Sam Slaughter’s cocktail book, Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum? ($12.99, Andrews McMeel), is only enjoyable if you have a sense of humor and lived during the ‘90s. It is gimmicky in all the good ways, loaded with neon graphics and nostalgic Saved by the Bell fonts and patterns. At 128 pages, the book is small enough to sit behind the bar without getting in the way.

(You can purchase Sam Slaughter’s book, Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum? here.)

Slaughter’s book meets the requirements for a cookbook: an introduction, list of tools and glasswares needed, technique how-tos, and what is needed to build your perfect bar. What Slaughter adds to Are you Afraid of the Dark Rum? are chapters on building the perfect ‘90s playlist with three suggested lists, and nostalgic ‘90s drinking games. These two chapters are what set the tone for the book:, it’s meant for themed parties and ‘90s kids.

There are 46 recipes, all with throwback names like Hey Arnold Palmer and The Fresh Mint of Bel-Air, with VH1 pop-up video style trivia in the recipes. Some of the drinks look great – clean and refined cocktails. My favorites are The House of Painkiller (pg. 73) and Kimmy Gimlet (pg. 39), standard recipes true to the origins of the cocktail they are inspired from. But, some recipes look like they were added for the sake of mentioning something iconic from the ‘90s rather than being a solid cocktail. Maybe it’s because Nickelodean-esque cocktails can’t look appetizing, like the Slimy Mary (neon green), Ghost-Busting Juice (thick neon green), and the Blue Da Ba Dee Da Ba Dyed (artificial blue).

Slaughter also uses a lot of dad jokes, which isn’t a bad thing but gets repetitive at times. I caught myself getting frustrated because I just wanted to get to the recipe, but quickly remembered that this book is for fun and shouldn’t be taken seriously. And that’s the beauty of this book: it’s like a mini intervention to our overworked, severe anxiety, taking life too seriously state of minds. Slaughter is saying, “Hey, slow down!” He is forcing us to have fun and to remember what it was like to be a ‘90s kids, and to enjoy those memories as adults.

Do I think this book is for everyone? No, because Slaughter is really targeting us 30-somethings. Is this a book that you’ll use regularly? Probably not, unless you throw a lot of themed parties. But it’s a great book for nostalgia, and a great book for gift giving. —Justin Burke-Samson  

 

Disclosure: The links above are affiliate links, which means Unpretentious Palate earns a small commission on any sales of the items above. Since nearly everything is available on Amazon these days, this has no influence on which items we feature.

 

Unpretentious People Say...

Other Articles You Might Enjoy