Cocktails Make A Comback: 'The Essential Bar Book' Reviewed

SAN JOSE (KCBS)— It's amazing how cocktails have made a comeback. They're replacing a glass of wine as an appetizer before a meal or just to stand around and have a drink. Two martini lunches disappeared a long time ago, but it seems they're on their way back.

The Essential Bar Book by Jennifer Fielder is an A-to-Z guide to spirits, cocktails and wine; including 115 recipes.

You have absinthe frappe at one end and a zombie at the other. It's wonderful to flip through these pages and see these drinks presented wonderfully.

A few years ago when cocktails started to make a comeback, you'd ask for an old fashioned and bartenders didn't have a clue as to what to do. Most didn't even have Angostura bitters on hand.

Fielder starts the book out by giving a brief history of how the drink originated and then gives a detailed recipe on how to make it. If you want to make an Old Fashioned in a new fashioned sort of way, I say call it something different.

If you're into mixology, overall, this is a book you should definitely have.