David Embury's birthday image

David Embury's birthday

The author of that seminal work, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, David Augustus Embury was born on this day in 1886 in Pine Woods, upstate New York. He

Difford’s Guide to Cocktails Book 17th Edition image

Difford’s Guide to Cocktails Book 17th Edition

Perhaps the world's biggest cocktail book! Certainly, our biggest yet, 624 pages, 6cm (2.3inch) thick and weighing 2.25kg (5lb). Our Seventeenth Edition

Silver Lining image

Silver Lining

More pale golden yellow than silver, but this tasty cocktail is a rye whiskey-based challenger to the Gin Fizz.

Maple Old Fashioned image

Maple Old Fashioned

A spirit-forward sipper that's rich and easy with bourbon mellowed by maple syrup.

Vanessa Polk image

Vanessa Polk

Cherry red, spirit-forward and dangerously quaffable as a late-night tipple.

One Sip Martini image

One Sip Martini

One sip is never enough of a really good thing – see our Three Gulps Martini.

Dry Martini No. 2 image

Dry Martini No. 2

My preferred five-to-one Dry Martini with a split base of gins and a splash of sherry.

Really Pear-Shaped image

Really Pear-Shaped

Brandy-laced apple and pear with hints of vanilla and lemon freshness.

Torino-Milano image

Torino-Milano

A bittersweet aperitivo. Don't forgo the garnish, as the hint of orange rounds this cocktail.

Harrovian image

Harrovian

This cocktail screams for richness, hence my choice of old tom gin instead of the dry gin in the 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book recipe.

Claret Cobbler image

Claret Cobbler

Fortified and slightly sweetened red wine, served cobbler-style with crushed ice.

Scorpion image

Scorpion

A fruity cocktail with a sting in its tail.

20 best Halloween cocktails image

20 best Halloween cocktails

All Hallows' Eve, the 31st of October, is spook night with bizarre costumes, trick-or-treat, pumpkin carving, apple bobbing and bonfires all the rage.

Lost Explorer Blanco No. 1 Tequila image

Lost Explorer Blanco No. 1 Tequila

A 100% agave blanco tequila produced by legendary Maestro Tequilero Enrique de Colsa and made with agave sustainably cultivated in the lowland valleys

Pistachio Martini image

Pistachio Martini

Some versions of this nutty vanilla altern'atini include Irish cream liqueur, but even a small measure of this detracts from the headline pistachio notes.

Blue Negroni image

Blue Negroni

As the name suggests, this is a blue-rinsed, orange-forward riff on a classic Negroni. If a six-ingredient Negroni seems over the top, try this simplified

Crusta cocktails image

Crusta cocktails

Crustas are drinks containing spirit, lemon juice, sugar and aromatic bitters. They are served in stemmed glasses or old-fashioned with a sugar crust rim

Brandy Crusta image

Brandy Crusta

This old classic zings with fresh lemon and is beautifully balanced by the brandy base.

Welcome to Difford's Guide

All editorial and photography on this website is copyright protected

© Odd Firm of Sin 2024