Book Review: Winter Warmers

Disclosure: This is an honest review written by us based on our experience using this book to make cocktails. Although we were not compensated to write this review, this post contains affiliate links. See our disclosure policy here.

About The Book

Winter Warmers: 60 Cosy Cocktails for Autumn & Winter, written by Jassy Davis and illustrated by Sarah Ferone, is a 144-page recipe book that’s filled with 60 cocktails for autumn and winter, including originals and reshakes of classics. The book is divided into two sections—an Introduction (with subsections for tools, techniques, simple syrup recipes, and DIY liqueurs) and The Recipes. All of the recipes are themed and organized by different parts of the season, beginning with early fall recipes and ending with ones perfect for NYE.

Features:
 60 classic cocktail recipes with ingredient lists, methods, and brief descriptions of or stories about each cocktail
 Artistic illustrations inspired by many of the cocktail recipes
 An introduction from the author
 A list of recommended equipment and glassware with descriptions of each
 9 simple syrup recipes
 5 homemade liqueur recipes
 A table of contents that outlines the starting pages for each section
 An index with cocktail names and ingredients for easy navigating

What We Liked

1. Respectfulness of Cocktails: Although the point of this book is to share holiday recipes, not one of them was kitschy like a lot of the holiday ones you see on Pinterest. They were serious drinks that even those with more developed palates could enjoy. Take the Candy Cane Martini, for example. That one was really just an alcohol-forward cocktail that was tweaked to be slightly more festive with the addition of a candy cane rim (and it was fabulous, we might add).

2. Serving Sizes: Unlike another book we used to try holiday-themed cocktails that called for almost all batch serving sizes, this one’s recipes were for one or two imbibers at most. This was great for us because we really only wanted to make one of each so we could try them.

3. Variety of Recipe Types: We thought there was a good mix of different types of cocktails—shaken, stirred, built, hot, cold, etc. There’s something for every mood.

4. Taste of Recipes: Every recipe we tried from this book was absolutely delicious and very unique.

5. Variety of Skill Levels: Although there are a lot of simple recipes in this book, there were also several more involved ones, which makes it a great pick for beginners and more advanced bartenders alike.

6. Liqueur Recipes: Finding a recipe book that included homemade liqueur recipes was a first for us! We haven’t used any of them yet, but it was neat to read through them to learn how we could make liqueurs at home.

7. Conversational Quality: The author of this book seems to be very knowledgeable and is a very good writer. Reading this book felt like we were sitting by a fire with her just chatting about cocktails. Plus, she quoted Archer in the Hot Peppermint Patty recipe’s description, so that earned her even more cool points from us.

8. Design & Illustrations: The book is beautifully designed with illustrations of most of the drinks weaved between the recipes. Kendall often used them as inspiration for the color palettes in our photos of the cocktails.

What We Disliked

1. No Photography: The only downside of a book like this one that uses illustrations instead of photography is that it makes it hard to know if your cocktail looks correct. We often found ourselves googling the drink before we photographed it to ensure accuracy, but that wasn’t possible for some of the originals, so we just had to cross our fingers that they looked right.

2. Difficulty of Locating Ingredients: This happens with just about every recipe book we use, but some ingredients were impossible for us to find in western Wisconsin. When it did happen, we subbed in other ingredients, so it wasn’t a big deal. Just something to keep in mind if you don’t live in an area with major retailers.

3. Seasonality of Recipes: This book features very seasonal recipes, so we aren’t likely to reference it all year long like we do some of our others. We will dream about making them once the holidays roll around again.

Who Should Buy This Book

Sale
Winter Warmers: 60 Cosy Cocktails for Autumn and Winter
Winter Warmers: 60 Cosy Cocktails for Autumn and Winter
Hardcover Book; Davis, Jassy (Author); English (Publication Language); 144 Pages – 09/01/2020 (Publication Date) – HarperCollins (Publisher)
$10.39 Amazon Prime

In our opinion, Winter Warmers: 60 Cosy Cocktails for Autumn & Winter by Jassy Davis is best for readers who:
 Love trying delicious holiday-themed cocktail recipes
 Want holiday recipes they can drink again and again during the season
 Enjoy cocktails that are served hot
 Are interested in learning more about making dessert-style cocktails

This post contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission each time you purchase a product using our links. Product images sourced from Amazon Product Advertising API. Amazon affiliate links last updated on 2023-06-06.

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