Cocktails & Perfect Party Drinks

Written by Susy Atkins

This little book is a bible for party planning. It’s also filled with the kind of fun and frivolity that you only tend to experience at a particularly brilliant party. Before you even get as far as the introductory page, Susy Atkins urges the reader to be “generous” with measures for the occasions in the book where she has not specified exact numbers. Atkins advises on the social ritual of drinking throughout the book, whether you’re throwing a small gathering or an all out party, which refuses to abate until the sun comes up.

Cocktails and Perfect Party Drinks brims with tips on the kind of cocktail paraphernalia you need, how to make decent ice-cubes, garnishes and of course, those delectable cocktails themselves. If you’re throwing a dinner party, Aktins has plenty of tips when it comes to matching wine with food, and gives the slightly neglected notion of an aperitif a well-earned dusting off. If you’re having a Julia Robert’s Pretty Woman moment, and quivering with terror at the prospect of table etiquette, fear not – this book tells all. How many glasses? Which kind? How to hold, swirl and quaff your drink of choice? Susy Atkins knows, and let’s you in on her knowledge like a sophisticated aunt – the kind who drinks Champagne just because she feels like it.

That’s not to say that this little gem of a book is filled purely with expensive and obscure items that you’ll never find in your supermarket. Atkins’ main aim is to get you to enjoy yourself, so whether your preference is wine, cider, beer or even a soft drink, there are oodles of ways to serve them up, and plenty of tips to boot. Just about every occasion is covered, from dinner parties and weddings to hen nights and ‘dry’ christening teas. If you’ve never taken that much care with what you’ve served up to friends and family in the past, this book is likely to change that – if not with it’s wealth of information, then with it’s infectiously gregarious and companionable tone.