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The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World’s Great Drinks: 10th Anniversary Edition Hardcover – Illustrated, March 19, 2013
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The New York Times-bestselling guide to botany and booze celebrates its 10th anniversary with an updated edition—now including a guide to planting your very own cocktail garden to go with more than fifty drink recipes. This fascinating, go-to text about the plants that make our drinks is the ideal gift book for every cocktail aficionado, the perfect drinks book for every plant-lover.
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 charming concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology—with delightful drawings, tasty cocktail recipes, and fun factoids throughout—will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party.
“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
- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAlgonquin Books
- Publication dateMarch 19, 2013
- Dimensions6.25 x 1.05 x 8.35 inches
- ISBN-101616200464
- ISBN-13978-1616200466
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"Many boozy books have been published over the years, spilling over with fun facts about absinthe, grog and bathtub gin. What makes Stewart's book different is her infectious enthusiasm for the plants, their uses, their history, and the botanists who roamed the earth finding them. The result is intoxicating but in a fresh, happy, healthy way."―USA Today
"The Drunken Botanist is a sipping book, not a quaffing book, best enjoyed in moderation...Part Ripley’s Believe It or Not, part compendium on the order of 'Schott’s Original Miscellany' and part botanical garden tour, albeit with a curated cocktail party at the end . . . a companionable reference and whimsical recitation of historical-botanical trivia, with a little tart debunking."―The Washington Post
"Sipping an evening cocktail while flipping through this fine volume, I discovered that Ms. Stewart knew how to change a run-of-the-mill cocktail into an intriguing one."―The Wall Street Journal
"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
"Fascinating, well researched and instructive — with appealing recipes too."―Rosie Schaap, The New York Times
"Gardening can be an intoxicating hobby, especially if the botany is booze-related."―The Associated Press
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The DRUNKEN BOTANIST
THE PLANTS THAT CREATE THE WORLD'S GREAT DRINKS
By Amy StewartALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL
Copyright © 2013 Amy StewartAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61620-046-6
Contents
Aperitif...................................................................xAbout the Recipes..........................................................xviPART I WE EXPLORE THE TWIN ALCHEMICAL PROCESSES OF FERMENTATION ANDDISTILLATION, FROM WHICH WINE, BEER, AND SPIRITS ISSUE FORTH...............Proceeding in an Orderly Fashion through the Alphabet: The Classics, from
Agave, 2, to Wheat.........................................................107Then Moving onto a Sampling of More Obscure Sources of Alcohol from around
the World: Strange Brews...................................................111PART II WE THEN SUFFUSE OUR CREATIONS WITH A WONDROUS ASSORTMENT OF
NATURE'S BOUNTY............................................................Herbs & Spices.............................................................135Flowers....................................................................204Trees......................................................................227Fruit......................................................................259Nuts & Seeds...............................................................306Part III AT LAST WE VENTURE INTO THE GARDEN, WHERE WE ENCOUNTER A
SEASONAL ARRAY OF BOTANICAL MIXERS AND GARNISHES TO BE INTRODUCED TO THE
COCKTAIL IN ITS FINAL STAGE OF PREPARATION.................................Sorted in a Similar Fashion: Herbs.........................................320Flowers....................................................................327Trees......................................................................332Berries & Vines............................................................340Fruits & Vegetables including Recipes and Sufficient Horticultural
Instruction................................................................345Digestif...................................................................355Some Final Business: Recommended Reading...................................357Acknowledgments............................................................361Index......................................................................363
CHAPTER 1
AGAVE
Agave tequilanaAGAVACEAE (AGAVE FAMILY)
The agave is better known for what it is notthan for what it is. Some people think it isa kind of cactus; in fact, it is a memberof the botanical order Asparagales, makingit more similar to asparagus and a few otherunlikely relatives: the shade-loving gardenornamental hosta, the blue hyacinth bulb, andthe spiky desert yucca.
