A spirited look at the history of alcohol, from the dawn of civilization to the modern day
Alcohol is a fundamental part of Western culture. We have been drinking as long as we have been human, and for better or worse, alcohol has shaped our civilization. "Drink" investigates the history of this Jekyll and Hyde of fluids, tracing mankind's love/hate relationship with alcohol from ancient Egypt to the present day.
"Drink" further documents the contribution of alcohol to the birth and growth of the United States, taking in the War of Independence, the Pennsylvania Whiskey revolt, the slave trade, and the failed experiment of national Prohibition. Finally, it provides a history of the world's most famous drinks-and the world's most famous drinkers. Packed with trivia and colorful characters, "Drink" amounts to an intoxicating history of the world.

Bourbon whiskey is perhaps Kentucky's most distinctive product. Despite bourbon's prominence in the social and economic life of the Bluegrass state, many myths and legends surround its origins. In Kentucky Bourbon, Henry C. Crowgey claims that distilled spirits and pioneer settlement went hand in hand; Isaac Shelby, the state's first governor, was among Kentucky's pioneer distillers. Crowgey traces the drink's history from its beginnings as a cottage industry to steam-based commercial operations in the period just before the Civil War. From "spirited" camp meetings, to bourbon's use as a medium of exchange for goods and services, to the industry's coming of age in the mid-nineteenth century, the story of Kentucky bourbon is a fascinating chapter in the state's early history.

Nicolas Joly is responsible for producing some of the finest and most highly esteemed wines of France at his Coulee de Serrant vineyard. Practising the biodynamic method of agriculture - sometimes referred to as 'premium organic' - he is at the forefront of a movement to return to the concept of terroir, as full expression and embodiment of a particular grape-growing locality, or appelation. Today even expensive wines, made under strictly regulated controls and standards, are tainted by the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and manipulated in the cellar through the use of osmosis and the additions of aromatic yeasts and enzymes. To counter such trends, a new 'Charter of Quality', run by organic and biodynamic viticulturists, guarantees that the appelation comes to full, authentic expression. To aid this process, biodynamic winegrowers like Joly use special planting methods and preparations that enhance and invigorate the soil, bringing it into harmony with the forces of sun, moon and cosmos to embed the vine in a rich, living context.

If you think that tequila can only be consumed as a slammer with salt and lime (with a chaser of the world's-worst-hangover), think again: Dan Jones is about to set the record straight. In Tequila: Shake, Muddle, Stir, Dan introduces readers to some rather grown-up and classy ways to consume this agave-based tipple. Starting with the basic kit for your home bar, and following with the best tequila- and mezcal-makers on the planet, you'll be shopping for your tequila kit like a pro. With more margarita recipes than you can shake a cocktail shaker at, as well as a glut of amazing tequila and mezcal cocktails you have never even heard of, this is a recipe book that will change your drink repertoire for good. Like a fine whisky, tequila should be sipped, savoured and enjoyed. With this in mind, Dan has curated over 40 tequila and mezcal recipes for the home mixologist. Featuring classics (and twists on classics) like an Old Fashioned, Tequila Sunrise and Juan Collins, to glorious new concoctions such as the Teqroni, Tequila Mockingbird and Bloody Maria, tequila will undoubtedly become your spirit of choice. Including recipes for DIY syrups, sours, infusions and more, Tequila: Shake, Muddle, Stir will show you just how versatile this underrated liquor is, and proves there is a tequila-based tipple out there for everyone.

There are many interesting drinks that have been lost to time, but some, such as cider, mead (which has been around since about 7000BC) and perry are reinventing themselves. This book explains where and when to find your raw materials and what sort of equipment you'll need. It includes delicious recipes that use common and less common fruits. It will also show you how to cut (expensive) corners without cutting corners on quality. Contents: About the author; Introduction; 1. The History of Brewing; 2. Apple Varieties; 3. Types of Honey; 4. Making Cider - Hawky's Way; 5. Making Scrumpy; 6. Making Your Own Infusions; 7. A Taste of the Middle East; 8. Making Perry; 9. Making Mead; 10. Making Beer; 11. Ireland on my Mind, and my Liver; 12. Making Country Wines; Index.

