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The Home Bartender is perfect for anyone looking for an easy peasy cocktail book. The cocktails have 4 ingredients or less (some are 5 if you count the garnish). The ingredients themselves are pretty normal, so if you have a basic bar, you wont have to hunt down a whole lot of specialty ingredients. <I had to add one bottle to my collection – strawberry vodka.> But, there’s all kinds of different drinks in here. The measurements are different from most books. Instead of ounces, he uses parts. One part lime juice, two parts rum…. I used an ounce as the unit for all the wet stuff. He does mention that if measurements are your jam, a dash is about 1 teaspoon and a splash is about 1 tablespoon. That works for liquid measures, but when he says a dash of cinnamon, use a tiny quick shake, not a teaspoon!

I wanted to share a fun drink with you, the Quickslide. It’s a mudslide for impatient people. LOL! I wish I would have had this recipe 20 years ago. My husband and I loved sipping on mudslides as we watched our favorite movies when we were newlyweds. It’s such a nostalgic, smile-inducing cocktail for me.

A huge thanks to Cider Mill Press for letting me share it with you! I’ll finish telling you about the drinks we tried and show you my pics after the recipe.

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Quickslide

The Mudslide is a popular cocktail, but it’s a little bit complicated. The Quickslide distills this classic drink down into a simple, easy-to-make cocktail that imparts the same great flavors you’ve come to expect from its more involved cousin. The Quickslide is perfect for large batches, whether you’re serving guests at a backyard BBQ or just looking to cool down on the beach.

1 part vodka
1 part coffee liqueur
1 part cream liqueur <I used Bailey’s>
Ice (as desired)
1 dusting cocoa powder (garnish)

Glassware: Cocktail glass

1. Add the vodka, liqueurs, and ice to a blender. If you are using 1 ounce of each ingredient, 1 cup of ice will suffice. Note: Using more ice will create a thicker cocktail, and less ice will create a lighter cocktail.

2. Blend to desired consistency.

3. Pour the resulting mixture into a cocktail glass.

4. Garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder. <The first time I made this, the cocoa powder didn’t want to line the rim nicely. The second time I cheated and rubbed salted caramel on the rim and then dipped it in dark cocoa powder. All the yes! DO EET! ~Jen>

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The rest of my review….

The Home Bartender
By Shane Carley
Format: Hardcover

My thoughts and pics of the drinks we tried:
1) Strawberries and Cream – p 28. Gorgeous flavor, and true to the title! Strawberry vodka, vanilla vodka, heavy cream, and a splash of grenadine. Mine wasn’t quite as pink as the one in the book, so I cheated and added a few drops of food coloring. Because cute.
2) Quickslide – p 77. Dang. I laughed when I saw it. It’s a mudslide for impatient people. He nailed it!! 
3) Liquid Apple Pie – p 52. Perfect fireside cocktail. So simple and so good. Warm apple cider, vanilla vodka, brown sugar, and a cinnamon stick.
4) Mocha Mocha Mocha – p 67. A simple milk based cocktail with lots of different chocolate and coffee notes. My hub used a vanilla vodka instead of a regular one for a flavor bonus.
5) Salty Mutt – p 166. Nice sour drink with grapefruit and cranberry juices.
6) Cuban Coffee. Cuban rum, coffee, sugar, and cream liqueur (we used Bailey’s). Delicious brunch coffee cocktail. It packs a punch. In his photo, the cream is on top. I used a spoon right over the surface to pour it, thinking it was meant to float, but the cream went to the bottom, and it looked like part of the coffee floated.
7) Gin Pom Pom – p 184. Beautiful gin and pomegranate juice cocktail. The muddled mint leaves add such a fresh pop to it.
8) Vodka Negroni – p 73. Vodka, Campari, sweet vermouth, and crème de menthe. I did more of a spill of crème de menthe than a splash, so mine looks like a Halloween cocktail. LOL! You’ll do better. Cool taste, though.
9) Your Tai – p 89. White rum, dark rum, and curacao. This is supposed to be orange, but we had blue curacao rather than the regular one. There’s no juice or anything mixing with the booze, so it was a little strong for me, so I’d probably squeeze a little orange juice into mine next time. My husband loved this.

EDIT: January 2019. If you buy the book, be sure to make this one! 10) Maple Creamer – p 135. This is fantastic. Perfect cozy creamy maple sipper for frozey-toes weather. I scored the Christmas Vacation glasses in an after Christmas sale at Bed Bath & Beyond. Niiiiice.

Some others I have flagged to try: * Pear Pressure – p 63 * Banana Cream Pie – p 94 * Cidermeister – p 102 * Royal Rum Bowl – p 131 * Maple Creamer – p 135 * Orange Martini – p 151 * The BFG – p 199 * Tequila Sunrise – p 216 * Baha Lemonade – p 228 * Bourbon Sweet Tea – p 297 * Bourbon Ice Cream – p 307 * Jam Session – p 308 * Pumpkin Pie Tea Latte – p 346

*I received a copy to explore and share my thoughts.

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The Home Bartender