Friday, February 14, 2014

Apothecary Cocktails

I've been having some fun with Warren Bobrow's book, Apothecary Cocktails.

Yeah, the testing was tough, but someone had to do it, right?

The theme of the book is "restorative drinks," some of which purport to cure hangovers, help keep you warm in winter, or make your cold feel less annoying. I won't argue with that. I've been known to mix up a little warm cocktail when I'm battling a head cold.

The cool thing about this book is that it's got recipes for a lot of liquors that are a little unusual. And then there are recipes using rum or gin. So there's something for everyone.

One of the first things I tried was a simple drink with Fernet Branca and ginger beer. Okay, I used ginger ale, but close enough for me. The Fernet is a little bitter with flavors of licorice and mint. One sip and you can see why it could be a digestif.

There were a few warm rum drinks that I thought were interesting, including versions of hot buttered rum and some that included tea. I hadn't thought of doing that ... but why not? slurp...

Drinking your way through this book might be a little difficult because there are so many unusual liquors used, but if you're looking for a book to wander through and find some interesting cocktails using some odd liquors you haven't tried before, this is the book for you.

And of course you can always make substitutions, if you need to. Because sometimes that's half the fun.

Warren Bobrow blogs at the Cocktail Whisperer.

I received this book from the publisher. Opinions are my own.
Yum