If you have a back garden, or even a sunny porch or balcony, you can grow your own hops, brewing herbs, and malt grains to enhance the flavour, aroma, and uniqueness of your home-brewed beer - and ensure that you have the freshest, purest, best ingredients possible. Simple instructions from experts Joe and Dennis Fisher guide you through every step of the process, from setting up your first hop trellis to planting and caring for your herbs, harvesting and drying them, malting grain, and brewing more than 25 recipes specifically designed for home-grown ingredients. This fully updated second edition includes a new section featuring colour photography of the plants, expanded information on growing hops in small spaces, innovative trellising ideas, an expanded section on malting, new profiles of prominent grower brewers, and up-to-date information on grain-growing best practices.

"How to brew, ferment and enjoy world-class beers at home."

Making beer at home is as easy as making soup George Hummel smoothly guides the reader through the process of creating a base to which the homebrewer can apply a myriad of intriguing flavorings, such as fruits, spices and even smoke. There are also outstanding and easy recipes for delicious meads, tasty ciders and great sodas -- all of which can be made in a home kitchen and with minimal equipment.

Using Hummel's easy-to-follow instructions and thorough analysis of the flavor components of beer, a novice homebrewer can design recipes and make beers to suit any taste or craving. Knowing exactly what's in a beer has additional benefits -- homebrewers can easily avoid the chemical additives traditionally found in mass-produced commercial beers. As an added bonus, the recipes are categorized according to their degree of difficulty, so new brewers can find the recipes that match their comfort level and then easily progress onto new skills.

These 200 tantalizing beer recipes draw their inspiration from the Americas and around the world. They include: Irish amber American/Texas brown California blonde Bavarian hefeweizen Multi-grain stout Imperial pilsner Pre-Prohibition lager Golden ale Scottish 60 shilling Belgium dubble German bock Raspberry weizen Vanilla cream stout Flemish red & brown Standard dry sparkling mead

There is also a comprehensive glossary that virtually guarantees readers will find answers to every question about ingredients and equipment. Packed with practical advice and effectively designed, "The Complete Homebrew Beer Book" is like having a personal brewmaster overseeing and guiding each creation.

In these fascinating interviews, winemakers from the United States and abroad clarify the complex process of converting grapes into wine, with more than forty vintners candidly discussing how a combination of talent, passion, and experience shape the outcome of their individual wines. Each winemaker details their personal approach to the various steps required to convert grapes into wine. Natalie Berkowitz speaks to winemakers from different backgrounds who work in diverse wine-producing regions, including Chile, England, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and the United States. They talk about familiar and unfamiliar grape varietals, their struggles with local terroirs, and the vagaries of Mother Nature. Some represent small family wineries with limited production while others work for corporations producing hundreds of thousands of bottles. Each individual offers rare insight into how new technologies are revolutionizing historic winemaking practices. The interviews are supplemented with personal recipes and maps of winemaking regions. An aroma wheel captures the vast array of wine's complex flavors and aromas.

Aimed at the home bartender, this book is a comprehensive guide to drinks and how to mix them. It begins with an overview of spirits such as gin, vodka and rum; liqueurs such as amaretto, Tia Maria and Chartreuse; wine, champagne and fortified wines; beer and cider; and syrups, coffee and chocolate. It then offers a fantastic range of drinks and cocktails, including all-time classics such as the Gin Sling, Screwdriver and Buck's Fizz, more unusual drinks such as the Barbarella, Blue Hawaiian and Loch Ness, and luxurious smoothies such as the Humzinger, Iced Mango Lassi and Citrus Tingler. Every drink you've always wanted to try is in this exciting volume.

