The Cocktail Primer

All You Need to Know to Make the Perfect Drink

by Eben Klemm

Price: $19.99
ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-7816-2
ISBN-10: 0-7407-7816-1
Format: Hardcover
Size: 6 x 10 1/2 in.
Page Count: 128 pages

“You can’t miss with this book if you are beginner, and you will also enjoy it even if you’ve shaken and stirred a few drinks in your day.” ––DolceDolce http://www.dolcedolce.com/?cat=211

“You can be part of the cocktail renaissance, function as your own bartender with confidence, and be a sensational host with a few easy lessons from Eben Klemm.  After years of teaching bartending for the B.R. Guest Restaurantswhere globally-inspired drinks range from classic to innovative to unbridled, Klemm realized that rather than try to memorize thousands of formulas, all one needs is a solid understanding  that all drinks, including specialty drinks, are descendants of very basic concepts.  His stated goal is “to tell you to forget about the hundreds of drinks, and focus on the particulars.  Understanding and appreciating these will propel you toward a mastery of any other drink you like.”  Klemm does not overwhelm readers with the drinks his bartenders devise, nor does he make the head spin with a list of thousands of recipes.  Instead he builds on understanding.” ––In Mamas Kitchen http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/Book_Reviews/drinks_wine_books/cocktail_primer.html

“Eben Klemm focuses on the basics in “The Cocktail Primer: All You Need to Know to Make the Perfect Drink“. The master mixologist focuses on about two dozen drinks, grouping them by history, ingredient or technique. After the basics of setting up a home bar, Klemm covers drink families in six chapters. He groups them according to alcohol type (the martini family with its clear white spirits and the manhattans with their dark spirits), by history (simple sours, complex sours) and technique (muddled drinks) and highballs.” ––The Modesto Bee
http://www.modbee.com/life/taste/story/964941.html

“The Cocktail Primer is now my preferred go-to-guide for thinking about, and re-creating great cocktails. It doesn’t seek to be encyclopedic. Klemm imparts the significance of techniques such as pouring, shaking, stirring and muddling. He groups his drink recipes around around a specific spirit. … The Cocktail Primer is an elegantly pared down reference of the essential cocktails you’ll want to create at home. … is a great-looking book. I wanted to sample every cocktail beautifully photographed here. And if you’re looking a great gift for the holidays, I highly recommend this handsome and sleek volume.” ––Stovetop Readings http://stovetopreadings.blogspot.com/2009/12/cocktail-primer-only-source-you-need.html

A cocktail renaissance is afoot. The martini revival of the 1990s spawned a drink revolution harkening back to the 1920s, when elegant cocktails ruled the day. It has permeated virtually every watering hole since, and the mojito is now a common offering at even the dive-est of bars.

Yet despite the diversity seen on modern drink menus, B.R. Guest Restaurants master mixologist Eben Klemm is here to tell us that today’s cocktails remain but a few ingredients combined by even fewer techniques. In his new book The Cocktail Primer: All You Need to Know to Make the Perfect Drink (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $19.99), Klemm shows us how to make these drinks at home using basic knowledge and ingredients.

Most cocktail books offer an overwhelming number of drink recipes that do nothing to help the aspiring cocktail enthusiast understand how they will taste. That is why The Cocktail Primer arranges drinks into families of classic cocktail types most people already know and work with. The drink families are grouped by style and technique, from simple to complex, with select recipes from each family. Also included:

•   The primary makeup and level of complexity, sweetness, acidity, strength, and refreshment of each drink family
•   Setting up a home bar: essential spirits, ingredients, and equipment to keep on hand
•   Techniques: how to pour, shake, stir, muddle, and serve
•   Entertaining: get out from behind the bar and enjoy your party

The Cocktail Primer lays the groundwork for learning how cocktails are related and assembled. The result is a greater appreciation for the wonderful explorations occurring in bars today, as well as the confidence to become your own personal mixologist and create unique cocktails at home. Improve your home bar, impress your guests, and start cocktailing!

Every year, it seems as if a long-forgotten complex sour is “rediscovered” by a studious bartender who has been poring over out-of-print cocktail books. Once it shows up on a menu, it spreads like wildfire throughout the professional community as the next “big thing.” The aviation was the first of these to illustrate the depth of this family of cocktails, and in some ways it demonstrates how just three or four ingredients can produce a libation of surprising complexity in a world where cosmopolitans once ruled. If you like this cocktail, seek out others, such as the twentieth century or the last word, two cocktails from the same era.

2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
Crème de violette (optional)
Cocktail Cherry, for garnish

Pour the gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, and a splash of crème de violette into a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice. Cover and shake vigorously 20 times.
Strain the cocktail into a martini glass and serve, garnished with the cherry.

THE COMPLEX SOURS

The Sidecar
The Aviation
The Dos Caminos Margarita
Paradiso
Ruby Foo

Makeup: Primary spirit and flavoring spirit plus acid
Complexity: Low to high
Sweetness: Medium to high
Acidity: High
Strength: Medium
Level of Refreshment: Medium