here's the thing. I've read tiki books and if I wasnt working during The Vid, I might have gotten into cocktail making. This book isn't Tiki, with 20 different ingredients all at the freshest and using one specific Dominican aged rum from a still in the 1950s. No, this is a supremely laid back approach to cocktails. " Hey, here's some basic ones to add to your back pocket. Make it yourself!". He advocates high quality ingredients but don't go broke to recreate a cocktail. Male what you like but don't be afraid to elevate it a bit. As he goes on to say about donations, " If you have a lot, give a lot and if you have a little, give a little, and if you have nothing, find out how to volunteer."

Some of the recipes were added to my Must Try list, others were Would Try, and just as many Mabye. If the opportunity arises, for sure. Solid and practical book ( though his style is certainly much more than that!).

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read and perspective on cocktail history. Also includes a number of good recipes.

[E]

I was just selected as a GoodReads giveaway winner for Cocktail Time!

[Aaron Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Feig (director of Freaks and Geeks, Bridesmaids, etc) likes drinks, parties, and people, and has written a book on how to best combine the three that emphasizes the pleasure of good company and good cocktails. He’s a great writer, with appealing drink recipes, solid advice on being both a good host and guest, and plenty of funny anecdotes featuring him and other celebrities in just the right self-deprecating-but-insightful tone (my possible favorite was the one about “crushing the wine”). The entire added value of celebrity cocktail books in this era of ubiquitous free drink recipes on the internet is the celebrity part - I wanted hilarious stories of famous people getting really drunk, and Feig delivers splendidly. This is both a solid bookshelf book as well as a useful guide to hosting or enjoying a party (I was recommended this book by the owner of Barfly’s, Austin’s greatest dive bar), as Feig put some serious thought into even mundane entries like martinis. There are a lot of celebrity cocktail books out there, but this one is such a good example of the genre that you probably won’t need another, unless it’s by Scorsese or something.

[Sbwisni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love his take on the cocktail life and his scope of drinks seems to be right up my alley. Lots to explore and while some of them use unique ingredients, there is plenty of variety and not too many other crazy bitters or additions you need to worry about. He also does a nice job of highlighting when something is more sweet…bitter…or how you might want to tweak things to suit your palate. Very usable for me personally and I appreciate the song given for each one, as well!

Background stories are a nice read even without using it to make cocktails, although I’m sure you’ll be inspired by at least one recipe. Finally have some new ideas for how to use up my blue curaçao that doesn’t give me tiki vibes (not that I don’t enjoy a good tiki moment) and think I’ll be needing to get some Parfait Amour or crème de Gillette at some point ✨

[Sean Carrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What seemed to start as one man’s lament over a time since past bye, proved to be so much more. The formula the author follows is one generous jigger of cocktail recipes, a teaspoon of advice regarding ingredients that he distilled from a life time of consumption and a dash of entertaining stories with people you might wish to have a drink with. Served with a twist, you have either a reliable reference book or a challenge to up your cocktail game.

[Rt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fabulous and fun. I’m newly inspired to step up my bar and cocktail game!

[Jeremy Vetock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making a greenback cocktail later- so the proof shall be in the pudding, as they say.

[Debra DeWolf · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was thrilled to win a copy of Cocktail Time? Unfortunately, the publisher never sent me the book.

[Hannah Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A romantic, nostalgic, and effervescent read that celebrates not only great drinks but great fun. 🥂