'A handbook of classic cocktails essential to every host's repertoire' Vogue Want to master the art of mixology from home? Of all the skills you might acquire in life, learning how to make exquisite cocktails is the least likely to be a waste of your time. In this classic guide to cocktailing, writer, columnist and founder of 'The Spirits' newsletter - "a book club but for cocktails" - Richard Godwin offers over 200 delicious, inventive and accessible recipes. Beautifully written, laugh-out-loud funny and full of practical good sense as well as fascinating historical snippets, this little book contains everything that an amateur needs to up their cocktailing game - and increase the sum of human happiness. 'Simple to navigate and fun to read, it's the only book I reach for on a Friday evening. The weekend starts here.' Felicity Cloake 'I truly love this book. No one writes about drinks like Richard Godwin - I enjoy his prose as much as anything in the glass.' Marina Hyde 'The best, most elegant and most sparkling' cocktail book' Esquire

When George Washington bade farewell to his officers, he did so in New York's Fraunces Tavern. When Andrew Jackson planned his defense of New Orleans against the British in 1815, he met Jean Lafitte in a grog shop. And when John Wilkes Booth plotted with his accomplices to carry out a certain assassination, they gathered in Surratt Tavern. In America Walks into a Bar, Christine Sismondo recounts the rich and fascinating history of an institution often reviled, yet always central to American life. She traces the tavern from England to New England, showing how even the Puritans valued "a good Beere." With fast-paced narration and lively characters, she carries the story through the twentieth century and beyond, from repeated struggles over licensing and Sunday liquor sales, from the Whiskey Rebellion to the temperance movement, from attempts to ban "treating" to Prohibition and repeal. As the cockpit of organized crime, politics, and everyday social life, the bar has remained vital-and controversial-down to the present. In 2006, when the Hurricane Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act was passed, a rider excluded bars from applying for aid or tax breaks on the grounds that they contributed nothing to the community. Sismondo proves otherwise: the bar has contributed everything to the American story. In this heady cocktail of agile prose and telling anecdotes, Sismondo offers a resounding toast to taprooms, taverns, saloons, speakeasies, and the local hangout where everybody knows your name.

Since its first publication in 1920, George Saintsbury's classic "Notes on a Cellar-Book" has remained one of the greatest tributes to drink and drinking in the literature of wine. A collection of tasting notes, menus, and robust opinions, the work is filled with anecdotes and recollections of wines and spirits consumed - from the heights of Romanee-Conti to the simple pleasures of beer, flip, and mum. Thomas Pinney brings this unique work alive for contemporary audiences by providing the keys to a full understanding of "Notes on a Cellar-Book" in a new edition that includes explanatory endnotes, an essay on the book's legacy, and additional articles on wine by Saintsbury.

Sparkling wines, or champagnes, are synonymous with celebration and happiness. These festive wines have a charm and attraction all their own. The authors have spent decades exploring the techniques of sparkling wine production and discovering the secrets of producing champagne-like wine of superb quality. For any winemaker to be able to produce his or her own sparkling wine is one-upmanship to the nth degree! Yet it is perfectly possible. In this revised and updated edition, the authors share their expertise with you, and whether you are a beginner or an experienced winemaker, you will find this book contains all the information necessary to make your own sparkling wines.

In recent years there has been a rapid growth in the popularity of wines of all sorts. And although commercially produced wine has become less expensive, it is always a challenge to turn your own hand to reproducing the flavour and quality of commercial wines in your own home, using easily-obtained ingredients. Sauternes, Hocks, Moselles, Chianti, Madeiras, Champagnes and Liqueurs can all be made at home cheaply from easily available ingredients - are all possible with the help of this book. You can become a wine connoisseur on a shoestring budget! The line illustrations are all based on photographs from the Radio Times Hulton Picture Library.

Originally published in 1963, this was the first modern book on home brewing and was an instant success. Since then, the book has gone through many revised and improved editions and to date has sold 750,000 copies. This latest edition contains full instructions on how to brew fine beers and stouts of authentic flavour and strength. From palest lager to blackest extra stout, these are brews of which you can be proud. There is much more to the home brewing hobby than simply making up a kit; home brewers need to know the theory behind the techniques they use and how to devise their own formulations for any type of beer. This book is the ideal introduction to the subject.

In this book you will find many homebrew recipes which will allow you, the craft brewer, to make superb real ales at a fraction of the price of those that are commercially available. With easy-to-follow instructions, both beginners and seasoned mashers can quickly start brewing classics such as Flowers Original Bitter, Belhaven Sixty Shilling Ale, Whitbread Best Bitter, Castle Eden Ale, Wadworth 6X and Marston Moor Porter. All the recipes are based on information supplied by the breweries which, combined with your own skill and quality ingredients from specialist homebrew suppliers, will virtually guarantee superb resulting ales.

