Sometimes I overlook things. Sometimes those things are big.
I recently blogged about a cocktail, Alice in Wonderland, from a superior book, Difford’s Encyclopedia of Cocktails.
I love this book and highly recommend it to you all. Here are more reasons to consider it. If you go to diffordsguide.com you can see all the recipes from the book and interactively find a recipe, with matching picture. This is an immense resource for all of us imbibers. Whether to find a great recipe for a favorite or to seek some way to use up that half bottle of X that you bought three years ago, well, this is the best resource around to locate masterfully conceived and thoroughly tested recipes.
If you have the website, why do you need the book? Because the book lets you quickly leaf through all the recipes – if in fact you can quickly go through the mass of 2600 recipes here. This series of books began in 2001 and has grown substantially with each new edition. I’m looking at edition 8 and looking forward to edition 9.
The other great reason to consider this book is the background and accomplishments of its British author Simon Difford. Here’s some info from his site:
“Simon Difford has been involved in most aspects of the drinks industry from running his own off licence and wholesale company to importing and brand creation, but is best known as a drinks writer and publisher.
“Simon founded CLASS Magazine in 1997, a title which became the leading UK style bar title before he sold it to William Reed Publishing to prepare for the launch of his range of diffordsguide drinks related books in 2001. The best known of these, ‘diffordsguide – Cocktails’, is now in its 8th edition with 2,600 colour illustrated recipes and is widely regarded as the authoritative international cocktail publication.
“In 2007 Simon received the Glenfiddich Drink & Bar Writer of the year award and continues to both judge and compete in cocktail competitions.
“The Observer also chose Simon as one of their Future 500 – was set up to identify ‘the brightest and best rising stars across ten fields in the UK’.
“Simon was part of the team responsible for the creation of St-Germain elderflower liqueur which launched in the UK in 2007. Made from flowers picked in the French Alps, it is produced in small batches and each bottle is numbered and carries the vintage year that the flowers were picked.
“This 20% A.B.V. liqueur has made its mark on the UK trade and established itself as a must-stock item on all good back bars.”
Simon is truly one of the world’s leading mixologists, and his skills do not stop there. If you have not yet tried the St-Germain elderflower liqueur, I urge you to visit a good bar for a taste. Or just save yourself time and get the bottle now. It’s a standard in my home bar. On the rocks, it’s the perfect way to complement a dessert — say apple pie — or just to sip and watch the fire go down. Mix St-Germain and sparkling wine, and you possess a delicate yet potent delight.
Please look at diffordsguide.com, consider the book, and of course enjoy all the tastes Simon has to offer.