The Home Bartender: Mezcal and Tequila is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I'm usually the cocktail maker in our house. My husband and I love trying new craft cocktails when we go out, but I'm always guessing at recipes to recreate them at home. This book is packed with so many great recipes, from margarita variations to more creative cocktails, and the colorful photos make it all the more fun to use. I am a huge tequila fan and usually cocktail books only include 1 or 2 margarita or paloma recipes for tequila but not this book. There are loads of recipes in here and each one is laid out in an easy to follow format. The instructions are super clear, with ingredient photos for every recipe and full color cocktail photos for many of them. In this house the Orchard Margarita was a hit, perfect for fall, and I’m already planning to make the Dark Wings for Halloween!
If you love tequila or mezcals and craft cocktails I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley & Cider Mill press for the advanced digital copy

This book had many wonderful drink recipes and such great information.
The illustrations were also so well done!

As a tequila drinker, I love this book! Divided into the Classics, Fruity Fun, Perfect Party Pleasers, and Mezcal cocktails, you will definitely find a drink to please you. I’m looking forward to trying some of these delicious sounding drinks.

I am always entertaining and looking for new drinks to amaze my guests with and this was such a fun book filled with a little bit of everything for anyone. I can't wait to try them at my next party

I loved how easy the table of contents was to navigate. It was broken down so you could easily search for what you are in the mood for

I loved that it had your every day cocktails, like a magarita, to your more fun cocktails that no one has heard of.

super fun book!

This book rocks. I have a Tequila lover for over 10 years. So I was really excited to see what this book was about. It opened my eyes to new recipes and Tequilas I want to try. It had a worth of information that was both new and interesting. I can't wait to share some of the drinks and information at my next dinner party.

This book contained over 100 recipes featuring ideas to improve your cocktails and drinks. He explained how the best cocktails can be made with simple ingredients. You can either shake or stir them together. He included some bar tools must haves and nice to haves. He touched on glassware and the differences. He explained in simple to understand terms the difference between mezcal and tequila, categories of tequila and the differences, reposado, anejo, and extra anejo. He enclosed a recipe on how to make simple syrup in a saucepan. The book had ideas for the classic margarita, budge margarita, tequila sunrise, rude cosmopolitan, long island express, tequila lemonade, coconut margarita, end of the lime, apple pie margarita espressarita, and much more. You can either make them frozen or just by mixing ingredients together.


I loved all of the different flavors and how you can either spice it up or keep it fresh. There are tons of wonderful recipes in this book that I can’t wait to try. I really liked how he had colorful pictures to show off the drinks. It also had a helpful picture of the ingredients and the glassware suggestions. I can’t wait to try some of these new recipes. You can really make these your own. This book will be a hit with having friends over.




“I received this book free from Cider Mill Press for my honest review.”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

The Home Bartender creates amazing cocktail books and this one is no exception.

Easily to follow recipes, simple instructions that help making great cocktails so much easier to do.

Love the graphics and the plethora of cocktails made from the two liquors.

I highly recommend checking this book out if you're into cocktails made from these spirits.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cider Mill Press and Shane Carley for giving me an ARC of this wonderful book!

"The Home Bartender: Mezcal and Tequila" is an absolute gem for anyone passionate about mixing up vibrant cocktails at home! The recipes are a fantastic blend of classic favorites and fresh, inventive twists that will keep you coming back for more. What really sets this book apart, though, are the stunning photos—they're so lively and colorful, they practically leap off the page, making the drinks look as delicious as they sound. It's the kind of book that not only inspires you to try every recipe but also makes the whole process feel fun and exciting. A definite must-have for any cocktail lover!

This book is a tequila lovers dream! I thoroughly enjoyed reading and re-reading this one. I jotted down the page numbers of the cocktails I would like to try, which was many! I prefer reposado, however after reading this book I bought an anejo to try with some of the recipes and have found that I enjoy it as much or more than the reposado! If you enjoy a good tequila cocktail I would definitely recommend this book for you! Enjoy!!

#NetGalley #TheHomeBartenderMezcalandTequila

I didn't love this book. My husband is a big tequila and mezcal fan, so I'd hoped to broaden our repertoire. While there were a few recipes we are intrigued by, many contain seemingly strange combinations (not to mention flavours we have trouble associating with tequila and mezcal). Before you get on my case, have you ever mixed mezcal with creme de menthe? I didn't think so...

We joked that this book would be perfect for a suburban "margarita" party where guests were more interested in pretty, sweet drinks with umbrellas in them. If that is in fact what you're hoping to find, this book is a great option for you! If you're looking for recipes that are spirits forward, with subtle flavours to highlight the smokiness and bitterness, this book is not what you're looking for.

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Cider Mill Press for providing me an advance copy of Shane Carley’s #cocktail book, The Home Bartender: Mezcal and Tequila, in exchange for an honest review.

#TheHomeBartenderMezcalandTequila is an ode to tequila cocktails, mixed with a smattering of mezcal-based recipes in between. The recipes go beyond your standard margarita variations (though it has those too!), and contains both classic and unique twists on drinks that may not traditionally use these spirits, but when swapped, blend well with the flavor profiles.

One gripe I have with #cocktailbooks is that many tend to be too short, often serving as coffee table fodder due to myriad of glossy photos. While this book also has gorgeous and glossy photos, it is longer than average and filled with over one-hundred cocktail recipes, which cannot all be found in a quick online search. Most importantly, it doesn’t take hours of reading or scrolling to reach the ingredients and process. Like the introductory recipe for simple syrup, short and sweet.

The book opens with a brief summary of the basic tools and glassware required for cocktail-making, and provides an overview of categories of tequila and the differences between tequila and mezcal—beginning with the apt adage, which many tequila connoisseurs are familiar, all tequilas are mezcals, but not all mezcals are tequilas.

The recipes are divided according to one of six intelligible sections, which range from classics to outside the box-tails, consisting purely of ingredients, steps, the recommended drinkware, and a one sentence blurb to introduce the recipe. Happy to see a full chapter dedicated to Mezcal!

A few more sentences about the history of each recipe would have been a nice touch, but the extra content might have skewed the formatting for those using e-reader apps to view a single cocktail. The current format fits perfectly within a mobile screen.

To conclude, I’d rate it four overflowing ¡Saluds!

This cocktail cookbook has SO many yummy recipes that are easy to follow! Perfect for fans of tequila and mezcal.

My fiance and I are excited to make these:
-tequila tropic
-pineapple leap
-esspressarita
-frozen tequila refresher
-frozen pineapple margarita

Thank you NetGallet, Cider Mill Press and Sahne Carley for an ARC of this cookbook!

I’m not a big drinker but basically the only alcohol I like drinking is tequila, so when I saw this book I was really excited for the opportunity to learn about different drinks I could try besides a basic margarita. I love that it explains so much about the different things you NEED for the recipes and things that you don’t need but would be nice to have. I also appreciated that there were pictures of everything because I absolutely judge a book by its cover (or a drink by its glass presence). With so many recipes this is sure to keep anyone busy for a long time trying new things to find their favorite/signature drink.

Beautiful photos and easy to follow recipes combine to make the perfect how-to guide for tequila lovers everywhere!

I really like the book since it has great pictures and gives you an amazing overview over what you can do. The recipes are simple and I like the descriptions with pictures and that they’re easy to follow. There are plenty recipes and variations of one drink which can give it a new twist.

This was the BEST drink book I've read. My husband and I love to find new drinks to share and this was just so well done! I absolutely loved this book!