The best Juices & Smoothies books: Reddit reviews

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Buy a copy of the Smuggler's Cove book and go from there.

If you really want to get into making tiki drinks, you should buy the Smuggler's Cove book to get a good grip on what you're doing. The book also has recipes for most of the common syrups in the back. It is under $20 on Amazon, so it costs about the same as a decent bottle of rum.

Before you go buying a bunch more rums, you need to get a copy of Martin Cate's Smuggler's Cove book. The chapter on the different types of rums alone is worth the price of the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324

Rum wise, you need something Jamaican. I would recommend Appleton. Smith and Cross can also be fun. Overproof also gets used frequently; Plantation Old Fashioned Traditional Dark (OFTD) is popular.

Personally, I would also consider my copy of Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki to be essential.

My wife bought me a copy of <em>Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki</em> when coronavirus started. We’ve really enjoyed making tiki drinks. If you have visited r/tiki yet I recommend it!

I'm a newbie also. I've started out with apple juice. I just bought a bunch from costco and went from there. It might be a bit easier as it's pasteurized from the factory and you don't have to deal with microbes and the such that would be on the skin of apples.

If you go with apple juice, make sure that it's only preservatives is vitamin c.

Also a good place to read up is this book. I read it first before making my first cider.

https://www.amazon.ca/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730

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I'm getting this book for a few whiskey drinking friends:
The Essential Scratch &amp; Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All

If he's already a whiskey connoisseur, then this could be seen as a bit childish, but I think it's still a hilarious gag gift.

EDIT: Then pair the book with a nice sample pack of different international whiskeys.

Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki is pretty much our bible. https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324

Also get the Total Tiki app, which will give you tons of recipes and show you what you can make with what you have on hand. https://beachbumberry.com/publications.html

With those two you'll pretty much have everything you need.

I'll actually say that you might want to spend a little on picking up a good book about tiki, like Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki. It's worth it for the recipes alone, but the chapter on rums is pure gold. You'll learn that "light" and "dark" don't really mean anything.

Other's here have recommended Cocktail Wonk's blog, and that's a good place to learn, as well.

You're actually on the right track. Too many people jump into tiki and buy hundreds of dollars worth of ingredients that end up gathering dust. Go slow, and add as you need, and as you find a new drink you want to try making.

I'll echo that a good book like "Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki", $16 on Amazon, will give you recipes, rum tips, and some cool fun history. But if you can get to a tiki bar to taste a few basic drinks (I agree with Mai Tai, Painkiller, Daiquiri), that will help you know what it's supposed to taste like. Let us know where you are and we can recommend the best nearby tiki bar.

When syrups go bad, they usually grow mold. It won't make you sick, but it'll taste yucky. You'll be able to tell because the syrup will get cloudy or have things floating in it or smell like vinegar. If you keep your syrups in the fridge, you can definitely keep them more than 2-3 months. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I have a bottle of Liber & Co. orgeat that I opened Sept. 26th. Still good because I take it out, use it, and immediately put it back in. (Pro tip: write the date you open it on the bottle.) If you're making your own, sanitizing the container will make the biggest difference. (Boil for 5 minutes.) Your Monin syrup is likely still good, but it may be getting "tired" and losing flavor. I too recommend Liber & Co. for syrups. (https://www.liberandcompany.com/) Join their "Cocktail Club" and sign up for their newsletter and you'll get coupons and discounts. You can also find a lot of syrups on Amazon, but I find they tend to be cheaper direct from the companies.

Welcome to the fun! Enjoy!

Not OP but Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold is one of my absolute favorite books. He really pushes the boundaries in this one. Here is him making a Daquiri, and he explains the importance of water management in frozen cocktails.

My mom and brother are really good cooks and live for America's Test Kitchen, the show, cookbooks, magazines, website, etc. They have my their baby and toddlers cookbook and I really like it. Everything from purées to finger foods with tips and suggested products to help.

The Complete Baby and Toddler... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1492677671?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Ground beef, salmon, small amounts of rice, fruit like banana and strawberry, plain cheerios, tater tots or cauliflower tater tots ... I have a LO exact same age as you and the kid is already eating me out of house and home lol there's a cook book I bought on amazon that has purees and finger foods and whole meals

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1492677671?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend this book

https://www.amazon.com/Taco-Cleanse-Tortilla-Based-Proven-Change/dp/1615192727

I am being a little tongue-in-cheek, but I also followed it for a week and it expanded my taco palette considerably.

This may seem like out left field, but everyone I see Smuggler's Cove I think of this book. Check it out if you wanna learn how to make good tiki cocktails.

Over the past two years I have really been getting into rum and tiki drinks. This book changed my life https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324

My favorite is also one of the most simple, the daiquiri

juice of one lime, 0.5 oz demerara syrup (a 2:1 mixture of demerara or brown sugar and water), 2 oz light rum (My go to is plantation three stars, cheap and delicious. Can also go with plantation's stiggings pineapple rum for a more complex flavor).

