book review | SusieDrinks

Do you ever wish you had the perfect cocktail to match your mood?
Do you sometimes feel classy but sometimes feel trashy?
Are you in search of some fancy AF cocktails?
… well buckle up, because Ariana Madix and Time Sandoval have a treat for you.

The “Vanderpump Rules” stars and couple have been creating cocktails for years at reality TV hit places such as SUR, TomTom, Villa Blanca, and PUMP, and they’ve finally collected their favorite ones to include in their new recipe book: Fancy AF Cocktails. The 80+ cocktails in the book run the gamut from “classy” to “trashy” and feature ingredients like caramel liqueur and wasabi-infused white rum on the class end, and BBQ sauce packets and Taco Bell FIRE sauce on the trashy end.

I took the liberty of selecting two that would be the absolute hit of any holiday party: the Naughty Holiday and the Nice Holiday. (I’ll leave it up to you to decide which category you fall under.) These cocktails are competing cocktails that Ariana and Tom made to help people enjoy the holidays whether throwing an extravagant Christmas party or just “boozing solo”.

NAUGHTY HOLIDAY
1.5oz chocolate liqueur
1.5oz Chili Chocolate Kahlúa
1.5oz vanilla vodka
Chili powder
Garnished with mini candy cane

NICE HOLIDAY
2oz white chocolate liqueur
.5oz crème de menthe
1oz vanilla vodka
Garnished with peppermint chocolate

Whether you’re feeling naughty or nice is really no concern of mine … I’m just here to make sure you get the drinks you need to survive this holiday season. Luckily, Ariana and Tom were kind enough to include some “Recovery Drinks” in their book to help keep you ready for the next night out.

… I would suggest trying the Leggo My Ego.

FANCY AF COCKTAILS: Drink Recipes from a Couple of Professional Drinkers
Written by Ariana Madix & Tom Sandoval with Danny Pellegrino
NOW ON SALE: FancyAFCocktails.com | Amazon.com
#fancyafcocktails

I was SUPER stoked when I got a copy of Market-Fresh Mixology in my mailbox. (Aren’t surprises the best?!) Award-winning mixologists Bridget Albert and Mary Barranco rounded up some of the best seasonal cocktail recipes in a paperback (perfectly-sized to keep on the bar) with gorgeous photography by James Beard Award-winner Tim Turner.

The recipes call for fresh, local ingredients, which is all the rage right now, no? Best yet, they’re arranged by season. Want to know what drinks you can whip up with in-season fruits, veggies (yup), herbs, and more? These ladies have you covered with easy to understand recipes with a quick guide for which glass to use and the tools you’ll need.

For Spring, they have everything from the Carrot Chic to the Spiced Beet Cocktail. They sound odd, but really, they’re delicious. I tried out a few with some friends this weekend, and they were the simplest recipes to follow and didn’t call for anything too extremely outrageous. (Like, seriously, who keeps some of the crazy s**t they put in some recipes around the house? Three kinds of bitters for one drink? Get real … I’m a person, not a bar.)

My favorite that we tried was the Cucumber Caipiroska, made with simple syrup, cucumber, lime, and pear vodka. I’m really looking to toting this one down to the pool this summer (in a plastic container, of course).

Another awesome part of the book is the Home Bar Essentials section, which went through the various glasses, bartending tools, and even had syrup and sour recipes. Best of all? There are toasts for each season. One of the spring toasts is “May we be happy and our enemies know it.” Cheers to that!

Order yourself Market-Fresh Mixology for just around $12 and try some of the recipes out for yourself!

AgatePublishing.com
Amazon.com