Another misconception arises when agaves arecalled century plants, suggesting that they bloomonce in a hundred years. In fact, many bloom after eightto ten years but "decade plant" doesn't sound nearly as romantic.The much-anticipated bloom is vitally important, however: it yieldsthe raw ingredients for tequila, mezcal, and dozens of other drinksdistilled or fermented from this strange, heat-loving succulent.
pulque
The first drink to be made from agave was pulque, a mildly fermentedbeverage derived from the sap, or aguamiel. We know fromremnants found at archeological digs that agave—called maguey inMexico—was cultivated, roasted, and eaten eight thousand yearsago; the sweet sap surely would have been drunk as well. Muralsdating to 200 AD at the pyramid in Cholula, Mexico, depict peopledrinking pulque. The Aztec Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, one of thefew pre-Columbian books not destroyed by the Spanish, portrayMayahuel, goddess of the agave, breast-feeding her drunken rabbitchildren, presumably offering them pulque instead of milk. She hadfour hundred children in all—the "Centzon Totochtin"—and theyare known as the rabbit gods of pulque and intoxication.
The strangest bit of evidence for pulque's ancient origins comesfrom a botanist named Eric Callen who, in the 1950s, pioneeredcoprolite analysis, or the study of human feces found at archeologicalsites. He was ridiculed by his colleagues for his bizarre specialty,but he did make some astonishing finds concerning the diet of ancientpeople. He claimed that he could confirm the presence of "magueybeer" in two-thousand-year-old feces just from the odor of therehydrated samples in his laboratory—which is either a testamentto his sensitive nose or to the powerful bouquet of very old pulque.
To make pulque, the flowering stalk of the agave is cut just as itstarts to form. The plant waits its entire life for this moment, stockpilingsugars for a decade or more in anticipation of the emergenceof this single appendage. Cutting it forces the base to swell withoutgrowing taller; at that point, the wound is covered and allowed torest for several months while the sap builds. Then it is puncturedagain, causing the heart to rot. This rotten interior is scooped outand the inside of the cavity is repeatedly scraped, which irritates theplant so much that sap begins to flow profusely. Once it begins flowing,the sap is extracted every day by means of a rubber tube or, inthe old days, a pipette made from a gourd called acocote. (The acocote,in case you are inclined to grow your own, is often made fromthe long, skinny segment of Lagenaria vulgaris, a common bottlegourd also used to make bowls and musical instruments.)
A single agave can produce a gallon a day for months at a stretch,yielding over 250 gallons in all, far more than the plant wouldcontain at any given time. Eventually the sap runs dry and the agavecrumples and dies. (Agaves are monocarpic, meaning that theybloom only once and then expire, so this is not as much of a tragedyas it may seem.)
The sap needs less than a day to ferment—historically, this tookplace in wooden barrels, pigskins, or goatskins—and then it isready to drink. A bit of the previous batch, the "mother," is usuallyadded to start the process. It ferments quickly thanks in part to thenaturally occurring bacteria Zymomonas mobilis that live on theagave and on other tropical plants that are made into alcohol, suchas sugarcane, palms, and cacao. (These bacteria do such an efficientjob of producing ethanol that they are used to make biofuels today.)However, this microbe is entirely unwelcome in other brewing processes.It is the cause of "cider sickness," a secondary fermentationthat can ruin a batch of hard cider. It can spoil beer as well, releasinga nasty, sulfuric smell in a tainted batch. Still, it is the perfectcatalyst for turning agave sap to pulque. Saccharomyces cerevisiae,the common brewing yeast, helps with fermentation, as does thebacterium Leuconostoc mesenteroides, which grows on vegetablesand also ferments pickles and sauerkraut.
These and other microorganisms bring about a quick, frothy fermentation.Pulque is low in alcohol—only 4–6 percent alcohol byvolume (ABV)—and has a slightly sour flavor, like pears or bananaspast their prime. It is something of an acquired taste. Spanish historianFrancisco López de Gómara, writing in the sixteenth century,said: "There are no dead dogs, nor a bomb, that can clear a path aswell as the smell of [pulque]." Gómara might have preferred pulquecurado, which is pulque flavored with coconut, strawberry, tamarind,pistachio, or other fruits.
