This classic book is for any really enthusiastic and ambitious home brewer - the person who wants to brew high quality 'true' beers that were long thought beyond the ability of the amateur. It brings to beginners and experts alike a simple method of 'mashing' for producing the finest flavoured beers, real ales, stouts and lagers from all-grain ingredients. It is the most advanced and comprehensive guide to mashing and brewing.

Distilled from grain nurtured in the soil of Belgium and the Netherlands, genever embodies the spirit, creativity, and resiliency of the culture that created it. Surviving five centuries of wars and prohibitions, genever was perfected and spread across the world. During its evolution, genever inspired the creation of gin and secured a place at America's early cocktail bars. Whether you are a spirit and cocktail connoisseur or a burgeoning mixologist, Genever: 500 Years of History in a Bottle provides an enlightening review of genever's colorful past and offers tempting options for making it part of your future.

This concise book written by a 20 year Napa Valley wine industry veteran gives wine enthusiasts an inside look into the industry that creates the product they enjoy. It gives them this inside perspective from the outside of the package, the wine's label. All required and non-required items that appear on US wine labels are explained to further the casual to serious wine drinkers enjoyment and understanding.

Translated into English for the first time, the 1927 Cuban classic El Arte de Hacer un Cocktail y Algo Mas: The Art of Mixing a Cocktail & More documents the creative genius of the legendary Cuban cantineros. Within these pages you'll find 788 recipes that were shaken, stirred, thrown, and frappeed during the 1920s in the hotels, restaurants, casinos, bodegas, and bars of "the Little Paris of the Caribbean"-Havana, Cuba. A very rare book that has achieved legendary status amongst cocktail book collectors, the recipes found in El Arte have never been available in English, making this book an essential resource and a collectible on its own. Complete with its original illustrations and a foreword by Cuban rum and drinks historian Anistatia Miller, El Arte de Hacer un Cocktail y Algo Mas: The Art of Mixing a Cocktail & More is not merely a peek into Cuban cocktail history. El Arte demonstrates the Cuban passion for complex yet subtle flavours accentuated a hint of sweetness as well as the cantineros' awareness of their audience (both local and international) and of prevailing trends. That is a lesson that none of us should ever forget. Drinks and food must appeal to the people who consume them. It's a skill that Havana 's cantineros from those legendary days continue to teach us very well.

Historians will enjoy this insight into the history of alcohol written by an expert in the field. This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. The content has been carefully selected for its interest and relevance to a modern audience.

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.

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.

With fantastical narratives, home-brewing instructions, and original craft cocktail recipes, Mead is the ultimate exploration of the resurgent alcoholic beverage that is nearly as old as time itself. Beloved by figures as diverse as Queen Elizabeth and Thor, the Vikings and the Greek gods, mead is one of history's most storied beverages. But this mixture of fermented honey isn't just a relic of bygone eras -- it's experiencing a cultural renaissance, taking pride of place in trendy cocktail bars and craft breweries across the country. Equal parts quirky historical narrative, DIY manual, and cocktail guide, Mead is a spirited look at the drink that's been with us even longer than wine. Mead gives readers a fascinating introduction to the rich story of this beloved beverage -- from its humble beginnings to its newfound popularity, along with its vital importance in seven historic kingdoms: Greece, Rome, the Vikings, Poland, Ethiopia, England, and Russia. Pairing a quirky, historical narrative with real practical advice, beverage expert Fred Minnick guides readers through making 25 different types of mead, as well as more than 50 cocktails, with recipes from some of the country's most sought-after mixologists.