A captivating introduction to the world of fine whiskies, brought to you by bestselling author, restaurateur, bar-owner and world-class drinks connoisseur Tristan Stephenson. Tristan explores the origins of whisky, from the extraordinary Chinese distillation pioneers well over 2,000 years ago to the discovery of the medicinal 'aqua vitae' (water of life), through to the emergence of what we know as whisky. Explore the magic of malting, the development of flavour and the astonishing barrel-ageing process as you learn about how whisky is made. After that, you might choose to make the most of Tristan's bar skills with some inspirational house-blends and whisky-based cocktails. This fascinating, entertaining and comprehensive book is sure to appeal to aficionados and novices alike.

The craft of making moonshine-an unaged white whiskey, often made and consumed outside legal parameters-nearly went extinct in the late twentieth century as law enforcement cracked down on illicit producers, and cheaper, lawful alcohol became readily available. Yet the twenty-first century has witnessed a resurgence of artisanal distilling, as both connoisseurs and those reconnecting with their heritage have created a vibrant new culture of moonshine. While not limited to Appalachia, moonshine is often entwined with the region in popular understandings. The first interdisciplinary examination of the legal moonshine industry, Modern Moonshine probes the causes and impact of the so-called moonshine revival. What does the moonshine revival tell us about our national culture? How does it shape the image of Appalachia and rural America? Focusing mostly on southern Appalachia, the book's eleven essays chronicle such popular figures as Popcorn Sutton and explore how and why distillers promote their product as "traditional" and "authentic." This edited collection draws from scholars across the disciplines of anthropology, history, geography, and sociology to make sense of the legal, social, and historical shifts behind contemporary production and consumption of moonshine, and offers a fresh perspective on an enduring topic of Appalachian myth and reality.

Since The Compleat Meadmaker was first published, mead has continued to grow in popularity as crafted beverages have become an established part of the beverage market in America. In 2003 there were roughly 60 commercial meaderies in the US, but by 2020 this number stood at 450. Naturally, many hobbyists are also discovering the delights of making this "nectar of the gods" themselves. Thanks to the global distribution of bees and, therefore, honey, you will find mead-like drinks in virtually every corner of the world. No wonder historians recognize it as one of humankind's oldest fermented beverages. Mead production never really ceased in Europe and Africa, but its star was eclipsed with the increasing production and distribution of wine, beer, and distilled spirits from the 1600s onward. With the rebirth of brewing and the establishment of world-class wine producing regions in the US, it is time for mead in the twenty-first century to be brought back into the limelight. Mead needs to establish a vocabulary of its own and find a place in the hearts of homebrewers and home winemakers. In The Compleat Meadmaker, veteran meadmaker Ken Schramm-one of the founders of the Mazer Cup Mead Competition, North America's oldest mead-only competition-introduces the novice to the wonders of mead. With easy-to-follow procedures and simple recipes, he shows how you can quickly and painlessly make your own mead at home. In later chapters, Schramm introduces flavorful variations on the basic theme that lead to meads flavored with spice, fruits, grapes, and malt. The author covers the many aspects of meadmaking in a comprehensive but easy-to-read fashion, with something for novices and experienced brewers and vintners alike from basic equipment for meadmaking, creating your first must, and on through the basics of fermentation, racking, and bottling. Once the first steps have been taken Schramm goes into more detail, involving balancing for taste using acid, priming for sparkling mead, corking practices, and strategies for clarifying. He also covers aspects of fermentation, such as selecting the right yeast strain, aerating and managing the pH of your must during the critical early phase of fermentation, and adjusting nutrient levels to suit mead fermentation. The author also troubleshoots common problems and processes, such as stuck fermentations, fermentations that will not start, slow or prolonged fermentations, measuring total acidity via acid titrations, and on balancing residual sugars through sweetening, malo-lactic fermentation, increasing acidity, and drying out the mead further. The fine-tuning process does not stop after fermentation is finished. Perhaps the finest characteristic of mead is that it seems to improve with age almost indefinitely. As well as advice on how long to store it, Schramm also offers up his experience with the many different approaches to conditioning and maturing mead, focusing on the use of oak chips, blocks, and barrels to age mead on wood. As one of the oldest fermented drinks and using the oldest sweetener known to humankind, mead and honey are inextricable. Schramm delves into a brief natural history of honey production and the bees that make it possible, with fascinating insights into the profession of beekeepers. He explores sources of nectar and pollen and the benefits of honey varietals explored, with a section devoted entirely to varietal honey based on floral variety. Along the way Schramm delves into the concept of honey "vintage", grades of honey, sugar, moisture, organic acids, mineral content, color terminology, and how you should not judge a honey's flavor by its color. There is also a discussion of aroma compounds, absolutely essential if wishing to understand the organoleptic qualities of honey. While mead can be a charmingly simple drink to make, home meadmakers can easily indulge in a host of different flavors to make unique and delicious meads. The author provides you with an understanding of the role quality ingredients play in creating a really pleasing mead. There are several ingredients-focused chapters that look at making sack mead, melomel, cyser, pyment, hippocras, metheglin, and braggot. At the end, Schramm puts it all together in a section devoted entirely to recipes. As one of the most ancient of human beverages, mead arose in part because it was easy to make. Despite this, mead is a surprisingly complex, diverse, and romantic drink that can range from bone dry to profoundly sweet, and can be crafted to complement any type of food. With The Compleat Meadmaker, you can see just how simple, fun, and rewarding meadmaking is.

