Book Review – Signature Cocktails

This book was given to me as a Christmas present from my friends at Ben Holladay Distillery. It is a very good cocktail book. It focuses on the signature cocktails from bars around the world. It has the recipes for such famous drinks as the Martini from Dukes Hotel in London, which did not create the Martini, but has a world famous Martini as its signature drink. There are two hundred recipes from bars around the world.

Signature Cocktails. Amanda Schuster. London, Phaidon Press Limited, 2023, Introduction, Contents, Index, Illustrations, glossary, 430pp.

This book has cocktail recipes from bars all over the world. As stated in the introduction, the cocktails do not always originate in the bar mentioned, but the bar has become famous for serving the cocktail. Many of the cocktails are indeed classic cocktails that the bar has perfected and customers come to that bar for that cocktail. Probably the most famous is the Martini at Dukes Hotel Bar in London, England.

The book is well designed with each cocktail having two pages dedicated to it. The top of page one is the date when the cocktail was created, where it was created, who created it, the bar in which it is a signature cocktail, the main spirit used to make the cocktail, and the glassware it is served in. There follows a history of the cocktail. Finally, there is the recipe and instructions for making the cocktail. The second page has a color photograph of the cocktail. There does not appear at first glance any rhyme or reason to the order of the recipes until you notice the year it was created. The cocktails are organized in chronological order starting with the oldest recipe and ending with the latest creation. This is an interesting way of organizing the recipes, but it does make it a little hard to find specific cocktails without resorting to the index. There are several indices to help you find what you are looking for. The book lists them by alcohol type & ingredients, cocktail name, by bartender who created the cocktail, by bar, and by country. The book is well indexed.

An example of the cocktail recipe is the Gold Rush:

2000

New York City, U.S.A.

Sasha Petraske and T.J. Siegal

Milk & Honey

Bourbon

Rocks Glass

Follows this is a history of the drink.

2 oz. good quality Bourbon (best if 45% ABV or higher)

1oz. fresh lemon juice

¾ oz. 3:1 honey syrup

Shake all ingredients with ice until well chilled and frothy. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. (preferably one large cube.) Garnish with a lemon twist.

This book is a valuable addition to any spirits library. The recipes are well written and easy to follow. The illustrations are of good quality. It will be used often in my library.