The Cocktail Guy: Infusions, distillations and innovative combinations

by Rich Woods

“Master Mixologist” – The Daily Telegraph “Imaginative, daring and flying the flag for the savoury-beverage trend”– Harper’s Bazaar “The drink industry’s answer to Heston Blumenthal” – Square Meal “Pioneering Bartender” – City A.M. Meet Rich Woods, a.k.a The Cocktail Guy. At the forefront of the mixology revolution, Rich has been garnering fans and accolades through his creative reinventions of classic cocktails and exciting new drinks, all served with his signature innovative flair. In this, his first book, Rich unlocks the secrets of making creative cocktails at home, from mastering classic techniques, to flavouring alcohol through simple infusions and more complex distillations and making your own home-made bitters from herbs, spices, fruits and roots. At the centre of Rich’s creative process is an understanding and exploration of flavour; from the way it unravels on the palate to new and unique combinations that are designed to surprise and delight. The 70 drinks recipes are divided into chapters –‘Inspired by the Garden’ and ‘From the Kitchen’, all achievable for the home bartender, while the third chapter, ‘Iconoclastic’, covers 13 of Rich s most creative recipes with challenging ingredients and exciting combinations for the confident enthusiast who wants to impress a crowd. For the more adventurous reader, the final chapter, ‘Distillations and Infusions’, unlocks the alchemy of making your own distillations and liqueurs at home, from creating your own Beetroot & Chocolate Liqueur to transforming a leftover bottle of vodka with a few simple aromatics. Including key information on tools and techniques as well as infusing and distilling to imbue your drinks with maximum flavour, this is the ultimate guide to modern cocktailing for the home bartender.

Genres: Cocktails

176 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2018

Reviews

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Трохи беззмістовна книга. Більшість рецептів потребують спеціального обладнання, що для домашніх умов не варіант. Проте з книги можна черпати цікаві ідеї та варіації коктейлів. І пробувати самому унікальні рецепти

[Andrew Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a good cocktail book for the more advanced home or professional bartender. Some of the negatives: There are some typos and editing mistakes. I was surprised by the sheer number of sparkling wine based cocktails. Also a lot of cocktails that are reliant on St. Germain or elderflower cordial makes it feel a touch dated. The difficulty scale seems inconsistent. Drinks overall veer a bit sweet. Some very strange differences on how he infuses essences into alcohol depending on the recipe. I wish he went into a bit more details as to why he puts together the drinks or infusions the way he does.
Pros: lots of creative ideas and flavor combos. Well photographed. Despite not being useful to me at the moment, it is cool to see a lot of rotovap recipes, which you don’t typically see here in the US as they are illegal to use without a DSP.
I will say that the author is worth following on Instagram. On IG he does a better job at explaining why he uses a technique than he does in his book.

[Josh Fogelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely complex recipes... interesting though if you are into that sort of thing. Not a practical book for the home bar enthusiast but fun to look over the recipes and the recipes from a mixologist who has won mixology awards.