Reddit reviews The Drunken Botanist
We found 25 Reddit comments about The Drunken Botanist. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Over 50 cocktail recipesTips on growing and making drinks with herbs, fruits, and veggiesMaking cocktails from the ground up
I'm going to actively try to avoid recipe books here in my links (that said, that means you're missing out on Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails, Death & Co, Potions of the Caribbean, and The Joy of Mixology so.... YMMV)
Liquid Intelligence - IMHO must have guide on the technical aspects of bartending. This book is amazing and is the first thing I share with my coworkers that want to broaden their knowledge
The Drunken Botanist - In depth examination of the plants that go into making our favorite drinks, beers, booze, and sundry
Bitters - Has history of bitters, along with instructional on how to make your own.
Shrubs Kind of recipes but also talks about how to make shrubs and good proportions for them, which isn't super common.
Wine Folly Do you want a good intro-to-wine with good, clear reference sheets about styles and pairings? Here's your book
The Wine Bible Want to know way more than you ever thought you wanted to know about wine? This is what you want to be reading.
The Beer Bible - Same as above, but for beer instead of wine.
Holy Smoke! Its Mezcal Mezcal can be hard to pin down and I've found this one to be decent. Includes a table of things that were available in the US at time of publishing and the author's opinions on quality.
Vermouth - pretty in depth history on vermouth, focusing on its place in American cocktail Culture
Imbibe! In depth history of early cocktail culture, focusing on Jerry Thomas and the Bon Vivant's Companion
...I'm sure I could think of more, given the time. I'm trying to just delve into things currently on my shelf, and not in my wishlist.
On the plant selection side of things, I highly recommend The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart, which is very comprehensive.
There is even a company that sells cocktail garden kits based on the book (though you will probably be better off finding a local supplier).
I'd highly suggest getting your hands on a copy of The Drunken Botanist – it sounds right up your alley.
I recommend Bitters and The Drunken Botanist as well!
Two that I haven't seen mentioned:
The Flavor Thesaurus by Niki Segnit: This is a bit more of what I was hoping the Flavor Bible would be. It focuses a bit more on unconventional pairings and the "why" of how they work. While the ingredients involved are limited, it's a book that like SFAH, can be applied everywhere.
The Drunken Botanist by Amy Steward: I really appreciate the breadth of knowledge that this book provides. While it's cocktail oriented, it really gets into the history and process of creating each alcohol. This book really is a delight.
Other than that, I really adored Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and Thug Kitchen (for a more traditional cookbook).
When I was learning (in a similar environment that OP described), I had a mentor teach me. I believe that is by far the best way to learn in any industry whether it be in the kitchen, behind the bar, on a construction site, etc.
In lieu of a mentor, there are several books worth picking up to bring up your knowledge, with the combination of internet research:
-Craft of the Cocktail
-Death & Co.
-Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails
-Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique
-Imbibe!
-The Drunken Botanist
-The Curious Bartender
-The Joy of Mixology
Some helpful links:
-Kindred Cocktails
-The Spirits Business
-Good Spirit News
-Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Blog
-Jamie Boudreau's Blog: not updated but still has good info.
For anyone looking to up their brewing game, I always recommend Brewing Better Beer. It's all about fine tuning your process and simplifying your recipes to only include what you need. It's a sort of zen approach that seems applicable to abbey ales.
Although it's getting a bit out into the weeds, if you're more interested in the farmhouse/wild side of brewing, you might want to have a look at The Drunken Botanist and Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. It gets into using things that aren't hops in your fermentations. Even though Belgian brewing only grazes herbs and spices, you might find some value there.
It’s a different science, but I thoroughly enjoyed “The drunken botanist ” by Amy Stewart
The Drunken Botanist. Gives you backstory into the plants that make and flavor alcohol.
https://www.amazon.com/Drunken-Botanist-Amy-Stewart/dp/1616200464/
Assuming you mean that one. I have it, and it's more about the plants that are used to make cocktails. There's a small bit of information I found useful in terms of spices/herbs, but I would definitely recommend other books. I'll update this when I get home and have access to my bookshelf.