A complete, practical, and entertaining guide to using the best ingredients and minimal equipment to create flavorful brews-including wildcrafted meads, bragots, t'ej, grog, honey beers, and more! "A great guide . . . full of practical information and fascinating lore."-Sandor Ellix Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation Ancient societies brewed flavorful and healing meads, ales, and wines for millennia using only intuition, storytelling, and knowledge passed down through generations no fancy, expensive equipment or degrees in chemistry needed. In Make Mead Like a Viking, homesteader, fermentation enthusiast, and self-described "Appalachian Yeti Viking" Jereme Zimmerman summons the bryggjemann of the ancient Norse to demonstrate how homebrewing mead arguably the world's oldest fermented alcoholic beverage can be not only uncomplicated but fun. Inside, readers will learn techniques for brewing: Sweet, semi-sweet, and dry meads Melomels (fruit meads) Metheglins (spiced meads) Ethiopian t'ej (honey wine) Flower and herbal meads Bragots Honey beers Country wines Viking grog And there's more for aspiring Vikings to explore, including: The importance of local and unpasteurized honey for both flavor and health benefits What modern homebrewing practices, materials, and chemicals work-but aren't necessary How to grow and harvest herbs and collect wild botanicals for use in healing, nutritious, and magical meads, beers, and wines How to use botanicals other than hops for flavoring and preserving mead, ancient ales, and gruits The rituals, mysticism, and communion with nature that were integral components of ancient brewing Whether you've been intimidated by modern homebrewing's cost or seeming complexity in the past or are boldly looking to expand your current brewing and fermentation practices, Zimmerman's welcoming style and spirit will usher you into exciting new territory. Grounded in history and mythology, but like Odin's ever-seeking eye focusing continually on the future of self-sufficient food culture, Make Mead Like a Viking is a practical and entertaining guide for the ages. "Adventurous mead makers or brewers who want to move beyond the basics will find plenty to savor here."-Library Journal

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.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' PICK "Thrilling . . . [told] with gonzo elan . . . When the sommelier and blogger Madeline Puckette writes that this book is the Kitchen Confidential of the wine world, she's not wrong, though Bill Buford's Heat is probably a shade closer." -Jennifer Senior, The New York Times Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn't know much about wine-until she discovered an alternate universe where taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a "cork dork." With boundless curiosity, humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, California mass-market wine factories, and even a neuroscientist's fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what's the big deal about wine? What she learns will change the way you drink wine-and, perhaps, the way you live-forever. "Think: Eat, Pray, Love meets Somm." -theSkimm "As informative as it is, well, intoxicating." -Fortune

Armed with cutting-edge research and a barfly's thirst for the truth, cocktail instructor Brian D. Hoefling tackles the most burning questions and longest-held myths surrounding that most ancient of human pastimes-with the science to either back them up or knock them down. From the ins and outs of aging to the chemistry of a beer head and the science behind your hangover, Distilled Knowledge provides a complete and comical education that will put an end to any barroom dispute, once and for all.

COOL DRINKS FOR HOT SUMMER DAYS With their thirst-quenching profile, crisp acidity, and vibrant fruit flavors, juicy summer cocktails are pure refreshment and just what we crave, whether lounging poolside or working the grill. And here, from expert mixologist and hospitality maven Nick Mautone, are over 45 no-fail recipes for the very best of them, from classics like the pina colada and the Tom Collins to the perfect margarita and a killer mojito. Includes cocktails with wine, like peach sangria, and even fruit-forward alcohol-free cocktails like virgin watermelon punch. Oh, and that world's best gin and tonic? The secret is ginger syrup.

