New introduction by Ian Rankin _________________________________________ 'One of the most playful and entertaining writers of our generation' Val McDermid, Guardian In an absorbing voyage as interesting to non-drinkers as to true whisky connoisseurs, sci-fi and literary author Iain Banks explores the rich heritage of Scottish whisky, from the most famous distilleries to the most obscure operations. Whisky is more than a drink: it's a culture that binds together people, places and products far across Scotland's rugged terrain. Switching from cars to ferries to bicycles, Banks criss-crosses his homeland, weaving an engrossing narrative full of fascinating traditions, peculiar people, and the downright bizarre places he encounters on his journey down Scotland's great golden road. 'The book I return to most often . . . It's is like slipping into a warm bath.' James Graham, THE TIMES (playwright and creator of ITV's Quiz) 'Filled withinsightful and witty observations . . . this is a rip-roaringand informative delve into the unique history and enduring appeal of this iconic spirit.' VISIT SCOTLAND, 9 'must read' books

60 Vibrant and Versatile Vodka Cocktails Vodka is the perfect spirit that can turn almost any combination of mixer, juice and garnish into a bold and boozy beverage. Clear in colour and crisp to taste, some of the most famous cocktails are vodka-based. From the punchy Moscow Mule and the pink-hued Cosmopolitan, to the sweet-smooth Espresso Martini and the Bloody Mary pick-me-up, this beautifully illustrated book shows off the best of vodka cocktails that are fun and easy to make. In Vodka Made Me Do It seasoned mixologist, writer and cocktail consultant Colleen Graham explains everything you need to know about this versatile spirit: how to make tasty vodka infusions, which mixers blend well and how to create flavourful cocktails for every occasion. Including twists on classic cocktails - from bellinis and punches, to a whole host of delicious martinis - you'll soon be saying; 'Sip sip hooray for vodka!'

Bourbon whiskey has made a surprising contribution to American legal history. Tracking the history of bourbon and bourbon law illuminates the development of the United States as a nation, from conquering the wild frontier to rugged individualism to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit to solidifying itself as a nation of laws. Bourbon is responsible for the growth and maturation of many substantive areas of the law, such as trademark, breach of contract, fraud, governmental regulation and taxation, and consumer protection. In Bourbon Justice Brian Haara delves into the legal history behind one of America's most treasured spirits to uncover a past fraught with lawsuits whose outcome, surprisingly perhaps, helped define a nation. Approaching the history of bourbon from a legal standpoint, Haara tells the history of America through the development of commercial laws that guided our nation from an often reckless laissez-faire mentality, through the growing pains of industrialization, and past the overcorrection of Prohibition. More than just true bourbon history, this is part of the American story.

A delightful romp through America's Golden Age of Cocktails The decades following the American Civil War burst with invention-they saw the dawn of the telephone, the motor car, electric lights, the airplane-but no innovation was more welcome than the beverage heralded as the "cocktail." The Gilded Age, as it came to be known, was the Golden Age of Cocktails, giving birth to the classic Manhattan and martini that can be ordered at any bar to this day. Scores of whiskey drinks, cooled with ice chips or cubes that chimed against the glass, proved doubly pleasing when mixed, shaken, or stirred with special flavorings, juices, and fruits. The dazzling new drinks flourished coast to coast at sporting events, luncheons, and balls, on ocean liners and yachts, in barrooms, summer resorts, hotels, railroad train club cars, and private homes. From New York to San Francisco, celebrity bartenders rose to fame, inventing drinks for exclusive universities and exotic locales. Bartenders poured their liquid secrets for dancing girls and such industry tycoons as the newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst and the railroad king "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cecelia Tichi offers a tour of the cocktail hours of the Gilded Age, in which industry, innovation, and progress all take a break to enjoy the signature beverage of the age. Gilded Age Cocktails reveals the fascinating history behind each drink as well as bartenders' formerly secret recipes. Though the Gilded Age cocktail went "underground" during the Prohibition era, it launched the first of many generations whose palates thrilled to a panoply of artistically mixed drinks.