Because no preservatives are added, pulque is always served fresh.The yeasts and bacteria remain active and the taste changes withina few days. Canned, pasteurized versions are available, but themicrobes die off and the flavor suffers. It is, after all, the lively microbialmix that wins pulque comparisons to yogurt as well as beer.With its healthy dose of B vitamins, iron, and ascorbic acid, pulqueis practically considered a health food. While beer has been the beverageof choice in Mexico for decades, pulque is making a comebacknot only in Mexico but in border cities like San Diego as well.
mezcal and tequila
Any number of popular books on tequila and mezcal claim thatwhen the Spanish arrived in Mexico, they needed a stronger drink tofortify themselves against the long and bloody struggle to come andintroduced distillation as a way to turn pulque into a higher-proofspirit. In fact, tequila and mezcal are made from entirely differentspecies of agave than pulque. The method for harvesting the plantand making the spirit is completely different, too.
It turns out to be very difficult to put pulque in a still and get strongliquor from it. The complex sugar molecules in agave nectar don'tbreak down readily during fermentation, and heat from distillationcauses unpleasant chemical reactions that create nasty flavors likesulfur and burning rubber. Extracting agave sugars for distillationrequires a different technique—one that had already been perfectedbefore the Spanish arrived.
Archeological evidence—including the aforementioned coproliteanalysis carried out by Eric Callen and others—proves that peopleliving in Mexico prior to the Spanish invasion enjoyed a long traditionof roasting the heart of the agave for food. Pottery fragments,early tools, paintings, and actual remnants of digested agave allconfirm this beyond a doubt. Roasted agave is a gourmet experience;imagine a richer, meatier version of grilled artichoke hearts.It would have made a fine meal by itself.
But a high-proof spirit can also be made from the roasted hearts.The roasting process breaks down the sugars in a different way,yielding lovely caramelized flavors that make for a rich, smokyliquor. When the Spaniards arrived, they observed the locals tendingto agave fields, monitoring the plants closely, and harvestingthem at a precise point in their development, right before the budemerged from the base to form a flowering stalk. Instead of scrapingout the center to force the flow of sap, as was the practice formaking pulque, the agave leaves were hacked away, revealing a densemass called a piña, which resembled a pineapple or an artichokeheart. Those were harvested and roasted in brick or stone-linedovens set in the ground, then covered so that they could smolder forseveral days.
Native people had clearly worked out a method for cultivating androasting the agave. Pre-Columbian stone pits built for this purposecan still be found in Mexico and the southwestern United States.Now some archeologists point to remnants of crude stills to suggestthat people might not have simply roasted the agave for food—theymight have already been working on distillation methods prior toEuropean contact.
This is a controversial idea hotly debated among academics. Whatwe know for certain is that the Spaniards introduced new technology.Many of the earliest stills in Mexico are a derivation of theFilipino still, a wonderfully simple bit of equipment made entirelyfrom local materials—mostly plants themselves. The reason theSpaniards get credit for this is that they are the ones who broughtthe Filipinos to Mexico, courtesy of the Manila-Acapulco galleons.These trading ships took advantage of favorable breezes that madeit possible to journey directly from the Philippines to Acapulco injust four months' time. For 250 years, from 1565 to 1815, the shipsbrought spices, silk, and other luxuries from Asia to the New World,and they carried back Mexican silver for use as currency. The crosspollinationof cultures between Mexico and the Philippines surviveseven today, with the Filipino still being just one example of the connectionbetween the two regions.
This simple still consisted of a hollowed-out tree trunk (often Enterolobiumcyclocarpum, a tree in the pea family called guanacaste,or elephant ear) perched above an inground oven lined with bricks.The fermented mixture would be placed inside the tree trunk andbrought to a boil. A shallow copper basin sat atop the tree trunkso that the liquid could boil and rise to the copper basin, much likesteam collecting in the lid of a pot. This distilled liquid would thendrip onto a wooden chute placed below the basin and run out of thestill by way of a bamboo tube or a rolled agave leaf. More traditionalcopper Spanish stills, called Arabic stills, were also introducedearly on.
