This Book Can Turn Anyone Into a Cocktail Genius

The thesis behind The Book of Cocktail Ratios is simple but powerful: As author Michael Ruhlman says early on, “Most cocktail recipes, even more than food recipes, are fundamentally defined by their ratios, rather than by a unique combination of ingredients.” Duh, you’re probably thinking. Anybody who has ever made a cocktail from a recipe knows this. Indeed, it’s something that was ingrained even in me, early on, when I—like many amateur home cocktail-enjoyers in my generation—first read Death & Co.: Modern Classic Cocktails. A great bartender, though, a book does not make, which is why slinging a quick Boulevardier is about the extent of my ambition and skill. 

Whether you’re like me (aka barely qualifying as an amateur) or a pro working in bars six nights a week, Ruhlman’s ideas in The Book of Cocktail Ratios are refreshing, and will definitely demystify something about the cocktail process for you. “As an organizing principle in this book, I identify five primary ratios, or cocktail families, along with some miscellaneous cocktails that don’t fit neatly into a ratio but are worth ordering or mixing.” This essential cocktail guide is sort of the bartending version of learning the scales as a musician—if you can boil everything down to a few basic laws and learn to riff from there, that’s where real creativity and improvisation begin.

Ruhlman began to explore these ideas, which he picked up as a student at the Culinary Institute of America, in his 2010 book, Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, which “breaks down all of cooking into twenty-three ratios—proportions of ingredients that give us stock and cake and biscuits, pasta and sausage and chocolate sauce.” Like bread, he points out, a Manhattan cocktail basically always starts from the same point: two parts bourbon, one part sweet vermouth, and bitters; all “craft” specials and idiosyncratic versions of the drink can more or less be reduced to those numbers.

The real meat of this book is the explanation of and variations on five main cocktail families: the Manhattan, the Negroni, the daiquiri, the margarita, and the martini. A great many classic cocktails and modern sips are based on these fundamental ratios. For example, the Gimlet is actually a gin-based daiquiri variation that uses two parts gin and one part lime juice cordial (or lime and simple syrup), which is clearly an offspring of the daiquiri’s two parts rum, one part lime juice, and one part simple syrup; the Old Pal is equal parts rye, dry vermouth, and Campari, a riff on the Negroni’s classic 1:1:1 gin/sweet vermouth/Campari combo. 

When I picked up this book, I’d originally planned to use it to see if I could create my own unique cocktail. The experiment was short-lived. I began by making a Negroni, just to ensure my palate was in the right place (I hadn’t had one in probably four days, so it felt necessary to have a little refresher). Then, I started thinking about the Manhattan. I wondered what I could do to create an interesting riff on it. I love Scotch, so what if I do a Manhattan with Scotch? I thought. Believing wholeheartedly in my own genius, I told my girlfriend about this drink. “That’s a Rob Roy,” she said. I made another Negroni and gave up on trying to invent my own cocktail—but thanks to this book, I feel like I get it.

What makes The Book of Cocktail Ratios so highly readable (it also features delightful illustrations) is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s not preachy or pretentious, and has no real feelings about what the process of making cocktails should look like (outside of following a few basic rules, which is true in any practice). Ruhlman’s writing is funny, engaging, extremely informative, and is peppered with a ton of great info. You’re bound to pick up many awesome facts and tidbits even after a casual read or two. He gives solid recs for bar tools and ice trays, glassware, and brands of amaro. (Mad respect to anybody willing to admit that OXO rules, big ice cubes are great, and Fernet-Branca is important.) Ruhlman’s book is one of the more readable and gripping cocktail volumes I’ve encountered, mostly because he isn’t trying to show off his knowledge of how mezcal is made or evangelize this or that unique spirit or bitter; no, this is a chill book for people who simply love good cocktails and want to distill their knowledge to some fundamental concepts. 

TL;DR: The Book of Cocktail Ratios is a home bar essential, and overall, an extremely interesting book offering a deep grasp of the basics of a ton of classic cocktails. It will leave you feeling empowered to pull them out of your pocket at any moment, or to work to come up with your own interesting variations. If you’re looking to hone your skills at making clarified cereal milk or rhubarb-infused gin that uses a sous vide, this book may be too basic for you; but if you’re just a Negroni head looking for some fantastic and approachable cocktail theory, you’re in the right place.

Pick up The Book of Cocktail Ratios on Amazon.

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