What Membership and Premium Offer on Difford's Guide, and How to Get Started

Updated

Difford's Guide separates free browsing from account-based tools and a paid Premium tier. You can explore the cocktail database, spirits directory and editorial content without logging in, but saving recipes, building cabinets and lists, rating drinks, and accessing Early Access Content require an account, and Premium is a further subscription level. The site shows "Log in" and "Join & Subscribe" alongside a "Premium" link, so treat free browsing, free account features and Premium as three distinct layers rather than assuming everything is open.

What you can do without an account

The public side of the site is substantial. From the homepage you can reach:

  • Cocktail Finder — search roughly 22,700 recipes by ingredient, style, rating or bartender.
  • Cocktail of the Day and Cocktail Hall of Fame, plus lists such as 20 Best, Top 100 Cocktails, Modern Classic Cocktails and 3 Ingredient Cocktails.
  • Cocktails Made Easy and How To Make Cocktails for technique.
  • Beer, Wine & Spirits search and directory, including new products.
  • Bars (Find A Bar), Makers, People, Events and Competitions.
  • Shop and the site's books, including Difford's Guide to Cocktails, 18th edition (3,081 recipes with photographs, 656 pages).

A useful free tool is the "What can you make tonight?" prompt: you tell the site what's in your bar and it shows matching cocktails.

What an account adds

Logging in unlocks the personal side of the site. The navigation lists these account areas:

Area What it holds
Your Cocktails Recipes you add, plus collections
Cabinets Your ingredient/bar inventory
Preferred Brands Brands you favour
Custom Ingredients Ingredients you define yourself
Your Lists Favourites, Wish List, Tried & Liked, Didn't Like, Must Try
Ratings and Comments Your ratings and comments on recipes and products
Community Recent Discussion, your comments, badges

In practice, an account turns the site from a reference into a working bar log: you record what you own, what you've tried, and what you want to make next.

What Premium and Early Access Content signal

The site links to a Premium membership page (/membership/premium) and lists Early Access Content in both the main and account navigation. The available material confirms these exist as membership offerings but does not state the price, billing terms or the full list of Premium-only features. Check the Premium page directly before subscribing, and don't assume Premium is free or that it removes all limits.

How to get started

  1. Open diffordsguide.com and use the top navigation. If you only want recipes, go straight to Cocktail Finder or 20 Best — no login needed.
  2. To save anything, select Join & Subscribe (or Log in if you already have an account) and create your profile.
  3. Once signed in, populate Cabinets with the spirits, liqueurs, beers and wines you actually own, and add Custom Ingredients for anything missing from the database.
  4. Use Cocktail Finder or the "what's in your bar" prompt to generate matches, then save results to Favourites, Must Try or Tried & Liked.
  5. If you want Early Access Content or the Premium tier, follow the Premium link and review the terms on that page before paying.

Expected result: after step 3–4 you should see cocktail suggestions filtered to your own shelf, and your ratings and lists should persist between visits.

Common sticking points

  • JavaScript: the site warns that JavaScript must be enabled; without it, search and interactive tools won't work.
  • Account vs. subscription: creating a login is not the same as Premium. If a feature appears locked, check whether it sits under Early Access Content or Premium rather than assuming your login failed.
  • Empty cabinets: the ingredient-matching tools are only as good as what you enter, so add your bottles before judging the results.
  • Recipe volume: with over 22,000 recipes, use filters (style, rating, ingredient) rather than browsing the directory.