"There are basically two schools of mixology," says drinks expert David Wondrich. "The cosmopolitan people—'I don't want to taste the liquor'—and people whose parents made cocktails—'I do want to taste the liquor.'" Wondrich's new book, Killer Cocktails: An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking (HarperResource, $19.95), is aimed at the latter. He starts with basics like liquor, bar equipment, and the 12 "master drink" recipes (akin to the master sauces in French cooking). Then come variations on the classics, like the chapter on the gin fizz, which explores "tiny bubbles in the booze" (by adding soda or Champagne). Included is one of my favorite libations, the Gansevoort Fizz, a refreshing combination of aged rum, Drambuie, lemon juice, bitters, and fizz, which you'll find at the bar at New York's 5 Ninth, where Wondrich consults. Rather than an all-inclusive reference of every drink, Killer Cocktails is one man's take on the classics. "Nothing hits that spot like a good martini," Wondrich says, and he stops there. "Happily," he writes, "stupid drinks seem to be dying on the vine and '-tini' as a suffix is done."
Originally posted on Epicurious.com