The Only Cocktail Book You Will Ever Need
If you only get one book...
by Erin Henderson
Like many fans of food and drink, I have a considerable library of cook, cocktail, and wine books. I'd probably have an even bigger one if I had more space.
I have, I think, six dedicated cocktail books, and numerous cookbooks that also include cocktail ideas, both classic and modern.
So trust me when I say to you that Esquire's 2016 cocktail manual, Drink Like a Man is truly the only cocktail book you will ever need. In fact, that's the sub-head.
I'm a fan of head notes – the write ups before a recipe of the start of a chapter. I like to read food and drink books like novels, understand the thought process of the author, learn about the inspiration of the recipe in question.
Not everyone does, some people are just the facts, m'am, type of readers. While it's not my vibe, I kindof get that.
Luckily for all of us involved DLAM offers something for every kind of reader and drinker.
But before we get to the nitty-gritty, let's discuss the writing. Authored by a collection of high cap journalists, the writing is smart and real without trying too hard. The writers unashamedly say it as it is ("At Esquire, we drink." The book starts.) There are several helpful chapters explaining the necessities like essential techniques and equipment; there are a few more of entertaining essays musings of drinking and life and how to use both to do better with each.
The editors generously provide 100 or so drink recipes, broken down int categories of must-know classics, delicious but not essential, and weird and wonderful outliers to round out your cocktail making repertoire. There's also ideas on batching drinks for a crowd, and simple food recipes to help suck up some of that well-made hooch.
The book doesn't claim to be the definitive encyclopedia on all cocktails for all people and occasions. The editors have selected drinks that they say are, "(a) fundamental, (b) important, (c) delicious or otherwise interesting, and (d) not full of shit."
Caipirinha
This recipe is from Esquire's Drink Like a Man cocktail book, but is not printed with permission. So I guess I'm risking a lawsuit? But it's a Caipirinha, the recipe is the same no matter who writes it out. So maybe I'm fine. If you don't see a post here next week, you know things did not go well.
A Caipirinha is a Brazilian drink that's not dissimilar from a Cuban Mojito in the idea that it uses lime and sugar for flavour, along with a sugarcane-based spirit called cachaça that's closest described as rum-like in flavour.
Makes: 1 drink
Bartender level: easy
Ingredients:
- 1 lime, cut into wedges (Esquire recommends 8 little squares)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 oz cachaça
How to Make It:
- Add the lime and sugar to a sturdy tumbler or rocks glass.
- Muddle the limes with the sugar until the limes are well juices and the sugar has dissolved.
- Add in ice.
- Top with cachaça, stir well, and serve.
