Clair McLafferty Author's Facebook Author's Instagram Author's Twitter Author's Website Title: Food and Cocktail Expert Education: Birmingham-Southern College, University of Virginia Expertise: Food, Cocktails, Recipes Clair McLafferty is a freelance food and cocktail writer whose former work has appeared in AdWeek and The Washington Post. She is also a former food writer for Better Homes & Gardens. Her two books, Romantic Cocktails and The Classic & Craft Cocktail Recipe Book, provide a mixology reference for creating cocktails at home. Clair has also written for Tales of the Cocktail Foundation online, and has worked with Lunazul Tequila to host cocktail demonstrations and classes. Currently, she works as a data scientist.HighlightsTrained and experience bartender skilled in mixing cocktailsAuthor of two different mixology cocktail recipe booksFood and cocktail writer for Better Homes & GardensCocktail mixer and demonstrator Experience Clair spent more than a decade working as a cocktail expert and is a former food and cocktail writer for Better Homes & Gardens. After quitting her office job in 2013, she began a journey of crafting her own cocktails, which resulted in recipe development and writing for several publications. However, Clair’s writing is not limited to cocktails—she has also written about music, weddings, advertising, food science, and data science. She is the author of two different books that feature her own craft cocktail recipes and continues to demonstrate cocktail mixology for small classes. Skilled equally in writing and science, she began a new career in data science where she interpreted data to predict, for example, patterns in Crohn’s disease, COVID-19 data, and fraudulent behavior. Education Clair attended Birmingham-Southern University and the University of Virginia. About Better Homes & Gardens Better Homes & Gardens, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is the only iconic home brand with a 100+ year history of providing trustworthy and achievable ideas for all doers and home-enthusiasts. We are the go-to resource for fresh takes on home, food, and gardening—inspiring people to bring their dreams to life at home on special occasions and every day. BHG reaches 45 million readers each month. Learn more about us and our editorial process.