Sharon Tyler Herbst - The Ultimate Guide to Pitcher Drinks: Cool Cocktails for a Crowd

Sharon Tyler Herbst, dubbed the foremost writer of user-friendly food and drink reference works, is an award-winning author of seventeen books. She gained her reputation as an accomplished culinary powerhouse with the bestseller Food Lover's Companion, broadly hailed as A must for every cook's library. It, as well as Wine Lover's Companion (coauthored with her husband, Ron), are the on-line dictionaries on several major food-and-drink Internet sites. Julia Child praised Sharon's Food Lover's Tiptionary as An invaluable help for all. TV's popular quiz show Jeopardy often cites Sharon's books as references. She is also a food and travel journalist and a media personality with myriad appearances on national radio and television shows, including Good Morning America and the Today show. She's a consultant and spokesperson for national food and beverage companies and a past president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). Her Internet site is Food and Drink INK (www.sharontylerherbst.com).

SPECIAL DRINK-RELATED SECTIONS ARE INCLUDED to give your pitcher drinks pizzazz: Bar Banter: Ingredients and Terms (pages 733); Pitcher-Drink Stuff: EquipmentGadgets, Gizmos, and Glass-ware (pages 3541); Doin' the Twist: Garnishes and Other Fandangos (pages 4353); Measuring Up: Measurement Equivalents (pages 5557); When the Spirits Move You: How to Light Up the Party Without Getting Lit (pages 5963); and Tipsy Turvy: Hangover Helpers (pages 6567). There's also a chapter on party food for people who don't like to cookEffortless Eats (pages 181198).

CROSS-REFERENCES are indicated by SMALL CAPITALS, pointing to the definitions in Bar Banter (pages 733).

DIRECTORY OF DRINKS BY C ATEGORY (pages 7075) gives you at-a-glance access to recipes by style and potency. The headings are: Classic Cocktails and Drinks, Popular Favorites, Tropical Tempters, Sparkling Sippers, Dessert in a Glass, Potent Concoctions (High Alcohol), In the Mood (Moderate Alcohol), Easy Does It (Low to Moderate Alcohol), and Buzz-Free Zone (Liquor-Free).

DRINK RECIPES (pages 76178) are arranged in a user-friendly A-to-Z format. Referring to either the Directory of Drinks by Category (pages 7075) or the Index (pages 199209) will lead you to just the drink you want. But if you know what you wantsuch as a Martiniyou can find it easily alphabetically.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS are listed first for home use(tablespoons, cups), then in fluid ounces for bartenders looking for pitcher panache.

ICE CUBES are standard size, not miniature.

WATER IS ADDED in those recipes where single-drink preparations are classically shaken with ice, which melts slightly and contributes water to the drink.

THE INDEX (pages 199209) is particularly extensive, listing recipes by the name of the drink, as well as by the drink's primary ingredients.

Th-th-that's all, folks. Now go party hearty with these fun party drinks!

FOLLOWING IS AN A-TO-Z LISTING OF INGREDIENTS and terms used in this book. Cross-references to terms defined in this section are indicated by SMALL CAPITALS. Pronunciations are given for all but the obvious. For a more extensive listing of all things boozy, see The Ultimate A-to-Z Bar Guide, Broadway Books (a Random House imprint).

ABSENTE [AB-sent] Called Absinthe refined by the producer, Absente is the most recent proxy for the forbidden ABSINTHE. Instead of the toxic wormwood, Absente contains southernwood (petite absinthe), which is said to contribute the more authentic flavor of the original. Absente's primary flavor hit is anise, but there are myriad herbs that contribute to its multi-faceted palate. The clear, pale-green color of this LIQUEUR turns opaque when mixed with water. Absente is a powerful 55 percent alcohol, which is still considerably less than the 68 percent absinthe. Substitutes for Absente include PERNOD, ouzo, and anisette.

ABSINTHE [AB-sinth] A green, anise-flavored LIQUEUR that was banned in the United States and other countries in the early twentieth century because it contains worm-wood, which is toxic when taken in quantity. If that weren't enough, this French potable is a potent 68 percent alcohol. It was the wormwoodhigh octane fusion that prompted many in the nineteenth-century Parisian artistic community (such as Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Oscar Wilde) to nickname it the green muse. Among the many absinthe substitutes are ABSENTE, anisette, ouzo, and PERNOD.