If you've finished your binge-watch and you're looking for your next Game of Thrones fix, Gin of Thrones will bring all the bloody fun of Westeros to your kitchen. You're not likely to sit on the Iron Throne or ride a dragon into battle against a horde of undead wights, but that doesn't mean you can't get into the Westerosi spirit - quite literally! Gin of Thrones is the ultimate cocktail book for Game of Thrones fans. Alongside 50 recipes are eight drinking games - one for each season - that can be played while watching the epic show. What do we say to the god of drink? Yes, please! Cocktails include: * Mother of Dragon (Fruit) * Shaken not Lannistirred * The Drink That Was Promised * Valor Mor-Guinness * Robin Arryn's Milkshake. 'Everything's better with some wine in the belly.' - Tyrion Lannister, the self-proclaimed 'God of Tits and Wine'.

Already responsible for giving jelly a 21st-century makeover, Sam and Harry focus their attention on the perennially popular cocktail, the most sophisticated form of drink. But of course with an extra special twist. Bompas & Parr take us on a rollercoaster journey through the wonderful world of sours, martinis, old-fashioneds, punches and highballs. Classics, new interpretations of old favourites and crazy concoctions are all to be expected, but they also provide advice on the all-important presentation, the ingredients and getting the ice just right.

Veterans of successful alcoholic adventures such as Alcoholic Architecture (a walk in cloud of breathable G&T) and the Architectural Punchbowl (a Robert Adam building flooded with 4 tonnes of Courvoisier Punch enough for 25,000 people!), Bompas & Parr are perfectly placed to ensure you create a range of extraordinary cocktail drinks to remember.

Bompas & Parr s paramount aim is to demystify cocktails and produce an easy to use functional cocktail book for the home all you need to do is master a few techniques, assemble a few ingredients and away you go; but as to be expected from them, the recipes walk a fine line balancing their signature, attention-grabbing but considered approach, while offering some predictably unpredictable options. More than 50 recipes are split into chapters on Gin, Whisky, Rum, Vodka, Tequila, Brandy, Champagne cocktails and Punches, with additional chapters covering Cocktail basics; Cocktail techniques; and Glassware.

From medieval monks to recent renaissance, From Barley to Blarney: A Whiskey Lover's Guide to Ireland includes everything you need to understand, appreciate, and mix one of the world's fastest-growing (and most delicious!) spirits. An Irish whiskey guru, two bartender behemoths, and an adept writer combine forces to create this comprehensive guide to Irish whiskey. The book begins with an in-depth introduction to whiskey and its history in Ireland, including what makes the style of Irish whiskey unique. What follows is a detailed examination of 50 different Irish whiskeys and the distilleries that make them, as well as a discussion of the booming present and promising future for Irish whiskey producers. The fun really begins when the masterminds behind 2015's "World's Best Bar," Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog, share 15 original mixed-drink recipes tailor-made for Irish spirits. Lastly, Irish Whiskey showcases 30 of Ireland's iconic bars and pubs, linking past to present and providing the ultimate whiskey tourist itinerary.

The Essential Bartending Crash Course
Do you know how to set up a full bar for that party you're having? How much vermouth to use when your first guest requests a "dry martini on the rocks?" How to measure out a shot of alcohol using the three-count method?
You'll find the answers to all of these questions and much more in this indispensable guide. Rather than teaching you recipes for drinks you've never heard of and will never have to make, the authors focus on the fundamentals of bartending--using the tools, learning the terminology and drink mnemonics, and setting up for a cocktail party. This book will transform the most ignorant imbiber into a sauce-slinger extraordinaire, ready to go out and bartend recreationally or professionally.
This guide includes:
-Basic bar setups, tools, and helpful techniques
-Hundreds of recipes for the most popular drinks and punches, from chocolate martinis to salty dogs
-New chapters featuring everything a bartender needs to know about beer and wine
-A new and improved guide to throwing a fabulous cocktail party
-Hints on finding a bartending job
-Diagrams, illustrations, and many useful tips throughout.

