Cocktails for Drinkers: Not-Even-Remotely-Artisanal, Three-Ingredient-or-Less Cocktails that Get to the Point

by Jennifer McCartney

The anti-hipster drink book, perfect for hipsters and their haters

Homemade pineapple-Sriracha syrup, giant spherical ice cubes, gin made from herbs picked by Armenian nuns and distilled with holy water . . . all for the low low price of $16 (in Brooklyn dollars). The artisanal cocktail movement is, let’s face it, not for everyone. What about drinks for the rest of us? The boozers who just want a good, stiff cocktail we can make at home after a day at work? What if you don’t own an ice-shaving kit or grow organic rosemary in your backyard? What if you're using a mug with your hand over it to mix your gimlet instead of the bespoke copper cocktail shaker you see at every joint in Bushwick? Rejoice, this book is for you.

Genres: Cookbooks, Reference, Food, Nonfiction, Humor

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2016

About the author

Jennifer McCartney is a New York Times bestselling author. She is the author of numerous books including The Little Book of Sloth Philosophy, the novel Afloat; Cocktails for Drinkers; The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place; and Poetry from Scratch. Her writing has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and appeared in The Atlantic, Vice Magazine, Teen Vogue, Curbed, Globe and Mail, and Publishers Weekly, among other publications. Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Sheri]

This is the book you'll go to you when you want to class it up a bit from your normal beer after work. Mix up a "fancy" drink (heck, pretend you're Tom Cruise in Cocktail while you're at it) like a Sidecar or a Rusty Nail and then sit back and relax while the commoners swig down their beers. Cheers!

[Behoove]

I really enjoyed the fun little commentary accompanying each simple recipe. It's a nice departure from the pretentiousness that permeates cocktail culture. And now I know the perfect drink to "enjoy while cuddling a small kitten or writing a letter to your grandmother".

[Seizure Romero]

This book is fun and funny and makes me want to try many new cocktails. I am a fan of neither gin nor tequila but my girlfriend is; that means she can finish all those nasty concoctions while I get busy with the rum and bourbon. Yay rum and bourbon!
I wish the author had included more history or context with the recipes. Instead, I have to navigate Wikipedia while drinking. Also, there is no mention of sangria, which is a goddam crime.
Sad.

"Haha. Wut. Horse's Neck." (p.94)

[Rebecca]

My favorite recipe is for white wine!

[Jessica]

I read this cover to cover. Hilarious, with classic drinks I'll actually make. A+

[to'c]

Get to the point, indeed! This is a marvelously humorous book that removes the preparation of cocktails down from the mighty hoity-toity perch on which it has been placed and puts it solely in the lap of the home mixer. Never again will I be persuaded to worship at the feet of the latest cocktail master in the latest hipster bar of the city!

(well, I never actually did that…)

This book not only demystifies and humanizes the cocktail but gives some pretty gosh-darn tasty recipes to boot. I even enjoyed the ones I didn't enjoy enough to ever make again!

But what really makes this book charming is Ms. McCartney's down-to-earth humor. From her section on Equipment:

Here's a secret the fancy bartenders don't want you to know: You don't need equipment to make a cocktail. … You don't even really need a shot glass for measurement. What's the worst that could happen? Whoops - too much booze in my cocktail! Not a real thing that happens.

While I suspect that some of her cocktail histories may be cut from the whole cloth her recipes are always spot on. Time to revive the Brandy Alexander!

[Tori]

SUCH a useful book. My tiny bar cart has big ambitions but a lack of patience for fancy recipes. This book is its new Bible. The three-ingredient formula means you're only ever about one ingredient away from a cool, unique cocktail—in my case, guava + rum + lime, but your case(s) may differ. Love it!

[Julie]

By far my favorite cocktail book ever. Cheers!

[Mark]

It's a book of unpretentious instructions for making unpretentious cocktails. There are also some jokes. The cocktails are good and the jokes are good.

I now want to read other things by the McCartney, which is really not the reaction I would have predicted for a book on making cocktails. (Also I will make sure I have simple syrup on hand in the future, which is what all I really wanted out of the book when I bought it.)

[Robin]

I received this book through Goodreads Giveaways. Top Notch and beautifully bound it is a bonafide treasure, Thank You!

[Sam]

hilarious but also haphazard