Inspired by Jules Verne's classic adventure tale, celebrated editor-in-chief of The Wine Economist Mike Veseth takes his readers Around the World in Eighty Wines. The journey starts in London, Phileas Fogg's home base, and follows Fogg's itinerary to France and Italy before veering off in search of compelling wine stories in Syria, Georgia, and Lebanon. Every glass of wine tells a story, and so each of the eighty wines must tell an important tale. We head back across Northern Africa to Algeria, once the world's leading wine exporter, before hopping across the sea to Spain and Portugal. We follow Portuguese trade routes to Madeira and then South Africa with a short detour to taste Kenya's most famous Pinot Noir. Kenya? Pinot Noir? Really! The route loops around, visiting Bali, Thailand, and India before heading north to China to visit Shangri-La. Shangri-La? Does that even exist? It does, and there is wine there. Then it is off to Australia, with a detour in Tasmania, which is so cool that it is hot. The stars of the Southern Cross (and the title of a familiar song) guide us to New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina. We ride a wine train in California and rendezvous with Planet Riesling in Seattle before getting into fast cars for a race across North America, collecting more wine as we go. Pause for lunch in Virginia to honor Thomas Jefferson, then it's time to jet back to London to tally our wines and see what we have learned. Why these particular places? What are the eighty wines and what do they reveal? And what is the surprise plot twist that guarantees a happy ending for every wine lover? Come with us on a journey of discovery that will inspire, inform, and entertain anyone who loves travel, adventure, or wine.

An indispensable book for every wine lover, from some of the world's leading wine experts.

Where do wine grapes come from and how are grape varieties related to one another? What is the historical background of each one? Where are they grown? What sort of wines do they make?

Using cutting-edge DNA analysis and detailing almost 1,400 distinct grape varieties, as well as myriad correct (and incorrect) synonyms, this book examines grapes and wine as never before. Here is a complete, alphabetically presented profile of all grape varieties of relevance to the wine lover, charting the relationships between them and including unique and astounding family trees, their characteristics in the vineyard, and--most important--what the wines made from them taste like.

Presented in a stunning design with eight-page gatefolds that reveal the family trees, and a rich variety of full-color illustrations from Viala and Vermorel's century-old classic ampelography, the text will deepen readers' understanding of grapes and wine with every page. Combining Jancis Robinson's worldview and nose for good writing and good wines with Julia Harding's research, expertise, and attention to detail plus Dr. Vouillamoz's unique level of scholarship, Wine Grapes offers essential and original information in greater depth and breadth than has ever been available before. This is a book for wine students, wine experts, and wine lovers everywhere.

The Pilgrims drank cider as they sailed to America aboard the Mayflower. John Adams had a tankard of cider every morning at breakfast. After a long day on safari, Ernest Hemingway liked to kick back beside the campfire with a glass of cider. And Robert Frost saluted his favorite beverage with a poem titled ?In A Glass of Cider.? Neck and neck with brewing beer at home is the resurgence of making cider. Whether sweet, hard, blended, or sparkling, trend watchers say cider, once the preferred beverage of early America, could very well become the drink of the future. (Hard cider is the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry.) Keeping pace with the commercial cider producers are small-scale and individual cider makers who have discovered how easy it is to make their own. After all, the only ingredient you need is an apple. In this updated edition of Cider, Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols take you step-by-step through the process that renders fruit into a refreshing drink. In addition to learning about the equipment you?ll need to make a glorious cider, Proulx and Nichols also discuss the pros and cons of various types of apple presses ? from traditional heavy grinders to sleek hydraulic presses. You?ll also learn about the glass bottles vs. wooden barrels debate; how to filter, fine, and rack your cider; and where and how to store it. Proulx and Nichols provide detailed recipes for making six types of cider: still, sparkling, champagne, barrel, French, and flavored, with advice on which apples to use to achieve a tart, aromatic, astringent, or neutral quality in your cider. In fact, this book is brimming with expert advice on cidermaking. If you want to plant your own apple orchard, this book has an entire chapter that lists which cultivars of apples thrive in which parts of the United States and Canada, along with each cultivar's characteristics and when it is ready for harvesting. Another chapter explains how to care for an orchard, from improving the soil to pruning and thinning the trees to fighting off pests and wildlife. Once a cidermaker has learned how to make excellent cider, he or she is likely to look for further fields t o explore. With that in mind, the authors include a chapter on making cider vinegars and brandy and using cider in cooking.

