The Art
of Hosting
Fifty batched cocktails.
One relaxed host: you.
The Art of Hosting teaches you to prepare spectacular cocktails for a crowd — hours or even weeks ahead — so that when your guests arrive, all that's left to do is pour.
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THE TRAP EVERY HOST KNOWS
You know how to make one great cocktail. You've mastered the shake, the stir, the perfect dilution.
Then six people walk through your door. Or twelve.
Making one perfect cocktail is an art. Making twelve, one by one, while trying to hold a conversation, check on the oven, and introduce your friends to each other... is a trap. You spend your own party behind the kitchen island, shaking drinks until your arms ache — while everyone else is making memories in the living room.
A perfectly executed cocktail served by a stressed, absent host will always taste a little bitter.
WELCOME TO BATCHING
Do the work before the doorbell rings.
Batching is how professional bars serve hundreds of flawless drinks a night — and it works even better at home. This book teaches you the complete method: the math of dilution, the science of storage, freezer-door techniques, and 50 recipes engineered to be prepared entirely in advance. When the party starts, your only job is to pour.
1
Pour in 10 seconds
Every drink is finished inside the bottle. No shaking, no measuring, no mess.
2
Impossible to get wrong
Precise gram-based measurements and pre-calculated dilution lock in perfect balance.
3
Be at your own party
The technique buys back your evening. Your guests will remember you, not your bartending.
INSIDE THE BOOK
One evening, seven chapters, fifty recipes.
The book follows the arc of a real party — from the first welcome drink to the last glass of the night. Each chapter is a hosting scenario, color-coded and complete.
01 — The Science of Volume
— The batching method: weighing, dilution math, storage, syrups at scale
02 — The Icebreakers
— 13 sparkling pitchers and welcome drinks, ready the second guests arrive
03 — The Main Event
— 13 bottled, spirit-forward cocktails for the dinner table — pour and sit back down
04 — The Nightcap
— 12 dark, luxurious closers: fat-washing, freezer Martinis, smoked infusions
05 — The Clear Mind
— 12 zero-proof creations with real structure — because true hospitality leaves no one behind
06 — The Pantry
— 26 homemade syrups, infusions, cordials and washes, organized by technique
07 — Beyond the Glass
— The philosophy that ties it all together
50
recipes
26
homemade preparations
176
pages
0
special equipment required
A LOOK INSIDE
Designed like a book you'd keep on the shelf.
Bauhaus-inspired design, original illustrations for all 50 recipes, and a layout built for the kitchen: every recipe on a single page, every technique explained once and referenced everywhere.
Seven color-coded chapters guide you through the evening.
Every recipe: one page, one original illustration, one Recto Verso tip.
The Pantry — your personal flavor library, organized by technique.
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
The Passionate Amateur
You already love the craft. You want the techniques the pros guard: milk clarification, fat-washing, oleo saccharum, precision dilution.
This book gives you the full method — measured in grams, explained without jargon, achievable in a home kitchen.
The Frequent Host
You love having people over — you just don't love being trapped in the kitchen. This book is your exit: prepare everything ahead, serve drinks that look impossible, and actually sit down with your guests.
Most readers are a little of both. The book was written for exactly that person.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aurel is the founder of Recto Verso Mixology and a mixology educator based in Paris. His approach: true hospitality is not about showing off bartender tricks — it's about creating an environment where the host is as relaxed and present as the guests. The Art of Hosting is the second volume in his modern mixology series.