I have been a journalist for over a decade, most frequently writing on the subjects of spirits, cocktails, and drinking culture for such publications as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Playboy, and VinePair. I have written 12 booksâ6 of them on boozeâmy latest of which is Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits.
I had always believed that a great booze book didnât need to just be pages of pretty pictures and cocktail recipesâI knew there were booze stories that could make for compelling, novel-like narratives as well. Thad Voglerâs 2017 work was the first to actually prove my theories correct, however.
His journey to both visit the sourcesâCuba! Oaxaca! Cognac!âand meet the producers of such vaunted spirits as rum, mezcal, and cognac, all while philosophizing about what artisan spirits production actually means, resonated with me like no other booze before.
Voglerâs humor and bawdy tone also showed me a drinks-related book need not be a dry readâbooze is fun, after all!
Spirits expert Thad Vogler, owner of the James Beard Awardâwinning Bar Agricole, takes readers around the world, celebrating the vivid characters who produce hand-made spirits like rum, scotch, cognac, and mezcal. From the mountains of Mexico and the forbidden distilleries of Havana, to the wilds of Scotland and the pastoral corners of France and beyond, this adventure will change how you think about your drink.
Thad Vogler is one of the most important people in the beverage industry today. Heâs a man on a mission to bring âgrower spiritsââspirits with provenance, made in the traditional way by individuals rather thanâŠ
So often, booze history has not been carefully written down, and Simonson wanted to ensure that would not be the case when it came to the cocktail renaissance that kicked off in the early 21st century.
Chapter by chapter, he introduces us to the playersâbartenders, bar owners, producers, and repsâalong with the bars that reinvigorated a nearly-dead American tradition of Martinis, Manhattans, Margaritas, and many more drinks that are now, thanks to them, ubiquitous everywhere on the globe.
A narrative history of the craft cocktail renaissance, written by a New York Times cocktail writer and one of the foremost experts on the subject.
A Proper Drink is the first-ever book to tell the full, unflinching story of the contemporary craft cocktail revival. Award-winning writer Robert Simonson interviewed more than 200 key players from around the world, and the result is a rollicking (if slightly tipsy) story of the charactersâbars, bartenders, patrons, and visionariesâwho in the last 25 years have changed the course of modern drink-making. The book also features a curated list of about 40 cocktailsâ25 modern classics,âŠ
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to runâŠ
Booze books can too often be overly positive, cheerleading for the industry at large; itâs rare you see one so incisive and damning.
Once nothing more than a headache-inducing frat house shooter, today tequila (and mezcal) has become the trendy spirit of those in the knowâŠor those who want to seem like they are. But as Martineau details, the rapid expansion of this agricultural spirit into all bars, retailers, and marketplacesâmuch of it driven by, yes, gringos, some of them bold-faced namesâhas inherently ruined this beautiful spirit in many ways that may never be recovered.
Once little more than party fuel, tequila has graduated to the status of fine sipping spirit. How the Gringos Stole Tequila traces the spirit's evolution in America from frat-house firewater to luxury good. But there's more to the story than tequila as upmarket drinking trend. Chantal Martineau spent several years immersing herself in the world of tequila--traveling to visit distillers and agave farmers in Mexico, meeting and tasting with leading experts and mixologists around the United States, and interviewing academics on either side of the border who have studied the spirit.
A booze book fit for the big screen, it follows eccentric wine collectors pursuing their unicorn of unicorns, a 1787 ChĂąteau Lafite Bordeaux supposedly once owned by Thomas Jefferson. It eventually sells for $156,000 at auction, and then things get even stranger as mysteries unravel and con men enter the scene.
The rivetingly strange story of the world's most expensive bottle of wine, and the even stranger characters whose lives have intersected with it.
The New York Times bestseller, updated with a new epilogue, that tells the true story of a 1787 ChĂąteau Lafite Bordeauxâsupposedly owned by Thomas Jeffersonâthat sold for $156,000 at auction and of the eccentrics whose lives intersected with it.
Was it truly entombed in a Paris cellar for two hundred years? Or did it come from a secret Nazi bunker? Or from the moldy basement of a devilishly brilliant con artist? As Benjamin Wallace unravels the mystery,âŠ
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to runâŠ
Booze books need not only to be filed all the way in the back of the bookstore in the âFood/Drinkâ section; the best deserve to be mainstreamâand bestseller Pappyland proved that.
This is a dual memoir in some ways, following the rise, fall, and incredible rise again of the Van Winkle family and their grandfather Pappyâs vaunted and eponymous spirit, along with the story of Thompson reckoning with his own family lore and fatherhood.Â
âA warm and loving reflection that, like good bourbon, will stand the test of time.â âEric Asimov, The New York Times
The story of how Julian Van Winkle III, the caretaker of the most coveted cult Kentucky Bourbon whiskey in the world, fought to protect his family's heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears, in a world where authenticity, like his product, is in very short supply.
Following his fatherâs death decades ago, Julian Van Winkle stepped in to try to save the bourbon business his grandfather had founded on the mission statement: âWeâŠ
This book is an intoxicating story of obsessives on the hunt for dusty, old bottles of whiskey, tequila, rum, Chartreuseâyou name itâfrom estate sales, grandpaâs liquor cabinet, out-of-the-way and inner-city liquor stores, and even a Hollywood legendâs sealed office from 1976.
What I and these âdusty huntersâ discover are more than just bottles from bygone brands or old formulations no longer availableâthey find portals into history. Spirits, once bottled, don't age like wine. A bourbon from 1935 lets you savor the end of Prohibition. A 1940s mai tai with actual 1940s rum tastes the way it would to a GI returning from WWII. An old Italian amaro captures la dolce vita in a glass, and vintage gin is a drinkable time capsule from Mad Men-era lunchtime martinis.
