With Free the Tipple (2018), Art Boozel (2021), and Dressed to Swill (2022), Jennifer Croll has established herself as the de facto master of the homage cocktail. Diving deep into each subject, Croll susses out each person’s passions, what they stand for, their worldly contributions, what makes them iconic, and distills (pun intended) all their elements into a representative cocktail.
Continuing in the same vein as Free the Tipple which showcased cocktails inspired by women across a variety of disciplines, Croll’s newest book, Buzzworthy, focuses on fifty female authors, both old guard (such as Jane Austin, Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf) and new school (such as Sally Rooney, Amanda Gorman, Rupi Kaur). Buzzworthy doesn’t just focus on literary fiction authors (though they do comprise the majority of the book), but highlights women authors who write poetry, genre fiction, graphic novels, (which is extremely appreciated), and non-fiction.
Croll uses an introductory approach to not only present authors to readers, but to the art of mixology as well. The beginning of Buzzworthy gives a run down on equipment, ingredients, and measurements, providing all the key instructional components for readers regardless of mixology skill level to consult in order to realize all the cocktails presented in the book.
Each recipe in Buzzworthy contains an ingredient and measurement list, instructions, and also a short biography about each writer along with the rationale behind the recipe. For example, Terese Marie Mailhot’s cocktail is berry-centric, using a berry syrup with strawberries and blueberries for garnish, which corresponds to her memoir’s title, Heart Berries. Her cocktail is actually a mocktail, using Lyre’s American Malt faux-bourbon as its base spirit. Creating a non-alcoholic drink aligns with Mailhot’s biography that mentions her alcoholic father.
There’s a total of fifty cocktail recipes to explore in Buzzworthy that run the gamut of simple to complex in difficulty, using a variety of spirits, but also plenty of mocktail and low ABV options as well. An example can be found in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s cocktail which calls for grenadine, lime, lemon, and orange juices, bitters, club soda, and a shot of Campari. This is a fizzy and fresh drink with the bitterness normally found in Campari-forward drinks being greatly subdued. With so little alcohol there’s no burn, making a pleasant, long-sipping experience.
The Amy Tan is another Campari cocktail that takes a hint of inspiration from a daiquiri by using white rum, simple syrup, lime juice, and muddled raspberries. The ruby red colour gives this drink an elegant appearance while its fruity aroma projects a candy smell, like a liquid Jolly Rancher. The white rum (Flor de Cana used for this article) muddled with the raspberries are a perfect combination.
Aside from the Pisco Sour, there’s not too many pisco-centric cocktails out there, so it is a treat to see Shelia Heti’s homage cocktail that uses pisco, muddled basil, lime juice, and simple syrup. In essence a gin-basil smash, this libation comes through extremely crisp, the basil almost straying into mint territory. Another smooth cocktail with a wine-like aroma notes from the pisco.
Buzzworthy concludes with a reading list suggesting one to a handful of publications of each author along with a one sentence overview and/or synopsis.
The illustrations by Rachelle Baker that correspond to each author and cocktail are fun to look at and perhaps on the chic side. Each author is represented accurately but in a stylized fashion while each cocktail illustration provides an end result for experimenting readers to shoot for. The beginning of Buzzworthy has a piece that features an orange cat with a white blaze that is adorable to look at and it’s a shame the feline didn’t make an appearance at the end of the book to, well, bookend it.
While the illustrations depicting each author are fantastic in their own right, the best art piece in Buzzworthy is the second cat piece that shows two fashionable ladies toasting with cocktails they just made. This illustration is so fun with a few hidden gems in it, such as the aforementioned orange/white blaze kitty peering at an open copy of Buzzworthy which was no doubt consulted by the two women to make their libations. This piece sums up the entirety of Buzzworthy: creating cocktails, honoring (author) women, and having a fabulous time doing so.
I’ve reviewed Croll’s prior cocktail book, Art Boozel, which can be read here: “Museum Quality Cocktails: Jennifer Croll’s Art Boozel.”
For more information about Buzzworthy check out the links below: