Supernatural Join the Hunt: The Official Cocktail Book Review

Castiel: “I found the liquor store and I drank it.”

If you couldn’t tell from my story about the Family Business Beer Company family reunion, I’m really a beer drinker at heart. I love the hops, the malted grain, and the experience of that first bubbly sip of a chilled beer on a hot summer day. Being from Texas, this all makes sense.

But I’m now a Tex-pat (think expat, but with a more obnoxious sense of self-importance around the state of Texas), so that means it’s not always blisteringly hot outside. That, plus my husband’s launch of his rum distillery, has led me to appreciate the joys of a well-made cocktail. What better way to put my new love for spirits to use than by reviewing the Supernatural: The Official Cocktail Book?

Over the winter holidays, we had a few friends over and roped them into trying some of the easier-to-make drinks. All of the recipes have clever names and well-balanced ingredients. What I categorize as “easy to make” really means, “I already had almost all these ingredients in our liquor cabinet.” I do want to note that as someone married to a distiller, we have an unusually large collection of spirits, bitters, and other cocktail ingredients. This is probably not the case for most drinkers, and that is my one negative take on the cocktail book. There are very few three-ingredient drinks included among the pages, which I found frustrating. For some of the libations I wanted to try, it meant an extra trip to the upscale liquor store to hunt for the more unusual ingredients.

Now, without further ado, here’s an abbreviated review of the five cocktail recipes I tested out with my first run!

Still Kicking/Dean Winchester

Just like Dean himself – Am I right?

I thought this was a perfect 3-ingredient cocktail. Definitely the easiest to make, and way too easy to drink too much. Just make sure to use high quality ginger beer that has a bit of bite in it (like Fever Tree).

Millionaire

This prohibition-era cocktail feels perfectly at home in the MOL bunker. Unfortunately, I think some of the ingredients have changed since the 1930s because this drink was too sweet for my palette. I tried adjusting the flavor profile by using a drier brandy, but the Crème de Mure (blackberry liqueur) is quite sweet.

Baby’s Own

Based on the ingredient list, I was extremely skeptical to try this one. A gin fizz, which is a pretty typical cocktail, uses egg whites but I’ve never seen something that uses a whole egg. We chickened out and just used the egg white. It made for an extremely creamy cocktail with a good balance of flavors. One recommendation: Make sure to use a dark rum with a strong flavor profile that will shine through.

God Said No

The flavor profile is somewhere close to a dark & stormy cocktail, but with more complexity of flavor. We didn’t have any amaretto at home, so we substituted Nocino (black walnut liqueur). I think that added to the similarity to Coca-Cola, while providing that nutty profile the drink called for. I will absolutely be making this one again in the future!

Cheerful Bootlegger

I made this drink for my sister-in-law, who loves a fancy cocktail but doesn’t really want to taste the liquor. This one did not disappoint! It was a great introductory cocktail for her that also uses some pretty neat chemistry. Butterfly pea flowers, when turned into a tea or infusion, produce a deep blue syrup. But once you mix that with an acid (like lemon or lime juice) the color changes to a vibrant purple. This is the science behind Empress Gin’s color-changing properties.

If you’re not a big drinker, I still think this book is a fun experience. Did I mention that all the drinks named after angels are alcohol-free? So you don’t even have to be a drinker or over 21 years old (in the US) to experiment with some of these drinks.

Even better yet, the very last section is a collection of recipes for “bar food” like fried pickle chips and chili cheese fries. I have yet to crack the food recipes yet, but Bobby’s Hunter Chili is calling my name… 

Still not sure if the book is for you? Peak at the recipes for a “Purple Nurple” and a “Bacon Burger Turbo” that Alice Jester shared in her Preview of the Supernatural Official Cocktail Book to help you decide! Then, get the book yourself and tell us what delicious creations you make! 

And if you need rum for any of these drinks, check out Chicago Cane Cooperative and tell them I sent you!