The Savoy Cocktail Book

The book was suggested as "if you have to choose one, get this one" by one very crafty bartender. I got one for my friend and will get one for myself eventually

Exhaustive , yet humorous presentation of the age of cocktails from the Savoy with beautiful lino cut illustrations

For the information and history aspect of cocktails, you can't beat this book. Apparently the book is out of copyright and there are a number of publishers reprinting the Savoy Cocktail Book, but not all of them are good quality. The Dover edition is a full color, well done reproduction. The text is clear and the colors illustrations are vibrant. I strongly recommend that you get the Dover version.

Interesting to see what was popular when.

So every page is just a high res PDF scan of the original book. It work and all, just feels a bit lazy.I was hoping for an index but I guess that is what the internet is for.Still a very nice book and a welcome addition to my library.

I finally got it. If your a bartender, someone comes up to the he bar and orders a “MILLIONAIRE COCKTAIL.” Yes , nobody has ever heard of it). However, it is right there alphabetically,. But this is an alphabetical listing of a lot of cocktails both obscure and well known so an OLD FASHIONED is proceeded by an OLD ETONIAN.and followed by an OLD PAL. There are sections for fizzes, punches, cups, etc. But that is the limit for categorical listings. So. if you want bourbon drinks, gin, etc… this isn’t the place. If you want cocktails listed A,B, C. you’re home free as long as it’s from the 1930’s -No MARGARITAS or TEQUILA SUNRISES. The wine listings are old and Euro-centric. All that being said, a fun and classic book. Meanwhile, anybody up for an OLD ETONIAN?

Book is great. Though I bought it new and it was clearly a used or returned copy with a bent cover and pages.

This is one book nearly everyone interested in cocktail-making is likely to have on their shelf. For good reason, too. First, it's a beautiful book. The original was printed using spot colors, the reprint I got looks like they did a good job of reproducing it. Second, it is one of the first sources of all the classic cocktails. Third, there are some forgotten jewels in here just waiting for you to rediscover them. On the minus side, some of the liquors and liqueurs in here are no longer availab…le. Lillet stopped making Kina Lillet a few years back, so you can't make a Corpse Reviver #2 as described here. Some other liqueurs are so long forgotten that no one really knows how they tasted anymore, so if a recipe calls for Hercules, you're just going to have to use your imagination. Also, his method of measuring takes some getting use to. Some recipes are listed in parts, while others use measurements such as "one wine glass" that need translation. In spite of these quibbles, this is a fun book to just peruse, even if you never make any of the drinks in it.