Qrow: "Here, read this."
Yang: "What page is it on?"
Qrow: "Just start on page 1 and keep going."
I am 100% all for the pursuit of knowledge behind the bar. I believe it's a great way to show initiative to get behind a craft bar, elevate your cocktail game, and just to learn something cool. Feel free to message me if you have questions on where to get started, what to do after you've read some of these books, what to expect when you're working your way up, etc. I'd be more than happy to lend some helpful advice!
Here are some of the books I'd recommend:
"The Bar Book" by Jeffrey Morgenthaler
I'd start here if you're interested in and are brand new to craft cocktails. Morgenthaler's Bar Book is threaded with great insight on what and why certain techniques are used behind the bar and is riddled with beautiful photography.
"Imbibe!" by Dave Wondrich
Hands down, the first book you should read if you want to get into the lore behind craft drinks. It opens up with the story of our great forefather, Jeffrey Thomas, and then continues to discuss the various eras of bartending and what they represent, as well as the drinks within those eras.
"Craft Cocktails at Home" by Kevin Liu
If Bar Book is your high school Geometry, Liu's, "Craftcocktails at Home" is your college Linear Algebra class. Provides you with hard science on what exactly going on in the glass if we shake VS stir or the happenings in an egg-based drink. Awesome read.
"How's Your Drink" by Eric Felten
Felten runs through history and entertains with stories behind some of the biggest drinks in cocktails. Did you know the Vesper (a vodka/gin Martini hybrid of sorts) was created in a Jame's Bond book and was named after the sultry villain? That President Theodore Roosevelt loved himself a good mint julep and even had his own mint bed to supply himself plenty when he wanted one? Fun read.
"Drunken Botanist" by Amy Stewart
Alcohol is derived from things. This is the best book that talks about those things. Agave, Juniper, Barley, Cinchona Bark. Understand the drink from a Botanist's point of view.
"Bitters" by Brad Thomas Parsons
Bitters are an incredible way to add both aromatics and flavor into a cocktail. This book will help you not only understand what they are and what they do, but will kickstart your own bitter brewing process if desired. Homemade Orange Bitters kick ass.
Barsmarts
Last but not least, Barsmarts is a great online tool to help rundown the basis of what we with cocktails. It goes through the various spirits, a brief look at cocktail history, and even has a "drink builder". Definitely worth the $30.
You may like The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart. It's a listing of dozens of the plants that make up the booze we love, whether they are distilled, infused, or simply used to add flavor. It's a highly useful but concise resource.
If I were a book, I hope that I'd be a great one.
I love books! That fact is becoming painfully apparent because we are moving right now! LOL
It's not specific to whiskey, but the Drunken Botanist is an incredibly good book that discusses all of the plants that are used to make or flavor alcohol.
I'm not sure there's going to be a concrete answer for this.
Mostly it's just because of a change in drinking tastes in the last five years or so. A lot of cities are seeing a reemergence of the classic American cocktail. As the Millennial generation continues to age (graduate school, settle into work, explore social bar scenes), many are less interested in two ingredient collins drinks and more interested in craft cocktails. Because of this desire for more "artisan" drinks, there has been a growth in craft beers and liquors. We're seeing more and more small batch gins, whiskeys, tequila, vodkas, etc. With this growth comes clubs, and conventions where craftsmen, brewers, distillers, and hobbyists can get together to share knowledge and have a good time.
If you're interested in cocktails there are resources like The Savoy Cocktail Book, [The Bar Book] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145211384X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), and The Drunken Botanist.
Most of my knowledge comes from an interest in cocktails after years of working as a server and more recently as a bartender.
Two books to recommend.
Death & Company - at the beginning of this book, it gives a really solid explanation of all the different liquors and how they're made and the staple drinks people use them in. The book also talks in detail about cocktails and the bar the book is named after.
The Drunken Botanist - Mainly about all the different natural products that make alcoholic beverages, and how it occurs, etc.