Finally, Proulx and Nichols walk you through the latest federal regulations covering the production and sale of homemade cider in the United States and Canada, and they familiarize you with the kind of impact state and provincial laws can make.The clear, simple language, numerous illustrations, and detailed step-by-step directions make it easy for even novices to become skilled cidermakers. This revised edition of the classic handbook is a complete guide for anyone who wants to discover the pleasure of making ? and drinking ? fresh cider.

"At last, a definitive guide to the medicinal origins of every bottle behind the bar! This is the cocktail book of the year, if not the decade." -Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist and Wicked Plants "A fascinating book that makes a brilliant historical case for what I've been saying all along: alcohol is good for you...okay maybe it's not technically good for you, but [English] shows that through most of human history, it's sure beat the heck out of water." -Alton Brown, creator of Good Eats Beer-based wound care, deworming with wine, whiskey for snakebites, and medicinal mixers to defeat malaria, scurvy, and plague: how today's tipples were the tonics of old. Alcohol and Medicine have an inextricably intertwined history, with innovations in each altering the path of the other. The story stretches back to ancient times, when beer and wine were used to provide nutrition and hydration, and were employed as solvents for healing botanicals. Over time, alchemists distilled elixirs designed to cure all diseases, monastic apothecaries developed mystical botanical liqueurs, traveling physicians concocted dubious intoxicating nostrums, and the drinks we're familiar with today began to take form. In turn, scientists studied fermentation and formed the germ theory of disease, and developed an understanding of elemental gases and anesthetics. Modern cocktails like the Old-Fashioned, Gimlet, and Gin and Tonic were born as delicious remedies for diseases and discomforts. In Doctors and Distillers, cocktails and spirits expert Camper English reveals how and why the contents of our medicine and liquor cabinets were, until surprisingly recently, one and the same.

A luxury volume on the world's most elegant beverage--by world renowned champagne expert Richard Juhlin, with an introduction by Edouard Cointreau Champagne may be the most misunderstood category of wine in the world, as many labels of sparkling wines bear the name in error. True champagne comes only from the French province of Champagne and contains three specific grape varieties. But figuring out more about the wine can be confusing: what is the difference between cuvee de prestige, blanc de noirs, and rose? What is the best kind of food to pair with champagne? How many different kinds of sweetness are there? What is the best method of storage? Richard Juhlin, the world's foremost champagne expert, answers these questions and more as he takes the reader on a journey to the geographical area of Champagne and through the history of the drink. He explains how to arrange tastings and develop one's sense of smell, and why the setting where you drink champagne is important, including personal anecdotes about his lifelong journey from PE teacher to connoisseur. Also included is a catalog section that describes and ranks different champagne houses, types, and vintages. Sit back and enjoy Juhlin's graceful prose with a lovely glass of champagne, the sparkling wine that has come to epitomize luxury and elegance.

The Little Book of Whiskey Cocktails sets out to share the stories of the wide whiskey-making world and recipes suitable for whiskey drinkers of all expertise levels. Bryan Paiement takes a practical approach to exploring the various ways in which the spirit can be mixed and enjoyed. Beginning with a brief history of whiskey, Paiement answers many questions that even aficionados can't help but stumble over: What is the difference between "whiskey" and "whisky?" Does bourbon have to come from Kentucky? How many times does Irish whiskey need to be distilled? Twenty classic whiskey cocktail recipes and twenty original recipes follow in this pocket-sized gift book. Each carefully curated recipe is introduced with details on the cocktail's origins and concluded with bartenders' tips for shaking (or stirring) the perfect concoction. Time-tested classics like the Old Fashioned and the Rusty Nail are featured, providing whiskey novices with the necessary foundations. For seasoned whiskey drinkers, Paiement includes recipes from award-winners like the Paper Plane to handcrafted originals like the Scotch Smash. Adorned with custom line-art illustrations, a key of whiskey ware and bar tools, and an extensive repertoire of bar jokes, Paiement brings whiskey's terminology and mixology to any home bar.