Regarding Cocktails (From Legendary Bartender, Sasha Petraske) Hardcover – October 31, 2016

Really enjoyed this book and the recipes. They are fairly easy to make. I would recommend this for your bar

No name-dropping, no star f-cking.If those words carry meaning for you, then so too do the drink recipes in this book. If not yet, for the reader of this book they soon will. Here, at last, is Milk & Honey resurrected on the page. One can, if they were lucky, recall the short, candlelit bar and the quiet excitement of ducking in off of a Chinatown street and being served essentially the perfect drink for whatever your palate in what was the most exciting bar in the world during its time. The book is not just Milk & Honey, of course. It is Little Branch and the John Dory Oyster Bar and Dutch Kills and White Star and everywhere he touched and everyone he worked with gathered up in a collection of recipes and elegiac words.Sasha Petraske left the world too young, but as an old soul he left behind an entire culture of service and drink preparation that lives on in his many acolytes. This book collects, essentially, the favorite recipes of Sasha and those who worked with and for him, each introduced with a short paragraph explaining the drinks background and meaning and seasonality. The framing idea of the book is the framing idea of mixology as Sasha and his ventures expressed it: every cocktail is a variation of one of five types of drinks: the Old Fashioned, the Martini or Manhattan, the Sour, the Highball, or the Fix. There are five chapters of recipes he enjoyed (largely designed by his acolytes or developed in concert with him, and attributed appropriately) with an additional chapter on non alcoholic and sweeter large format drinks. The recipes reflect the elegance and simplicity that Mr. Petraske stressed: unlike other recent bar books that seek to be the last word on all cocktail making and which call in each recipe for very specific brands, here liquors are specified by type and perhaps origin, but in the context of a simply presented list of ingredients followed by detailed instructions on assembly and only occasionally the introducing paragraph will name a particular brand. An aesthete and something of an obsessive compulsive when it came to lists, Petraske would doubtless be pleased by this layout. Each facing page contains an impressionistic line drawing of the drink that reflects the ratios called for in the recipe. Some of the great classics are here, but the recipe reflects the particular way Sasha preferred them, so too are the more famous originals of his and his extended bar family. The beginning and end of the book contains framing essays, some by Petraske but others by his wife and friends describing the philosophy of work and dress that Petraske lived and sought to impart upon others. Reflecting his particular sense of humor, cocktails for cats are also described.You can find Petraske's work living on in his colleagues now bringing their own voice to the great bars of LA, Chicago, NYC (Attaboy, the now transformed original Milk and Honey space led by Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy), Melbourne, and London, or you can recreate these recipes at home. I think that this book will give you recipes that feel both familiar and surprisingly new at the same time, the kind you would get when you let a great bartender who knows what you love make a drink, bartenders choice. While Petraske is missed, this book is not to be.

If you read NO other cocktail book, make it this one. It focuses STRONGLY on Gin and Bourbon/Whiskey, and not much on Vodka and not much on Rum, but that's ok, the knowledge imparted more than make up for it. His only book. Very very sad.BUY THIS BOOK!!

This book is like the speakeasy/cocktail bible. It literally is the best bar book I’ve ever bought, so good that I had to buy it for my father for Christmas.The cocktails are easy to understand and fun to play around with. Each recipe has a classy illustration with it to help visualize the drink.If you have a bar, want to learn about cocktails, or get the cocktail loving friend in your life a gift… buy this book for them!

This is an incredible cocktail book which immortalizes a great man so beautifully. Kudos to Georgette for pulling this together so elegantly. Some real treasures in here, not to be forgotten. I've enjoyed every recipe I've made from here and learning all the stories behind them.

This book is so carefully put together, that even a complete novice can make speakeasy-caliber cocktails. I've made about half the entries in the book and haven't found a single dud. The specific details are all there... the glassware, the ingredients, the tools, even the type of ice and the shaking technique. If you can follow basic instructions you will get excellent results.I love the narrative style of the book as well. As a big fan of speakeasy bars and cocktail lounges, it is super enjoyable reading the notes from all of these notable bartenders at the heart of the movement. You learn about the cocktails themselves, how they came to be, and a lot about the ideals and philosophies of each bartender and their relationship with Sasha. This book is an excellent tribute and an instant classic.

Apart from the great cocktail recipes, this things looks absolutely amazing.

As I gingerly reclined in my hammock, Regarding Cocktails in hand, I anticipated getting through a few chapters of what I thought to be a cocktail encyclopedia of sorts. I quickly realized I was reading a romance novel. This wonderful book is a portrayal of the the love Sacha had for his craft, his bar family and his patrons. Every foreword of each cocktail recipe speaks volumes of the love his bar family had for Sacha and Georgette. Finally, throughout this book Georgette’s love for Sacha drips from every page. I read this book from cover to cover, anticipating the new page like a 10 year old boy waiting for Christmas morning. As a mixologist and aspiring bar owner, I will treasure this masterpiece and Sacha’s Rules will govern my future chapter of my entrepreneurial endeavors. Cheers 🥂