Episode 270: Being Writers, Authors, and Mixologists with Carey Jones and John McCarthy of Every Cocktail Has a Twist

Welcome to the latest episode of the podcast. I’m excited to be here today with an interview with John McCarthy and Carey Jones. John, a mixologist by trade, and Carey, a food and spirits writer, have been crafting cocktails together for many years. They were the co-authors of the "Liquor Cabinet Roulette" series on Food & Wine's website and are the authors of Be Your Own Bartender and the newly released book Every Cocktail Has a Twist. In this book, you will learn all about tools, tips, tricks, and recipes to reconfigure 25 timeless tipples, from Bloody Marys, Daiquirís, and Manhattans to Margaritas, Negronis, and old-fashioneds Whether you're a new enthusiast or a seasoned expert, these original riffs will transform your go-to drinks. Today on the show we talk about how writing a weekly column for Food & Wine provided the writing practice and recipe foundation for their books, a discussion about cocktails and how to approach this topic as a  home bartender,  tips and tricks for making drinks such as Blender Eggnog, No-Muddle Mint Juleps, and Pitcher Pimm’s, and party-sized quantities of a cocktail, and finish with their tips for aspiring writers/authors and their favorite beverage books. 

Before we dive into the show, Traditional publishers get a bad rap in a lot of writing circles. I hear them described as profit-seeking enemies who are out to steal our ideas or, worse yet, our souls. I have loved all of my publishers. They were partners in helping me create beautiful books so that I could share my recipes and stories with the world. And the team of editors, designers, layout experts, printers, photographers, indexers, marketers, and distributors they paid was amazing too. With traditional publishing, we, as cookbook writers, provide the recipes and stories, and publishers work the book magic. We become a cookbook concept machine, writing and cranking out book concepts and manuscripts, and our publishers create the books. If you want to learn more about publishing in this way, where you get published without spending any of your own money to edit, design, print, or distribute the book, head over to www.cookbookwritersacademy.com/free to learn more. So, without further delay, let’s dive into the interview with John and Carey.

Things We Mention In This Episode:

Learn All About How to Get Paid to Write a Cookbook

Connect with John and Carey online

Every Cocktail Has a Twist: Master 25 Classic Drinks and Craft More Than 200 Variations

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks

The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique

The Ice Book