So fun and pretty! I loved the theme of the book and enjoyed the beautiful drinks. This would be a great addition to a public library collection.

This was interesting!!!! Will definetely be changing up my home bartending! If you need to add some zing to your home bar this is the cocktail book for you.

4 interesting, creative, inspiring, gourmet stars~

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for providing a digital ARC for review!

I was super intrigued right off the bat by the cover - lighting cocktails on fire ftw!

So getting right into it, this is a very interesting and more advanced compendium of cocktails, including re-makes of famous cocktails from some popular shows such as "The Simpsons" and "The Office" - can I get a "One of Everything" please? [IYKYK :)] Fisher also creates "improved" versions of some of these infamous cocktails as well as spins on ones we are all familiar with.

I found his recipes that involve infusions very interesting! I learned a lot of new techniques and ideas. I also really enjoyed his tutorial on creating "injected" cocktails - ones in which a cocktail is injected into an ice ball. Very tempted to give that a try!

I recommend this book for the cocktail connoisseur or inspired mixologist.

This is the perfect book to help you learn enough about mixology to start creating some crafty cocktails of your own as well as help you give old classics a new twist. I really appreciated the information that explains what works together in a cocktail and I was excited to get started with some Happy Hour at Home cocktail creations after reading Cocktail Chemistry. A great book for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of libations.

The recipes and pictures of the different cocktails are very cool. It's a great concept to have special drinks inspired by different characters. The hot chocolate and butterbeer recipes looked delicious.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book to read. The opinions given are all my own.
I have recently started mixing drinks at home, so when I saw this book I was quite intrigued by the title. I am always up for learning more about the "hows" and "whys" of how something works. And for that, this book was great! I loved that the author talked about the interactions of ingredients and how and why certain pairings work (for example the difference between lemon juice and lime juice and how lemon pairs better with brown spirits and lime pairs better with clear spirits). Fisher also explains how to best use sweet, sour, bitters, and salt. He even provides templates and recipes for the readers to try. The introduction also explains equipment, bar tools, glasses, and how and when to use each item. This book is quite informative and would be great for those new to the cocktail world, as well as those who have been mixing for years. In this book the recipes are inspired by modern culture. For example there is a White Russian from The Big Lebowski, a martini from the James Bond movies, as well as drinks featured in Mad Men, The Simpsons, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Game of Thrones, The Office, and even Harry Potter. Now, for me, it was obvious that the author and I have different tastes in movies and TV shows as the only ones I'm familiar with was Game of Thrones and Harry Potter. However, I still enjoyed the introduction at the start of each drink, and the drinks themselves stand on their own (which is what this book is all about after all). The author also gives several different variations for each cocktail, and explains certain terminology (like the language of the martini: Dry, Dirty, etc.), which was nice. I tried the White Russian from The Big Lebowski, and also a Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned. I admit to being influenced into buying a few new ingredients so that I could try some of the other recipes. I mean I just HAD to try the AMF, which a variation on the Long Island Ice Tea using blue Curacao. The look of this drink is amazing, and it tasted really good, also. So while I was ever-so-slightly disappointed that I didn't get all the movie references (and that's on me), I can't hold that against this book, which provided me with a lot of great information, as well as fun new recipes.. Definitely worth the read!

While this book says its tv/movie themed cocktails, its a great overall learn how to make cocktail book. The pop culture inspired recipes are a great inclusion, my favorite being the child from the mandalorian. Will be buying this book and trying them all out.

What a fun and fantastic way to re-orient yourself and not only a variety of cocktails, but the science behind the tools, the glassware, and the basic ingredients.

This year a group of friends and I have really gotten into diversifying our palette when it comes to mixed drinks and cocktails. In addition we are huge Movie goers, I love anything that pairs well with the movie. As part of our hundred movie challenge of the year, these were a great addition to creating cocktails that fit our movie bill.


I think my favorite part was the exploration of the glassware. Recently and I inherited a variety of cocktail glasses, and bar ware for my grandfather. Glassware varieties from coups, brandy glasses, pub cups, and martini glasses have made it fun to serve up these amazing cocktails.

This book in particular, did a great job of photos, and step-by-step variations of some well-known drinks. I also really appreciated the simple steps in the beginning of the book to help you set up some of your own home made mixers.

