Looking at all the other reviews for the Grog Log, I see nothing but five stars awarded to this nifty little book, and I am not going to break with precedent.
For the uninitiated, "tropical", "exotic" or "tiki" drinks are part of a subgenre that the more snobby elements of the cocktail world would refer to as kitsch. A succesful mainstream cocktail book presents itself as emmaculately as a James Bond tuxedo (see Dale DeGroff). A successful tiki drink book on the other hand presents itself as a hawaiian shirt. The hook however, is that a good tiki drink is no less sophisticated as a mainstream cocktail...and truth be told...it is usually more complex.
Unlike some of the other tropical drink recipe books, Grog Log is no frothy collection of colorful cocktail photos with some syrup-heavy recipes thrown in. Instead, like good tiki bartenders, Jeff Berry along with Annene Kaye have created a sophisticated concoction. Grog Log is equal parts (1) overview of the tiki drink movement, (2) reproduction of the uniquely crude, tacky, and delightful visual style of the classic tiki bar era, and (3) substantive recipes of the drinks themselves. This last element sets this book apart from others as "THE" authority on tiki drinks (along with its companion volume "Intoxica").
For the most part, to fully appreciate these recipes, you need to have a taste for rum and preferably a liking (or love) of citrus fruits. Fear not, because after sampling an authentic Mai Tai, it is hard not to meet both requirements.
Finally, at the time I write this, the book appears to be out of print and is fetching some high prices in the used market. Again fear not: as an FYI, Beachbum Berry states on his website that: "Our publisher plans to reprint the Grog Log [and Taboo Table] this summer." Get more detail about Beachbum Berry's Grog Log.
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