Author(s): Ned Halley

Wine & Drinks

This book contains more cocktails than any other - 1,500 of them, ranging from classic Martinis to unblushing modern concoctions such as Sex on the Beach. Recipes are user friendly, assembled on a 'unit' basis that clearly shows the proportions needed to make the perfect cocktail - without fuss. Ingredients and equipment are easy to acquire, techniques straightforward. Bewildering measures - 'jigger', 'half-gill', 3/4 fl oz - are avoided. There is much entertainment to be found in these pages too, with revealing anecdotes about many of the cocktails, and generous sprinklings of apposite quotations, risque jokes and little curiosities. The Ultimate Cocktail Book is more than a reference guide, it's a concocter's companion and a source of enlightenment. A volume tailor-made, in short, for good mixers.