Cocktails For The Home Bar - Mix Shake Stir - Rave Drink Recipes

Danny Meyer’s celebrated New York restaurants are famous for inventing some of the most creative cocktails in the city. This book reveals over 100 drink and 20 snack recipes from the bartenders and chefs at his acclaimed eateries including Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern and Hudson Yards Catering.

Mix Shake Stir: Cocktails for the Home Bar, Recipes from Danny Meyer’s Acclaimed New York City Restaurants brings the tips, tools and tricks of trade to the home bar owner. All the bartending skills you’ll need to master the art of creating cocktails at home.

“I can close my eyes and almost smell the ritual of ‘cocktail hour’ in the St. Louis neighborhood where I grew up back in the 1960s and 1970s. My parents and their friends would take turns inviting one another into their respective homes for an open bar accompanied with Planters peanuts, sausage ‘beer sticks,’ and on special occasions, Boursin cheese and Triscuits .. Mostly people asked for the standards: Dewar’s on the rocks, vodka Gibson, gin and tonic, Bloody Mary, and for the more adventurous, a bloody bull made with Campbell’s beef bouillon.” ~ Danny Meyer

Well, this book will allow your home bar to host parties with gourmet cocktail snacks and signature drinks from all his critically acclaimed and wildly popular restaurants if you want to step it up a notch. Brief descriptions from the different sections are listed below.

Cocktail Drink Categories ( Name - Selection Sampling ):

• Favorite Classics - Sazerac, Jack Rose, Old-Fashioned, Americano, Negroni, Dark & Stormy, Moscow Mule ..
• New Classics - Blue Smoke Martini with splash of peaty smoked scotch & blue cheese stuffed olives ..
• Inspired Flavors - Tabla Kachumber Kooler with muddled cucumber, cilantro & chiles ..
• Elegant Sips - Gramercy Tavern Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground with tastes of clove & passion fruit garnished with edible flowers ..
• Casual Libations - beach favorites like margaritas, daiquiris, mojitos ..

There’s an awesome chapter on bar fare as well. Never good to drink on an empty stomach and there some great snacks and appetizers you can prepare and serve at home to your own rave reviews.

Cocktail Friendly Foods:

• Dried Cherry, Bacon & Pecan Mix - dubbed “The Holiday Mix,” after being the most requested bar snack at Hudson Yard catered holiday parties
• Black Truffled Popcorn - gourmet popcorn tossed with black truffle oil served with cocktails in The Modern’s Bar Room
• Crostini with Root Vegetables & Goat Cheese - roasted beets, parsnips, turnips, carrots & celery root on baguettes topped with cheese

Many more bites are detailed along two versions of bar nuts. Here’s a variation of the Union Square Cafe’s spicy bar nuts.

This cocktail guide wouldn’t be complete without instructions on some of the bar basics. Muddling, choosing the right glassware, making perfect ice cubes and many more tips are included. Here’s an excerpt on one your best possible investments - quality home made ice:

“Ice cubes quickly pick up flavors from the freezer, so don’t let them linger there too long. Use purified water and stainless-steel or silicon trays* for the best-tasting (and clearest) cubes. Some cocktails show best with large cubes; others pair well with crushed ice. The size you use affects the taste of the drink and depends on the desired result. Larger cubes melt more slowly, preserving the flavors of the cocktail longer. Crushed ice melts quickly but guarantees a frosty glass.” ~ Cocktails for the Home Bar

This book is a nice resource for researching entertaining ideas and would be a terrific addition to your bartending library. Get a copy of Mix Shake Stir: Cocktails for the Home Bar here.

* - recommend these large silicon round ice molds & square cube trays when cocktails don’t require crushed ice ~ bc