This was a fun read! Full of interesting recipes. This book would be a perfect coffee table book or addition to a bar cart. A great conversation starter. Would recommend as a gift for someone who is a cocktail enthusiast.

`This book has a detailed explanation of drink making ingredients, tools and processes while providing a series of recipes of some of the most iconic drinks served on screen. I was unfamiliar with the world of mixed drinks but wanted to learn more. It was a great beginner's guide for me.

This amazing collection of cocktails is SO much fun! I loved all the pop culture references and the pictures are fantastic. I will definitely be pairing some of my books with these cocktails in the future!

As a Chemical Engineer and Cocktail fan, this book was wonderful. It had me making some drinks and using techniques that I had never tried before.

Well written, any fan of mixed drinks I think will enjoy this book (I may be planning on getting it for a friend for Christmas already). My only complaint is I wish I had some of the tools that they used in the book, and that this could be a book that you slowly work up to doing all of the mixes.

What I didn’t try, that I would like to, is to make these drinks as Mocktails (there are some companies working on new non-alcoholic versions of alcohol all the time) as a way to really work on some of the techniques without the alcohol. Some of us work or, you know, just need a lot of practice and don’t want to pay for the alcohol… that stuff isn’t cheap. At least, the good stuff isn’t.

If you are thinking about getting this book and you enjoy cocktails, pick this thing up and try something. It is an experience, and the author has done his homework supremely well.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved learning the science behind cocktails and food products. I also love the creation of fictional drinks and what other drinks in the real world are like it!
The instructions are easy to follow, and I loved the gorgeous full color photos!

This book approaches cocktails from a novel viewpoint: the author begins each section with a cocktail from pop culture and provides a recipe for that drink (some are more drinkable than others!), then provides recipes for other drinks that improve on the original recipe, are riffs on the original, or share some kind of technique or component. The photos are lovely and the format easy to follow; I also enjoyed the author's writing style. The recipes range in difficulty from simple (equal parts everything, stir or shake) to complex (i.e. special equipment required). I especially liked the Apple-tini from Scrubs, the Thanksgiving-tini from How I Met Your Mother, and the Old-Fashioned from Mad Men. I do wish the focus had been spread around a bit (there are 4 recipes inspired by The Simpsons and multiple drinks from Archer) but overall it's a great addition to cocktail book libraries.

This is a fun book on cocktails to add to your repertoire of recipe books and cocktail making. It also adds some facts about pop culture and movies, along with related techniques. It starts with some necessities for your home bar, and the first recipe comes from James Bond. Great pics. I enjoyed the book.

I learned a lot reading this book and will probably buy copies to give to all of the pretentious cocktail people I know (I know too many pretentious cocktail people actually)

Cocktail Chemistry is a fun and modern collection of bar recipes with lots of fun pop-culture references curated and written by Nick Fisher. Due out 17th May 2022 from Simon & Schuster on their Simon Element imprint, it's 208 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.
This is a really solid bar book full of twists on traditional recipes. The recipes are arranged thematically, by reference to show/movie (including James Bond, Iron Man, The Avengers, The Simpsons, Mad Men, The Office, and so many more). There is a very short abbreviated introduction with an overview over basic bar equipment and tools, but the author does presuppose a base level of familiarity. There are lots (and lots) of very basic introductory tutorials online, so the book's emphasis is on the recipes. The photography is beautifully rendered and adds a lot to the appeal of the book. I also liked that the author does a whimsically competent job of explaining some of the science behind the interaction of the ingredients with each other (and with our bodies during and after consumption).

Each of the recipes includes an introductory description and yields, ingredients in metric measurements (ml) and American standard (oz), followed by step by step instructions. Variations and alternatives are provided at the end of the recipes. These are well made cocktails which don't take themselves too seriously. Some of the blending ingredients are exotic, colorful, and may be moderately difficult and expensive to source. Some are just weird (a pea sized bit of the red stripe from Aquafresh toothpaste O.0 ).

Many of the ingredients should be available at any well stocked grocery/liquor store although some might need to be sourced at specialists.