China is one of the world's leading producers and consumers of liquor. In turn, alcohol infuses all aspects of China's culture, from religion and literature to business and warfare. Yet to the outside world, China's most famous spirit remains a mystery. That's about to change: baijiu, the most popular alcoholic drink in China, is now being served in cocktail bars overseas. The baijiu invasion is beginning. Drunk in China follows Derek Sandhaus' journey of discovery into the world's oldest drinking culture. He travels throughout the country and around the globe to meet with distillers, brewers, snake-oil salesmen, archeologists and ordinary drinkers. He visits production floors, karaoke parlors, hotpot joints and speakeasies. Along the way he uncovers a tradition that spans more than nine thousand years, and explores how recent economic and political developments have conspired to push Chinese alcohol beyond the nation's borders for the first time. As Chinese society becomes increasingly international, its drinking culture must also adapt to the times. But is the West ready to clink glasses with China, or will deeply rooted stereotypes prove too difficult to overcome? Far from engaging in a juvenile celebration of inebriation for its own sake, Sandhaus has aimed to examine the many ways in which alcohol has shaped Chinese society and its rituals, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

Mother's Milk or Blue Ruin, Dutch Courage or Cuckold's Comfort - the fanciful nicknames that gin has acquired only hint at its colourful story. The story begins with the aromatic juniper berry originally used by the Dutch to flavour the whisky-like genever. The drink then made its way to Britain, where cheap imitations laced with turpentine and other caustic fillers made it the drink of choice for poor eighteenth-century Londoners. Eventually replaced by the sweetened Old Tom style and then by London Dry, gin was introduced to the wider world by means of the British Empire, and during the Jazz Age became a mainstay of a new drinking culture: the cocktail. Today classic cocktails like the Gimlet and the Negroni are embraced by drinkers who enjoy a new breed of modern gins, and gin has reclaimed pride of place in the world of mixology. Gin: A Global History will attract both cocktail aficionados and lovers of food history as it chronicles gin's evolution from cheap liquor to modern alcoholic marvel.

The gin craze seems to have taken over the world in recent times, but how many gin lovers have ever stopped to really wonder about the origins of their favourite tipple? How many know about its European connections or its medicinal value? And what were the gin palaces that everyone raves about really like? This fascinating little book will take you behind the scenes on a journey spanning hundreds of years, bringing the story of this much-loved drink up to date. Tina Brown invites you to join her to discover the new and old tastes, the distillers, the effect gin has had on people's lives and just about everything else to do with gin!

Brooklyn is one of the top trendsetting places today anywhere. Its neighborhoods, artists, writers, restaurants, and, yes, drinking establishments set the pace for the rest of the nation. The Brooklyn Bartender collects 300 of the best of these drink recipes in one place, from twists on the classics to new libations made from local ingredients. Organized by spirit, the recipes will allow readers to replicate bartender's signature drinks, including Pork Slope's Brooklyn Sling, Hotel's Delmano's San Francisco Handshake, and The Richardson's Sun Kiss'd. Sidebars will include "5 Takes on the Margarita" and other classic drinks, as well as bartender's recommendations for events, such "3 Simple Make-Ahead Party Drinks." Profiles of 25-30 bars, including the Clover Club, Tooker Alley, Bushwick Country Club, and Maison Premiere, are spotlighted with sage advice from their quotable bartenders. Carey also details essentials readers need to tackle the recipes, including equipment, techniques, staples, as well as advice on 10 Steps to Instantly Make Better Cocktails. Designed to be the perfect bar-side companion, the sophisticated compilation will be enhanced by more than 200 illustrations and 75 photos.

CHALLENGE YOUR PALATE Move over sweet. Cocktail aficionados are mixing up creative concoctions that are herbaceous, smoky and strong. These rims are anything but sugarcoated. Savory Cocktails shakes, stirs and strains nearly 100 hard-hitting distilled delights for a cornucopia of today's coolest drinks. Using everything from classic liqueurs to innovative new bitters, the recipes in this book offer a stylish, sophisticated approach to complex-flavored cocktails like: *Yuzu Sour *Green Tea Gimlet *Off-White Negroni *Pink Peppercorn Hot Gin Sling *Greens Fee Fizz *The Spice Trail Packed with carefully crafted cocktails as well as information on tools, ingredients and imbibing history, Savory Cocktails goes way beyond just recipes. The devilish twists in this barman's companion are taste tested and mixologist approved.

In need of some gin-spiration? Look no further! Whether you are a gin aficionado or simply gin-curious, this book from the experts at Craft Gin Club contains everything you'll ever need to know about the juniper spirit. With recipes for refreshing ice-cold punches through to warming winter serves, marinated main courses to delicious desserts, Gin O'Clock proves it's always a good time for gin, no matter the season. Packed with tips including: * Hosting the perfect gin-tasting * Growing your own garnishes * Making simple syrups * Creating your own gin truffles This is the definitive seasonal guide to gin exploration.