Whenever distillation started in Latin America, the practice waswell established by 1621, when a priest in Jalisco, Domingo Lázarode Arregui, wrote that the roasted agave hearts yielded "a wine bydistillation clearer than water and stronger than cane alcohol, andto their liking."
* * *
Over the last few centuries—and until the last decade or so—agavebasedspirits were considered to be rough products that in no waycompared to a good Scotch or Cognac. In 1897, a Scientific Americanreporter wrote that "mezcal is described as tasting like a mixtureof gasoline, gin and electricity. Tequila is even worse, and is said toincite murder, riot and revolution."
While gin and electricity sound like excellent ingredients for a cocktail,this wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement. But today, artisanaldistilleries in Jalisco and Oaxaca are making extraordinary smoothand fine spirits, using a mixture of ancient and modern technology.
Mezcal at its best is a fine, handcrafted spirit, made in very smallbatches in Mexican villages using ancient techniques and a wide varietyof wild agaves. The piñas are still chopped and roasted slowlyin belowground ovens, where they are infused with the smoke fromlocal oak, mesquite, or other wood for several days. They are thencrushed by a stone wheel called a tahona. The wheel rolls arounda circular pit, propelled in the old days by a donkey, although moresophisticated machinery is sometimes used today. (This wheel, bythe way, is strikingly similar to apple-grinding stones once used tomake cider in Europe. Whether the Spanish introduced the tahonato Mexico is a subject of hot debate among archeologists andhistorians.)
Once the roasted piñas are crushed, the juice can be siphoned offand fermented with water and wild yeast for a lighter-tasting mezcal,or the whole mash, including the crushed bits of agave, can befermented, yielding a rich and smoky mezcal that would please anyScotch drinker. In some villages, the distillation takes place in atraditional clay and bamboo still. Other distillers use a slightly moremodern copper pot still that is very similar to those used to makefine whiskies and brandies. Many mezcals are double- or triple-distilledto perfect the flavor.
Some distillers are so particular about their process that they won'tlet visitors near the still if they've used any perfumed soaps, fearingthat even a few fragrance molecules will taint their product.The better mezcals are labeled by the species of agave and village,the way a good French wine would be. Today, according to Mexico'slaws, a spirit carrying the name mezcal can only be made in Oaxacaand the adjacent state of Guerrero, and in three states to the north,Durango, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas.
There is one ingredient that can make mezcal different from whiskeyor brandy: a dead chicken. Pechuga is a particularly rare andwonderful version of mezcal that includes wild local fruit added tothe distillation for just a hint of sweetness, and a whole raw chickenbreast, skinned and washed, hung in the still as the vapors pass overit. The chicken is supposed to balance the sweetness of the fruit.Whatever its purpose, it works: do not pass up an opportunity totaste pechuga mezcal.
What makes tequila different? For centuries, the term mezcal appliedgenerally to all Mexican spirits made from the roasted heartof the agave. In the nineteenth century, tequila simply applied tomezcal made in or around the city of Tequila, in the state of Jalisco.It might have been made with a different species of agave, but themethod was generally the same.
During the twentieth century, tequila settled into the drink it istoday: a spirit made only in a designated area around Jalisco, froma cultivar of Agave tequilana called 'Weber Blue', often farmed inlarge fields rather than wild-harvested, and heated and steamed inan oven rather than slowly roasted in an underground pit. (Twenty-tonautoclaves are not an uncommon sight at tequila distilleriestoday.) Unfortunately, the definition of tequila also expanded toinclude mixtos, tequilas distilled from a mixture of agave and othersugars, with as much as 49 percent of the fermentation comingfrom non-agave sugar. Most tequilas Americans slurp down in theform of margaritas are mixtos; it still takes a little extra effort toorder a 100% agave tequila. When you do, they are well worth sampling.Some are as sweet as an aged rum or as smoky and woodsyas a good whiskey, and some have unexpected floral notes, like aFrench liqueur. They are perfect on their own; there's no need topollute a fine, handcrafted tequila with lime juice and salt.