Cocktails are such a civilized interlude and this book includes a solid cross section of classics and variations on the tried-and-true basics to build mixology skills and impress one's friends at the next gathering.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The extent of my cocktail making is pouring some booze in a glass of fruit juice, so I am no expert. I wanted to read this book because of the word "chemistry" in the title. I have a background in chemistry and have worked as a chemist and chemistry teacher. There are bits of legitimate chemical principles (and other physical science) in this book. Don't worry, this is not a heavy duty chemistry text. You need no prior knowledge of chemistry to use this book.
The book is beautifully illustrated and full of great recipes for drinks and special additions to cocktails such as flavored foams and syrups. If I were to take up making cocktails, I would definitely try some of the recipes in this book. They look delicious!
I have never seen this author's YouTube channel or other social media, but I will probably check it out.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Picking up Cocktail Chemistry was actually a mistake on my part because I failed to read the subtitle. I love my copy of Liquid Intelligence, and thought that it would be rife with experiments and explanations along those lines. My taste in cookbooks runs toward readable yet informative niche areas rather than glossy contemporary compendia. I tend to keep my cookbooks forever, so I buy evergreen books that will stand the test of time rather than trendy books that won’t make sense in a few years. The same is true of my preferences for cocktail books. My current favorite happens to be Kara Newman’s book on equinox cocktails (Shake. Stir. Sip.) because it is so straightforward, easy to use, and timeless. Instead, Cocktail Chemistry is organized around drinks primarily drawn from 21st century pop culture, as the author didn’t start becoming a cocktail enthusiast until 2008. Fortunately, my mistake turned out in my favor.

Like any decent cocktail book, the introductory material in Cocktail Chemistry
starts with the cursory overview of bar tools and then progresses to a similarly brief overview of glassware. Finally, there is a section on basic cocktail components - sweet, salty, sour, bitter. I did learn a new trick in the recipe for simple syrup: adding a tablespoon of vodka to the cooled syrup will extend its shelf life in the refrigerator. And the scientific tidbit about why lemon pairs better with brown spirits and lime pairs better with white spirits was interesting as well. The obligatory section about the difference between shaking and stirring a cocktail was included in the James Bond martini chapter rather than the introductory material.

After the first twenty or so pages of introductory material, the book is divided into twenty-two recipe chapters, each based on a cocktail from a well-known movie or television show. The chapters lead with a recreated version of a cocktail, which is followed by two or three more cocktails in the same “family.” The cocktail families are loosely interpreted - Manhattans, loaded cocktails, layered cocktails, hot chocolate cocktails - rather than traditionally identified by the primary base spirit. But I would assume that it would be easy to find a cocktail with a specific base spirit by referencing the Index (which was absent from the advance reader copy).

Within the chapters, the recipes are mixed with explanations of why/how things work, such as how does clear ice get made, why does a clarified milk punch work, and why does a layered cocktail work. Most sections have a very breezy and informative tone; however, there were a few areas that got to feeling “smarter than thou” in their didacticism. And every so often, a recipe will also pick up an obnoxious tone of superiority as well.

Overall, I recommend this book for anyone whose interests lie in the sweet spot of the Venn diagram that links 21st century pop culture and modern mixology. It’s comprehensive enough to stand alone on the bookshelf behind the bar, but niche enough to supplement a burgeoning collection of classic and contemporary cocktail books.

I have yet to make any recipes from this book; the advance reader copy was so poorly formatted in certain places that it made those recipes unintelligible. However, I look forward to seeing that corrected in the final published version.

I received this book as a digital advance reader copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Simon Element, S&S/Simon Element for providing me an advance copy of Nick Fisher’s cocktail recipe book, Cocktail Chemistry, in exchange for an honest review.

Cocktail Chemistry is a compilation of cocktail recipes that involve the art and science behind the drinks from iconic movies and TV shows. Although I am not familiar with it, the book blurb says the work is based on the author’s popular YouTube channel for which it is named.

The author dives in immediately with a quick summary of how he became enamored with cocktails. He also provides a brief explanation concerning the standard bar tools/materials to construct an at-home bar and to understand what is needed for many of the recipes.

The glossy pictures that accompany some of the cocktails are gorgeous and high-quality, even in the digital edition of the book. I especially liked the descriptions and fun facts included as part of each cocktail recipe. The most interesting component, however, was how the author explained some of the science behind how to make certain elements of a drink, such as the blue foam to top of the infamous Black Yukon Sucker Punch cocktail from Twin Peaks.