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 sixty 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 New Year’s Eve.
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
Here’s what we liked about this cocktail recipe book:
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).
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 only wanted to make one of each so we could find out if we liked them before making another.
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.
Taste of Recipes: Every recipe we tried from this book was absolutely delicious and very unique.
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.
Liqueur Recipes: Finding a recipe book that included homemade liqueur recipes was a first for us, and we thought that was a cool addition. We haven’t made any of them yet, but it was neat to read through them to learn how we could make our own liqueurs at home.
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 chatting about cocktails. Plus, she quoted Archer (a favorite tv show of ours) in the Hot Peppermint Patty recipe’s description, so that earned her even more cool points from us.
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
Here’s what we didn’t like as much about this cocktail recipe book:
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 once they’re made. We often found ourselves googling the drink before we photographed it to make sure it looked right, but that wasn’t possible for some of the originals, so we just had to cross our fingers and hope we made them correctly.
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. That’s just something to keep in mind if you don’t live in an area with major retailers.
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
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
Over the last few years, we’ve tried holiday cocktails from several books, and this one is still hands-down our favorite. It truly is a wonderfully curated collection of holiday-themed recipes that will have you coming back for them when the holidays roll around again each year. And even though Alex tends to forgo dessert drinks in general, which is what many of the recipes included in Winter Warmers are, he agreed with Kendall that essentially all of them were delicious, respectable, and worth making again whether it’s just for us or for family and friends at holiday parties.
Our Favorite Cocktails
These are the recipes we liked most from this cocktail book:
Falling Leaves: A rye cocktail made with Amaro Montenegro, toasted fig syrup, chocolate bitters, and an orange slice
Sugar Cookie Cocktail: A vanilla vodka cocktail made with amaretto, Irish cream liqueur, heavy cream, simple syrup, and sprinkles
Nuts & Berries: A fall cocktail made with bourbon cream liqueur, hazelnut liqueur, raspberry liqueur, and grated nutmeg
Hot Peppermint Patty: A low-proof cocktail made with milk, white peppermint schnapps, dark crème de cacao, white crème de menthe, cocoa powder, whipped cream, and grated chocolate
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