Gaz Regan's 101 Best New Cocktails

Book excerpt: Over the course of the last 12 months, gaz regan received approximately 7,000 recipes sent to him by bartenders all over the world, and from these drinks he picked the 101 formulas that he deemed to be the very best of the best new cocktails for this book. The recipes chosen for this year's list came from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand, UK, and the Good Ol' USA. "There are quite a few surprises in this year's list," says regan. "Scotch has made great headways with cocktailian bartenders, for instance, after being all but ignored for the best part of this century." Other items to look out for include Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, Chartreuse, and Amari in many different hues and guises. "Putting this list together has become a great tool for me," regan adds, "since it gives me a clear picture of what's actually working out well behind the bars of the world. It's a snapshot of the cocktailian craft over the past 12 months" "[101 Best New Cocktails is] the best list of its kind," Francis P. Schott, co-owner of Catherine Lombardi and Stage Left restaurants in New Brunswick, New Jersey.