In pursuit of the story behind a beguiling drink, Granville Greene embarks on a journey through remote Mexican highlands to learn about the history, cultures, and traditions surrounding mezcal. In recent years the smoky flavored agave distillate has become a craft cocktail darling, rivaling even its better-known cousin tequila, and it can sell for over $100 a bottle in the U.S. But unlike most high-end spirits, mezcals are typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, where distillers have been swept up in a hot new trend in which they have very little voice. Greene visits indigenous villages in Oaxaca and Guerrero states, meeting maestros mezcaleros who create their signature small batch drinks using local plants and artisanal production methods honed through generations of mezcal-making families. As Greene details the sights, smells, and intoxicating flavors of Mexico, he turns his eye to the broader context of impoverished villages in a changing economic and political landscape. He explores the gold-rush style surge of micro-distilled mezcals as luxury exports, and the consequent overharvesting that threatens the diversity of wild agaves, as he finds the oldest distilled spirit in the Americas at a crossroads.

"Thoughtfully conceived and very well written, this is essential somm reading."-The Somm Journal "This is the most important wine book of the year, perhaps in many years."-The Seattle Times "Crisply written, impeccably researched, balanced if fundamentally enthusiastic, scholarly but accessible, and full of unexpected details and characters."-The World of Fine Wine No wine category has seen more dramatic growth in recent years than American Rhone-variety wines. Winemakers are devoting more energy, more acreage, and more bottlings to Rhone varieties than ever before. The flagship Rhone red, Syrah, is routinely touted as one of California's most promising varieties, capable of tremendous adaptability as a vine, wonderfully variable in style, and highly expressive of place. There has never been a better time for American Rhone wine producers. American Rhone is the untold history of the American Rhone wine movement. The popularity of these wines has been hard fought; this is a story of fringe players, unknown varieties, and longshot efforts finding their way to the mainstream. It's the story of winemakers gathering sufficient strength in numbers to forge a triumph of the obscure and the brash. But, more than this, it is the story of the maturation of the American palate and a new republic of wine lovers whose restless tastes and curiosity led them to Rhone wines just as those wines were reaching a critical mass in the marketplace. Patrick J. Comiskey's history of the American Rhone wine movement is both a compelling underdog success story and an essential reference for the wine professional.

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.

This book is the first of its kind, a deep-dive into a single sake-producing region to highlight its delicious brews as well as the people, land, and culture behind them. Brewing in Yamaguchi - in southern Honshu, Japan - reflects the whole history of sake in Japan, from boom to bust to resurgence, and many of its brands, including the fabled Dassai, are now at izakaya and fine restaurants around the world. Expert Jim Rion takes us on a tour of all 23 Yamaguchi breweries to introduce the character of each and its brewmasters' best picks. Along the way he provides background on such topics as rice farmers, drinkware, brewing methods, and the controversy over sake "terroir" (does it exist?). An added bonus for travelers is a mini sightseeing guide to the region and its many delights. Illustrated with photographs and quick-reference sake labels.

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.

2013 Reprint of 1930 Edition. Fully illustrated. Every page of this classic was printed in color originally and our reprint reproduces all the drawings in color. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Harry Craddock was a United States citizen who left during Prohibition and joined the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel, London, in 1920. Craddock was one of the most famous cocktail barmen of the 1920s and 1930s. Craddock's "The Savoy Cocktail Book" was published in 1930, and is still in print today. Craddock invented a number of classic cocktails, including the famous Corpse Reviver #2 and possibly including the White Lady, and popularised the Dry Martini. Lavishly illustrated with all illustrations reproduced in color.

Engaging and complex, sophisticated and quirky, gin has become a vital component in the mixing cups of a new breed of artisan drinksmiths. Its title an homage to Humphrey Bogart's lament in the 1942 film "Casablanca," offered is the guide to a journey around the upper echelon of the bartending profession in one-hundred-and-one recipes - exploratory gin-based concoctions developed in the progressive cocktail laboratories of American "gin joints," often bringing methods and flourishes of the kitchen to the glass with fresh juices, muddled fruit, infused syrups, earthy spices, and leafy herbs. With this volume as trusted companion, you'll be able to re-create their remarkable formulas with precision and authenticity. With each raised glass, offer a toast to gin - invented by the Dutch, refined by the British, and glamorized by Americans. Borrowing once again from Bogart, "Here's looking at you, kid."

The Mixellany Guide to Vermouth & Other Aperitifs explores the remarkable history of aromatized wines and spirits as well as the secrets of their production. When vermouth landed on American shores, it gave birth to an entire family of drinks from the Martini and the Manhattan to the Adonis and the Metropole. In Britain, the dry and sweet versions led to the Blood & Sand and the Matador. But why did Winston Churchill allegedly bow toward France instead of using vermouth in a drink? Why have various eyedroppers and atomizers been marketed to administer minute amounts of this aromatized wine into American drinks on both sides of the Atlantic? In cafes throughout Italy and France you can tell the time by the orders for tumblers and goblets of vermouth on the rocks. Argentines and Chileans love vermouth so much their cocktail hour is sometimes called l'hora del vermut the vermouth hour]. In some regions of Spain bodegas have barrels of vermouth to dole out for after-work aperitivos. Drinks historians and life-long vermouth lovers, Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller delve into the reasons why vermouths and other aperitifs have been so misunderstood and under-valued since the end of Prohibition in the United States and suggest why it is time to have a change of heart.