Hyper Drinks book author Angelos Bafas shares the story behind his new cocktail guide, a collection of 89 original recipes inspired by local ingredients, seasonal produce and simple techniques.
How would you summarise HYPER Drinks?
The book is a collection of 89 original recipes created over 5 years by my team using local, seasonal ingredients and simple techniques to create delicious drinks. HYPER is the first book ever to talk British provenance in the bartending world and I had envisioned the book as a spark that will ignite a bartender’s interest about local produce, seasonally sourced and also will take away the “stress” of the modern bartender to use the fancy, expensive equipment, as HYPER proves that delicious, award-winning drinks can be made just by having access to local, seasonal ingredients.
What was the impetus for you to write the book?
I had started work on a manuscript back in February 2020, so it appears that a book with my recipes was in my mind. However, it was the opening of Nipperkin in 2023 that gave me the push to start putting these recipes on paper. As I am saying in the book, “ I had the recipes, I did not know how to put the words down”, especially as I am not a native English speaker; however, once I started, it was a very enjoyable experience.
I also felt a lot of cocktail books don’t focus much on the produce, but predominantly to elevated techniques and often showcase recipes that they can’t be reproduced in an average bar by a regular bartender so I wanted to go the other way and offer something simple with understanding of produce and in depth analysis of ingredients, but also provide some insights on how and why using local produce can help on a more sustainable greener future and can also enhance the sense of community within the bartending world and local people and farmers.
LINK TO PRE-ORDERS: https://ungarnished.co.uk/hyper-drinks
HYPER drinks is available on pre-order and will launch on 1st of April 2025.
Who is it for?
Pretty much for everyone. From the high-end bartender to the average home-making enthusiast. This book is created so the recipes can be replicated by anyone, anywhere. All the recipes are super simple and the most extreme piece of equipment is a hob and a pan. I wrote this book with myself 10 years ago in mind, when, as a novice bartender I wanted to pursue a bartending career in a small city in Greece, and I was thinking that without equipment, I couldn’t create any good drinks.
HYPER drinks is a book about flavour and produce, so it is the ideal book for anyone wanting to deep dive into the importance of terroir and how great flavour can be achieved through very simple techniques and ingredients
Why is this book important to you?
This book is more of a personal journal. It is a diary of experiences, anecdotes and recipes that I created throughout my career, so it is technically my personal bartending story.
It is also very important for me, as my goal is to raise awareness amongst bartenders for the importance of local produce and seasonal ingredients. I believe that bartending can have an impact on society and community, and HYPER drinks can be a way to create it.
And now having been through the process of publishing a book is there anything that stood out for you during the process?
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the process. English isn’t my first language, I was anxious about my ability to put down my thoughts on paper in a way that worked for the reader. What happened was that my text and then, as a result, the design, became a very natural flow of how I think, the questions I ask and the answers it creates.
I was also able to work with a great editorial and production team who knew me well. They knew the brief, “make it look sexy and out of the box”, the materials, editing and design are superb, they did a great job.
Tell me something else I should know about the book.
All the recipes have been developed, refined and tested by me and my team, so I can vouch for every recipe. I wanted to make sure that every recipe is tasty and can deliver a great result for the reader.
I would also like to highlight our Flavour Replicas section which gives the reader so much flexibility and introduces great ways to achieve exotic, international flavour just using local ingredients. Flavour replicas is something I started playing with 3 years ago and I am still developing. For example, you will find in HYPER drinks a recipe for a Pear drink that delivers the aftertaste of a tonka bean; however, as tonka is not local to the UK, I am achieving this flavour with the use of foraged sweet woodruff.
And finally can you recommend any other persons that inspire you or resources you enjoy using.
Julia Momosé from Chicago is a great inspiration and owns Bar Kumico in Chicago (interesting link to a review of her book here), and Anthony Bourdain’s second edition of Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is a fantastic book. Julia was the person who gave me the final push to get the book over the line, and of course, Anthony Bourdain’s writing has been very inspiring for me.
HYPER drinks is available for pre-order and will launch on the 1st of April 2025.
