FIELD GUIDE TO COCKTAILS
How to Identify and Prepare Virtually Every Mixed Drink at the Bar
By Rob Chirico
One-stop guide to making and serving cocktails just in time for the 2005 Holiday Season!
(Fall, 2005) Just in time for the holidays, FIELD GUIDE TO COCKTAILS: How to Identify and Prepare Virtually Every Mixed Drink at the Bar (Quirk Books/October 2005/$14.95) will hit bookshelves—and help take the stress out of home entertaining.
The newest addition to Quirk Book’s wildly popular FIELD GUIDE series, this tiny tome is huge on value: It includes more than 200 unfussy recipes for everything from classics like the Tom Collins to summer sips like the Mojito. And unlike other complicated cocktail books, FIELD GUIDE TO COCKTAILS includes the FIELD GUIDE series’ signature photo section, which features full-color photographs of each drink to—voila!—make “mixing” that much simpler.
Organized alphabetically by drink name—from Absinthe to Zombie—each entry includes a general description (“The Cuba Libre is a basic white rum drink mixed with Coca-Cola”), a brief history (Grog was drunk by sailors in the British navy to prevent scurvy), the season and time for which it’s best suited (“The Cape Codder travels well, and a thermos of this ruby elixir is just as welcome at a lakeside barbecue as it is at the shore at sunset”). Helpful icons run throughout the guide, and there are even introductory chapters on glassware, how to stock your home bar, and understanding the mind of a bartender. A unique feature of the book is food pairing for every cocktail (Hint: You can try a Screwdriver with Ranch-Flavored Doritos—or better yet, why not savor this crisp drink with prosciutto-wrapped melon balls?).
Chirico also offers sage and practical advice throughout: “Be advised to refrain from ordering a Cosmopolitan at places named Bubba’s or Hog Heaven.” All of this makes FIELD GUIDE TO COCKTAILS the perfect gift to bring to your next host, and the one guide you need before your guests arrive—because the only thing better than being served a great drink is knowing how to serve one yourself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Chirico is a bartender, writer, painter, and drinks enthusiast living in Greenfield, Massachusetts. His writing has appeared in Gastronomica and many other publications. He is also the $10,000 grand-prize winner of the 1991 Sutter Home Build-A-Better-Burger Contest
FIELD GUIDE TO COCKTAILS:
How to Identify and Prepare Virtually Every Mixed Drink at the Bar
By Rob Chirico
$14.95, Published by Quirk Books, November 2005, 384 pages
ISBN 1-59474-063-1
www.quirkbooks.com
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