An inside look at how craft beer makers and IPA devotees come together to brew, taste, and enjoy fine ale while also building a sense of community in Las Vegas Equally reviled and revered as Sin City, Las Vegas is both exceptional and emblematic of contemporary American cultural practices and tastes. Michael Ian Borer takes us inside the burgeoning Las Vegas craft beer scene to witness how its adherents use beer to create and foster not just a local culture but a locals' culture. Through compelling, detailed first-hand accounts and interviews, Vegas Brews provides an unprecedented look into the ways that brewers, distributors, bartenders, and drinkers fight against the perceived and preconceived norm about what "happens in Vegas" and lay claim to a part of their city that is too often overshadowed by the bright lights of tourist sites. Borer shows how our interactions with the things we care about-and the ways that we care about how they're made, treated, and consumed-can lead to new senses of belonging and connections with and to others and the places where we live. In a world where people and things move around at an extraordinary pace, the folks Borer spent time talking (and drinking) with remind us to slow down and learn how to taste the "good life," or at least a semblance of it, even in a city where style is often valued over substance.

Broaden your palate and enhance your appreciation for gourmet flavor combinations withTasting Wine and Cheese. Is there anything better than a great wine and cheese pairing? You might enjoy a robust cabernet with the sharp, aged cheddar, or perhaps a crisp Sancerre with a tangy, creamy chevre. Based on the curriculum Adam Centamore developed teaching at Formaggio Kitchen and the Boston Wine School, Tasting Wine and Cheese guides you through the world of flavor pairing with an emphasis on understanding and developing your own palate. Maitre d 'Fromage Adam Centamore teaches you how to first taste wines and cheeses separately, allowing you to understand the complex profiles of reds, whites, aged, and fresh. But wading through these waters is only half the battle. Tasting Wine and Cheese takes you on a journey through pairings of cheeses with white, red, sparkling, and dessert wines. There is even a section to help you pair condiments with your wine and cheese. Whether you're looking to broaden your appreciation for gourmet combinations or simply looking for a menu to host a party, you'll find everything that you need in this comprehensive guide. "Adam Centamore is a master at making the perfect wine and cheese match. The interactive pairing workshop he teaches is one of our most popular Wine School classes ever." - Jonathan Alsop, founder & executive director of the Boston Wine School and author of Wine Lover's Devotional: 365 Days of Knowledge, Advice and Lore for the Ardent Aficionado "Wine and cheese pairings decoded! In Tasting Wine and Cheese, Adam employs the same approach in this book as he does his classes - comprehensive, fun and filled with practical information for anyone interested in the enjoyment of food. The result is a pairing of its own as both a solid primer and a worthwhile reference for your future wine and cheese pairing adventures." - Tim Bucciarelli - Manager, Formaggio Kitchen