[.uk] Holiday Cocktails (ISBN 081184157X)

The necronomicon of cocktail books.:
I had this great plan. I would host a Christmas cocktail party, brimming with fabulously festive beverages. Friends would marvel at what a clever hostess I was, and I would be a shining star. If only I hadn't relied on this book to be my silent sidekick. Every drink from within it's pages sucked. The Christmas Kiss was dull and without flavour. The White Christmas smelled of floor cleaner, and another whose name has been forgotten tasted of it. Page after page of damning drinks, not a single one worthy of repetition. This book is dreadful, and every single one of the author's books should be avoided like the plague. In the end I tossed the entire book into the recycling bin, disgusted with the money I had wasted, and grateful I hadnt waited till the night of my cocktail party to discover what garbage these recipes were.

only for the photos:
Indeed, truly awful recipes. Although each seems a clever concoction and is assigned a truly lovely and inspiring photo, the actual results are at best comparable to mouth wash. Unless you are interrogating a possible serial killer for location of body parts, I can't think of one good reason you would actually serve these drinks to human beings, or in fact anything in the primate family. Avoid. Talk to an actual bar tender for your drink recipes.

Loved this book:
I loved this book. Great photos, great recipes, and best of all... great drinks. It includes plenty of classics... and some variations that taste and look beautiful. In fact, I was just buying a few more copies for friends... and read the other reviews from our friends in Canada and couldn't believe what I was reading. Maybe they don't know how to follow a drink recipe... or should just drink whiskey straight. Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun drink book to have as part of their cookbook collection. Cheers!

A gem of a book:
I've read this book from cover to cover and find the majority of drinks to my liking. So far I've tried eight recipes -- all winners. My friends liked them too. I particularly like the Christmas Cosmo, Candy Cane Martini, White Christmas, and Grinch (an odd sort of drink in color and flavor but very amusing if you like Midori and want an excuse to eat maraschino cherries). The non-alcoholic hot drinks are very comforting, especially on cold winter evenings. I'm a sucker for beautiful photos in recipe books and this book doesn't disappoint, but I wondered if my efforts would look as beautiful as the photos. Answer: they did. I'm looking forward to working my way through the rest of the recipes that caught my eye and taste buds.