Your name reminds me of this book I was looking at today haha. The Drunk Botanist
Every time I see your name, I remember this on my list. One day, I will have to get both of us a copy when I get back to work
The Drunken Botanist https://www.amazon.com/dp/1616200464/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_M8C1wbP4EW55K
Hey, right now I'm debating on the type of garden I get to have with my "Crazy Auntie" House; I love the idea of a poison garden, but a drunk's garden is just as interesting to me; just need to get a yard big enough for both!
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Homemade Soda by Andrew Schloss
Mix Shake Stir: Recipes from Danny Meyer's Acclaimed New York City Restaurants compiled by Danny Meyer
Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2010 by Jim Murray
And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails by Wayne Curtis
Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, Revised by Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron
Great Beer Guide: 500 Classic Brews by Michael Jackson
Old Mr. Boston DeLuxe Official Bartender's Guide 4th Edition
The Seasonal Cocktail Companion: 100 Recipes and Projects for Four Seasons of Drinking by Maggie Savarino
The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks by Dale Degroff
Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History by Mark Spivak
Bottom Row:
The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil
Absinthe, Sip of Seduction: A Contemporary Guide by Betina Wittels & Robert Hermesch
The Complete Bartender: Art of Mixing Plain and Fancy Drinks by Albert Barnes (Espresso Book Machine Reprint)
Michael Jackson's Beer Companion by Michael Jackson
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks by Amy Stewart
Food & Wine Cocktails 2013 edited by Jim Meehan
Food & Wine Cocktails 2012 edited by Jim Meehan
Food & Wine Cocktails 2011 edited by Jim Meehan
The Craft of the Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to be a Master Bartender, with 500 Recipes by Dale DeGroff
Cocktail Techniques by Kazuo Uyeda
Shake, Stir, Pour: Fresh Homegrown Cocktails by Katie Loeb
Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis by Kingsley Amis
Tequila: A Traditional Art of Mexico edited by Alberto Ruy Sanchez & Magarita de Orellana
The New York Times Book of Wine: More than 30 Years of Vintage Writing edited by Howard G. Goldberg (pre-release copy)
The Northern California Craft Beer Guide by Ken Weaver
A Field Guide to Hendrick's Gin
The Oxford Companion to Beer edited by Garrett Oliver
The Book of Gin: A Spirited World History from Alchemists' Stills and Colonial Outposts to Gin Palaces, Bathtub Gin, and Artisanal Cocktails by Richard Barnett (pre-release copy)
Modern American Drinks: How to Mix and Serve All Kinds of Cups, Cocktails, and Fancy Mixed Drinks by George J. Kappeler (Espresso Book Machine Printing)
Edible Cocktails: From Garden to Glass - Seasonal Cocktails with a Fresh Twist by Natalie Bovis
Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail by William Grimes
Brewed Awakening: Behind the Beers and Brewers Leading the World's Craft Brewing Revolution by Joshua M. Bernstein
The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock
Extreme Brewing: An Enthusiast's Guide to Brewing Craft Beer at Home by Sam Calagione
Wine for Dummies by Ed McCarthy & Mary Ewing-Mulligan
Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass by Randy Mosher
Not Pictured:
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
Craft Cocktails at Home: Offbeat Techniques, Contemporary Crowd-Pleasers, and Classics Hacked with Science by Kevin Liu
Beachbum Berry Remixed by Jeff Berry
How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well by Eric Felten
Let me know if you have any questions about any of the books.
Are you interested in the science at all? If so, check out "The Drunken Botanist" by Amy Stewart. It talks about the actual botany/chemistry/history behind different spirits.
[so i can learn about my booze before i drink it:)] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Drunken-Botanist-Plants-Create/dp/1616200464/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=29OH72GY4MPT7&coliid=I2P70K9RZIJC6P) Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
Spices are pretty interesting. I know you didn't ask for a reading list, but if you are a reader, and you love food, history and plants, check these out.
Spice: The History of a Temptation.
For a more political look - Full Planets, Empty Plates.
Also a good read...