Friday Night Cocktails Book Review – A Year of Mixers, Elixirs, and Cocktails (Recipes)

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Category: Books

Published on Tuesday, 14 November 2023 11:44

Written by Janet Walker

Friday Night Cocktails, 52 Drinks to Welcome Your Weekend, by Author A.J. Dean, complies a year of cocktail recipes that are simple and easy to make, and introduces the essential cocktail accessories needed to become a mixing wizard.

Somehow the idea of ordering any named spirit cocktail like a "Pink Lady," a "Rob Roy," an "Appletini," or any variation on a martini, seemed something reserved for the sophisticated or those who had intimate knowledge of the spirit bar, which many shy away from for various reasons.

For the neophyte mixologist and cocktail connoisseur, Friday Night Cocktails begins with a brief introduction, which allows readers to understand just a bit about bartending history which began with "punch," fruits, spices, and home distilled alcohol, and why bitters were originally used by druggists for what ails you.

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He also introduces barware, (page 10) think Martini shaker, shot glasses and the like and glassware, (page 11), which for presentation value are used throughout the book. The author does add, of course, that any of these recipes can be served in any vessel, from a tin cup to a dixie cup and still have the same delicious flavorful and intoxicating value.

The recipes are divided by season, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer providing cocktail ideas that match the weather. He begins in Autumn (page 15) with the traditional Amaretto Sour, and on each of the recipe pages he also explains the glass that should be used, and how to garnish like a professional.

For each recipe he provides a simplified introduction on the drink, which is different on each drink, or adds a variation. Other Autumn (pages 12-45) recipes include the unusual "Pear & Elderflower Sparkler," "Chocolate Old Fashioned," the "Vesper Martini," (page 24) more than a variation on the traditional, we understand the Vesper Martini, was named after Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, a tragic love story of epic proportions.

Of course, as Autumn, September through November, is the season for pumpkins, what could be more traditional than "Pumpkin Pie Cocktail," (page 33), offering a boozy slice of pumpkin pie in a glass. Dessert first, anyone?

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Winter, December through February, (page 46), think warm, sitting by the fire, darker alcoholic drinks to shake off winter's chill. Dean includes the "Classic Manhattan," (page 49), the Rob Roy, (page 50), an Expresso Martini, (page 58), which we are told was created by the legendary British bartender Dick Bradsell, who tells the story "of a now famous model, asked for a drink to "wake me up and f*** me up." Which is how the classic Espresso Martini was created.

He also includes "Irish Coffee," (page 72), which also includes an interesting story crediting the legendary drink to a lone bartender in 1943 in Limerick Ireland, when a transatlantic flight had to turn back due to bad weather and the bartender, back in the day, to welcome and comfort those on board created the now classic.

Spring, March through May, (page 79), a season of freshness, which is represented with mints, cucumber, and fresh spritzes of citrus. Ingrained in Pop Culture, and from the ladies of Sex in the City, no compilation of potions would be completed without the "Cosmopolitan," (page 80) and as we find out May 7 is National Cosmopolitan Day. Shaken, stirred, sweet or tart, the "Cosmopolitan," offers a variety of ways to mix it up, dress it down, style it to your tastes.

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Summer recipes, June through August, (page 117), are well known. Think beach, Mojito, (page 125), a crisp delicious minting mix; Blue Hawaiian, (page 130), a tiki bar slushy boozy icy drink; Pina Colada (page 138) is the National Drink of Puerto Rico; Summer Shandy (page 145), a citrusy combination of lemon and beer, and the familiar Mai Tai, (page 126), created in Oakland, California in 1946 is from the Tahitian word meaning "out of this world."

Whether you are looking to dance the night away or set yourself up for a cozy evening in, Friday Night Cocktails by AJ Dean offers an end of the week drink to begin the celebration! Skip around, missing summer in the middle of winter? Flip through the pages for a perfect "Mojito," looking to impress? Don't wait for May, order the "Cosmopolitan;" entertaining on a cold winter evening a "Hot Toddy" (page 57) or "Hot Buttered Rum" (page 67) will do nicely and impress.

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Friday Night Cocktails serves up 52 simple and delicious cocktail recipes, plus adds some variations to help start any weekend on the right note.

Friday Night Cocktails will be available at retail outlets like Williams-Sonoma and Urban Outfitters in time for the holidays. It is also available at other brick and mortar establishments as well as online.

Title: Friday Night Cocktails.

Author: A.J. Dean.

Language: English.

Release Date: November 7, 2023.

Publisher: The Collective Book Studio.

Length: 152 pages.

ISBN13: 978-1-68555-486-6.

ISBN-10: 1-685-55486-5.

MSRP: $19.95 (U.S.), $26.95 (CAN).