The Book of Cocktail Ratios: The Surprising Simplicity of Classic Cocktails

Proportion is everything when it comes to mixology. The most inspired flavor combinations may fail if one element overwhelms another, no matter whether you’re pouring a classic or stirring up a potentially brilliant new cocktail of your own devising.

Michael Ruhlman, the author or co-author of many books which focus on technique, helps aspiring bartenders, as well as those with a good deal of seat-of-the-pants experience but no formal study of the matter, understand how “a Gimlet, a Daiquiri, and a Whiskey Sour are essentially the same cocktail using different spirits.”

Understanding the ratios which lie behind good drinks is an important place to begin with cocktails, but Ruhlman takes his readers beyond, showing how small changes and flourishes can dramatically transform a familiar standard into something with a very different flavor profile, suitable for a very different drinking occasion.

He’s generous with his credits to other mixologists and careful about history and lore, all without being dogmatic. It’s part of his invitation to you to be creative, and to try variants such as

• The Rosemary Gimlet
• The Distrito Federal, sometimes known as a Tequila Manhattan
• The Chartreuse and Tonic
• The Mezcal Hot Toddy

Approachable and solid, this is a standout entry-level cocktail book.

Hardcover. Color illustrations.