Embrace the winter spirit with these cozy cold-weather recipes.
Salut! I’m Kendall, the cocktail connoisseur and geeky drinks enthusiast behind Novel Nightcaps.
Over the years, I’ve taste-tested my way through an ever-growing library of cocktail books—exploring everything from timeless classics to modern riffs and seasonal creations. Somewhere along the way, I found my niche in geeky drinks: the ones inspired by fandoms, literature, pop culture, and fantasy that invite a bit of magic into the glass. Now, whether I’m recreating an author’s fictional concoction or unearthing a past bartender’s oddball experiment, my favorite part of bartending is diving into ingredient pairings with unique origin stories, making them fun to revisit again and again.
Here within my recipe archive, you’ll find hundreds of cocktails I’ve tried (and some originals I’ve developed myself), complete with tasting notes, techniques, and honest reviews—all written for fellow imbibers who appreciate a well-crafted drink and the history behind it too.
Cheers,
Check out a few of my highest-rated cocktail recipes.
A Star Wars cocktail inspired by Darth Vader that evokes the shadows and fire of the Sith Lord using a prickly pear syrup layered with
The Brancolada is a rum-based tiki cocktail recipe that was created by Jeremy Oertel at Donna in New York City, New York. This variation was
A liqueur-based cocktail recipe created by Michael McIlroy at Attaboy in New York City, New York
A whiskey-based cocktail recipe created in 2021 by former bartender Alex Sukopp of Sips From Scripts
The Greena Colada is a rum-based tiki cocktail recipe that was created by Alex Sukopp, former bartender of Sips From Scripts. It is named for
A wine and brandy-based cocktail recipe created by Chrisy Toombs in Phoenix, Arizona
Get geeky with these cocktail recipes inspired by fictional worlds.
Learn how to make homemade simple syrups, shrubs, and spreads to use in cocktails.
Find out what I thought of different cocktail recipe books as I tasted my way through them.
