The Craft of the Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Master Bartender, with 500 Recipes

Lots of good recipes but ... It's arranged alphabetically by the name of the cocktail, although all the martinis are together, likewise a couple of other 'genres'. So two drinks that both have rye in them could be at opposite ends of the book.It has an inadequate index: for example, it has fewer than a dozen different listings under 'Gin' but I counted 33 recipes that include gin.In an earlier version of this review I mistakenly said there was no index.

If you're just starting out in cocktails, beware. Some recipes could be called outdated by now, most notably his versions of the Sazerac, Old-Fashioned and Dry Martini. Take some things with a grain of salt when reading and it will be a decent read and a fine book to add to your cocktail library but should be no means be the only book.If your a bartender or seasoned home enthusiast the book is worth the price if you plan on continuing your collection of cocktail books or are simply in the mood for a different kind of read.

Picked this up after I saw the author on an early Anthony Bourdain "A Cook's Tour" episode where he made a classic Martini. I own several books about mixology already, this one is superior because it dives deeply into every standard ingredient. Need a proper introduction to different whiskeys or tequilas? This is your go-to. Also contains some lively stories and a good set of recipes for all the classic cocktails.

"The Craft of the Cocktail" is a great book except for the horrible organization (what were they thinking?) and tiny, gray font in places. Many of the recipes are on the IBA lists, and it would have been very helpful to provide that information. The section on techniques is the best part of the book, although Jeffrey Morganthaller's "The Bar Book" is more in-depth. DeGroff is the self-proclaimed king of cocktails for a reason, so get the book. His follow-up companion book, "The Essential Cocktails" is a pale comparison to "The Craft of the Cocktail." The Craft is well worth the price despite its flaws, is my go-to book, and is heavily annotated as I work through the recipes. And darn if I can tell the taste difference with flaming garnish, although it looks cool.

A couple other reviewers already commented on the lack of a good index or a means of searching by ingredient rather than cocktail name. The good news is - the Kindle's search engine allows one to overcome this. The Kindle version (can't speak for the hardcover) also has extensive "links to pertinent websites" and "other resources" sections in the back which offset these apparent shortcomings in the hardcover version, but they aren't noted in the Table of Contents. I'd have given the book 3 stars if I couldn't search w/Kindle. It has better than average history and technical (i.e., how-to and what-to) information and an excellent Glossary and, as mentioned, good further reading and resources sections with active links, but it is average to below average for recipe retrieval for a bar book (alphabetical listing, no listing by ingredient). Also, I loved the subchapter heading "PROHIBITON AND REPEAL" (sic). Was an editor trying out recipes? What I didn't like was light blue links in the text that went nowhere when I clicked on them. For example, Mr.DeGroff refers to a drink called "Flamingo" in his excellent "Mixing Terms and Techniques" to illustrate a technique; I clicked on the highlighted link but got nothing but a definition describing a pink-feathered bird. BUT, considering the book was published in 2002, well before e-readers became ubiquitous, I can't really get too upset over a few broken links. As I wrote earlier, the bar resources and further reading sections in the back do have links that work including links to some of the better cocktail recipe sites. Perhaps the "Table of Contents" or even the "product description" could be amended to highlight these very desirable inclusions.