Shudders in a Whisper

GLASSWARE Large (22-ounce) brandy snifter

3/4 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce SC Passion Fruit Syrup (page 325) 1/2 ounce natural pear liqueur (such as Mathilde Poire) 1/4 ounce Drambuie liqueur 2 ounces seltzer 2 ounces column still aged rum (4) 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters 1 dash Angostura bitters

GARNISH Edible orchid and mint sprig

Add all of the ingredients to a drink mixer tin. Fill with 12 ounces of crushed ice and 4 to 6 small "agitator" cubes. Flash blend and open pour with gated finish into a snifter. Add garnish.

Amazon Link to Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607747324/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_AHRR3B2GYWH1BAZRR654

They sell rusted scrap metal thats been welded into dinosaur sculptures and you do not have enough of them.

Alternatively, buy smugglers cove, get into tiki drinks, and add some tiki style.

Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607747324/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VZ23920QC2BCN4ND9142

This is the best bar book there is. You said money is no object and that is good because you will need to buy a lot of different rums from astorwines.com or somewhere.

I have found that this one is my favorite, and most thorough of the 3 that I have bought. Lots of information on the underlying methods, and seemingly solid recipes, or at least better ones than the other's I have gotten. Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159193947X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1

A clear 1¼" cube has a tactile difference to a 2½" cube? Funny, they feel the same to me.

Read Liquid Intelligence to learn about chilling and dilution. The cocktail should be finished before our choice of ice becomes an issue. If you're relying on large format ice to chill longer than a Kold Draft, the cocktail is way overdiluted and long past the point of any quality experience. Perhaps try serving smaller cocktails? The 2½" cube has 6x the volume. It dumps a lot of water into the cocktail as it melts.

The only reason to use large format ice is presentation. It looks pretty, no doubt. But with greater than 3x the energy use and the increased cost and time investments required to maintain a craft ice program, our resources are better allocated elsewhere. The large format ice is as pretentious as mustaches and garters.

Lay Off the Artisanal Ice, You Ignorant Hipsters

I wonder if it's a shipping thing? Glass is much heavier, takes up more space, and more prone to breaking during shipping, so I imagine it costs more to ship and the "premium" foods can't absorb the additional cost.

I went with a combination of store bought pouches and home made puree. I bought The Complete Baby and Toddler Cookbook from America's Test Kitchen, they have a ton of great puree recipes (and it goes way beyond purees, so it doesn't become useless once your baby 'graduates' from purees). I'd make like 4 different recipes at a time and just freeze it in ice cube trays, then transfer to a freezer bag. We also kinda did baby led weaning, but super relaxed (I didn't even read the book, lol). Whatever works to keep him fed with the least amount of thinking on my part is what I went (and still go) with 🤣

How about Smugglers Cove?

The short answer is that the single thing that catalyzed my journey into Tiki was the book "Smuggler's Cove", by Martin Cate. My wife gave it to me for Christmas the year it was published, and I loved it. I couldn't put it down, and almost immediately began acquiring spirits and making the recipes.

The longer answer is that Tiki checks off a lot of boxes for me, as far as intersecting with my interests and tastes, so the seeds were there. I enjoy cocktails, love making things, cooking, the mid-century aesthetic, vintage stuff, the theater and ritual of cocktail making, etc., etc. Essentially all I needed was something to bring it all together and point me in the right direction, and that's what Smuggler's Cove did.

Rum gets very confusing lol great book that explains it is Smugglers Cove but even then they all could vary soo much

Zaya 12 is great in mudslides btw!

Actually, there’s an amazing book for making baby food according to your baby’s age! We have it on our baby shower registry. You’d like it, I think. :)

The Complete Baby and Toddler Cookbook: The Very Best Baby and Toddler Food Recipe Book (America's Test Kitchen Kids) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1492677671/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_BRT4P66GRS7SGG09YKNG

It’s made by the creators of America’s Test Kitchen! So you know it’s good stuff. Heheh.

Smugglers Cove has a nice Rum section in the book and categories them together.

https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324/

For sipping I like El Dorado 15 and Rhum JM VSOP

"Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki" is the best $17 you will spend if you're serious about learning more about tiki and rums: https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324

Product Link (Gift ideas catalog - Android app - Shopping Saga)

Yeah, not bad.

Simple Syrup - it's not bad, you just paid for something you can make in under 5 minutes. 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, heat until sugar dissolves (but don't boil it, you'll make candy).

Orgeat - sorry just no. "INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)". Get a bottle of Small Hand Foods or Liber & Co. next and you'll see an amazing difference.

Bacardi - It's serviceable, but an upgrade will really kick your cocktail game up.

Appleton 12 - very nice.

Meyers - Again, serviceable. Nothing special.

Angostura - excellent. You should also pick up a bottle of Peychaud's Bitters.

Falernum - Fee Bros. is O.K. The gold standard -even if it gets some flack - is John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum.

Curacao - Again, serviceable, but your next bottle should be Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curaçao

Actually, before you buy another bottle of anything, spend some cash on the book Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki (https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324). Make this your tiki bible!

It’s super easy! I got this kit and was off and running immediately.

Jack Keller has a book about making fruit wine at home in small batches. He’s a little more scientific than me but it’s loaded with recipes and was a fun read. Best of luck!