Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions [A Cocktail Recipe Book]

From the authors of the bestselling and genre-defining cocktail book Death & Co, Cocktail Codex is a comprehensive primer on the craft of mixing drinks that employs the authors’ unique “root cocktails” approach to give drink-makers of every level the tools to understand, execute, and improvise both classic and original cocktails.

JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • WINNER OF THE TALES OF THE COCKTAIL SPIRITED AWARD® FOR BEST NEW COCKTAIL OR BARTENDING BOOK • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“There are only six cocktails.” So say Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, and David Kaplan, the visionaries behind the seminal craft cocktail bar Death & Co. In Cocktail Codex, these experts reveal for the first time their surprisingly simple approach to mastering cocktails: the “root recipes,” six easily identifiable (and memorizable!) templates that encompass all cocktails: the old-fashioned, martini, daiquiri, sidecar, whisky highball, and flip. Once you understand the hows and whys of each “family,” you'll understand why some cocktails work and others don't, when to shake and when to stir, what you can omit and what you can substitute when you're missing ingredients, why you like the drinks you do, and what sorts of drinks you should turn to—or invent—if you want to try something new.
 
Praise for Cocktail Codex
 
“Learn the template, and any cocktail you can think of is within reach.”—Food & Wine

“Too bad all college textbooks weren’t this much fun.”—Garden & Gun

“A must for amateur and pro mixologists alike.”—Chicago Tribune
 
“If Dora the Explorer turned twenty-one, split herself into three people, and decided to write the Magna Carta of booze books, this would be the result. And, unlike every other book you’ll read this year, Cocktail Codex is packed with actual knowledge you can use in the real world. Please, please, can Cinema Codex be next?”—Steven Soderbergh, filmmaker

From the Publisher

Sherry Cobbler

Classic

Replace the high-proof whiskey in an Old-Fashioned with a larger quantity of low-proof amontillado sherry, and swap muddled orange slices for the bitters, you have a Cobbler. Amontillado sherry is a fortified wine that gives the cocktail both body and acidity, making it a strong backbone for the drink. When muddled, the orange wheels add not only a touch of sweetness from the flesh, but also some seasoning from the bitter pith and the vibrant oils in the skin. This complexity is nicely counterbalanced by the levity and bright aroma of the fresh mint garnish.

 

When it comes to the garnish, don’t limit yourself to the orange wedge and mint called for here; an array of seasonal fruits is traditional, so play around with whatever fruits or herbs you have on hand. It’s become an inside joke among our bartender friends to make the most ludicrous, over garnished cobbler any time one of us requests one.

Recipe

In a Collins glass, muddle the orange slice and syrup. Add the sherry and stir briefly. Top with crushed ice and stir a few times to chill the cocktail. Top with more crushed ice, packing the glass fully. Garnish with the orange wedge and mint bouquet and serve with a straw.

Ingredients

• 3 orange slices
• 1 teaspoon Cane Sugar Syrup
• 3½ ounces amontillado sherry
• Garnish: 1 orange half wheel and 1 mint bouquet