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YA Book Club POSTPONED! Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to cancel this Saturday's YA book club meeting. We will reschedule and post it here and on our social media as soon as we can.
Drinks
The newly designed twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the classic volume, brought up-to-date
"Wine is, above all, about pleasure. Those who make it ponderous make it dull . . . If you keep an open mind and take each wine on its own terms, there is a world of magic to discover." So wrote the renowned wine expert Kermit Lynch in the introduction to Adventures on the Wine Route, his ultimate tour of France, especially its wine cellars. The "magic" of wine is Lynch's subject as he takes the reader on a singular journey through the Loire, Bordeaux, the Languedoc, Provence, northern and southern Rhone, and Burgundy. In Adventures on the Wine Route, the wine lover will find wisdom without a trace of pretension and hype. As Victor Hazan wrote, "In Kermit Lynch's small, true, delightful book there is more understanding about what wine really is than in everything else I have read." Praise for Lynch and for Adventures on the Wine Route has not ceased since the book's initial publication a quarter century ago. In 2007, The New York Times called it "one of the finest American books on wine." And in June 2012, The Wall Street Journal proclaimed it "the best book on the wine business." Full of vivid portraits of French vintners, memorable evocations of the French countryside, and, of course, vibrant descriptions of French wines, this new edition of Adventures on the Wine Route updates a modern classic for our times.
If you found PTD Cocktail Book, 12 Bottle Bar, The Joy of Mixology, Death and Co., and Liquid Intelligence to be helpful among bartending and mixology books, you will find Jeffrey Morgenthaler's The Bar Book to be an essential bartender book.
It's a quandary shared by adventurous and indecisive drinkers alike: What should I drink tonight?
Here to answer that question is Be Your Own Bartender. Through more than a dozen flowcharts, the book poses a series of questions designed to lead readers to their ideal drink. With more than 151 original recipes, there's a cocktail for every mood, taste, and occasion.
Are you after something tequila-based or gin-based? Do you like gin or really like gin? Are you ready to break out the muddler? And is your night winding down or just getting started? Whatever the answers, Be Your Own Bartender leads you to your destination--a cocktail effectively designed just for you. With some drinks that are truly adventurous and others that are friendlier to the cocktail novice, every recipe is created with the home bartender in mind.
Divided into chapters by spirit--with bonus flowcharts for brunch drinks, holiday parties, and true cocktail nerds--Be Your Own Bartender is the best way to discover the perfect cocktail for you, in a journey as user-friendly as it is fun.
We drink it. We love it. But how much do we really know about beer? Starting from around 7000 BC, beer has emerged as a major element driving humankind's development, a role it has continued to play through today's craft brewing explosion. With The Comic Book Story of Beer, the first-ever nonfiction graphic novel focused on this most favored beverage, you can follow along from the very beginning, as authors Jonathan Hennessey and Mike Smith team up with illustrator Aaron McConnell to present the key figures, events, and, yes, beers that shaped and frequently made history. No boring, old historical text here, McConnell's versatile art style--moving from period-accurate renderings to cartoony diagrams to historical caricatures and back--finds an equal and effective partner in the pithy, informative text of Hennessey and Smith presented in captions and word balloons on each page. The end result is a filling mixture of words and pictures sure to please the beer aficionado and comics geek alike.
The Essential, New York Times-Bestselling Guide to Botany and Booze
"A book that makes familiar drinks seem new again . . . Through this horticultural lens, a mixed drink becomes a cornucopia of plants."--NPR's Morning Edition "Amy Stewart has a way of making gardening seem exciting, even a little dangerous." --The New York Times Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet? In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.Of all the extraordinary and obscure plants that have been fermented and distilled, a few are dangerous, some are downright bizarre, and one is as ancient as dinosaurs--but each represents a unique cultural contribution to our global drinking traditions and our history.
This fascinating concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology--with more than fifty drink recipes and growing tips for gardeners--will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party.
Blackberry-infused cold brew with almond milk and coconut cream. Smoky tea paired with tart cherry juice. A bittersweet, herbal take on the Pimm's Cup. Writer Julia Bainbridge spent a summer driving across the U.S. going to bars, restaurants, and everything in between in pursuit of the question: Can you make an outstanding nonalcoholic drink? The answer came back emphatically: "Yes." With an extensive pantry section, tips for sourcing ingredients, and recipes curated from stellar bartenders around the country--including Verjus Spritz, Chicha Morada Agua Fresca, Salted Rosemary Paloma, and Tarragon Cider--Good Drinks shows that decadent brunch cocktails, afternoon refreshers, and evening digestifs can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone.
"Plant a tea plant and watch it grow! Grow Your Own Tea is truly a masterpiece how-to guide to cultivating and enjoying the sacred leaf. It will delight even the armchair gardener and casual tea lover." --James Norwood Pratt, author of James Norwood Pratt's Tea Dictionary
Tea lovers, make a fresh pot, sit down with this delightful guide, and discover the joys of growing and processing your own tea at home. Tea farmer Christine Parks and enthusiast Susan Walcott cover it all from growing tea plants and harvesting leaves, to the distinct processes that create each tea's signature flavors. In this comprehensive handbook, you'll discover tea's ancient origins, learn about the single plant that produces white, green, oolong, and black teas, and discover step-by-step instructions for plucking, withering, and rolling. Simple recipes that highlight the flavor of tea and creative uses for around the home round out this must-read for tea fans.
The New York Times Bestseller
"There aren't many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history." --Los Angeles Times
Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola: In Tom Standage's deft, innovative account of world history, these six beverages turn out to be much more than just ways to quench thirst. They also represent six eras that span the course of civilization--from the adoption of agriculture, to the birth of cities, to the advent of globalization. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century through each epoch's signature refreshment. As Standage persuasively argues, each drink is in fact a kind of technology, advancing culture and catalyzing the intricate interplay of different societies. After reading this enlightening book, you may never look at your favorite drink in quite the same way again.