Now that mezcal and tequila have their own appellation (called aDO, or Denominación de Origen in Mexico), other agave-basedspirits are claiming their territory. Raicilla comes from the areaaround Puerto Vallarta, bacanora from Sonora, and sotol, madefrom the related desert spoon or sotol plant Dasylirion wheeleri,from Chihuahua.
protecting the plants
As these spirits become more popular, a new problem arises forMexican distillers: protection of the plants and the land. Many ofthe non-tequila spirits are made from wild agaves. Some distillersof these spirits see the population of wild plants as being nearlyunlimited and impossible to decimate; unfortunately, this is thesame belief system that led to the destruction of the coast redwoodsand other wild plant populations. Although some agaves reproducevegetatively, producing "pups," offshoots that can regrow afterharvest, the harvest process prevents them from blooming. By notallowing the plants to flower, reproduce, and set seed, the geneticdiversity is seriously impacted. Even the population of wild bats thatpollinate agaves are diminished because the agaves are not allowedto bloom naturally.
The situation is worse for tequila, which generally comes fromplants that have been farmed rather than harvested in the wild.Since only one species, A. tequilana, can be used to make the spirit,it has become a monoculture just as grapes have in northern California.David Suro-Piñera, owner of Siembra Azul tequila and anadvocate for the preservation of tequila's history and the sustainabilityof the industry, said, "We've been abusing the species. Wehave not allowed the plant to reproduce in the wild. Genetically, it isexhausted and very vulnerable to disease. I'm very concerned." Heattributes an increased use of pesticides, fungicides, and herbicidesto the weakness of the plants themselves. Also, water is an importantingredient in tequila and other spirits; increased chemical useand degradation of the soil can pollute water supplies as well.
Already plagues of disease have devastated the domesticated agavecrop, not unlike the catastrophic Irish potato famine or the waveof phylloxera that destroyed European vineyards. In the case ofthe agave, the agave snout weevil (Scyphophorus acupunctatus)introduces bacteria and deposits eggs that hatch into tiny larvae thateat the plant, rotting it from the inside out. Because the weevil boresinside, insecticides are largely ineffective.
Strengthening the crops and preserving wild agaves will require acombination of intercropping—the practice of interspersing agaveswith other plants—protecting wild areas to increase genetic diversity,reducing chemical use, and taking steps to restore the health ofthe soil.
(Continues...)Excerpted from The DRUNKEN BOTANIST by Amy Stewart. Copyright © 2013 Amy Stewart. Excerpted by permission of ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Algonquin Books; First Edition (March 19, 2013)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1616200464
- ISBN-13 : 978-1616200466
- Item Weight : 1.25 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.25 x 1.05 x 8.35 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #13,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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About the author
Amy Stewart is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen books, including the new Kopp Sisters series, which began with Girl Waits With Gun. The series is based on the true story of three remarkable sisters who lived in New Jersey a hundred years ago.
Amy has also written six nonfiction books on the perils and pleasures of the natural world, including the New York Times bestsellers The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Bugs, Wicked Plants, and Flower Confidential.
She lives in Portland with her husband Scott Brown, a rare book dealer. When she isn't writing, she's making art, which you can see on Instagram, or teaching art and writing classes online.
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Although there were hundreds of interesting facts regarding the various plant species, I would like to list just a few to give the readers an idea that the book was interesting and did not just discuss making booze.
1. We learn the Barley is the most prolific grain at converting its starches into sugar to make alcohol because it has a high level of enzymes and that it is an easy plant to grow not being much affected by cold, drought, or poor soil conditions.
2. Peat is what gives Scotch its particular taste.
3. Kentucky produces 90% of all the bourbon in the world. [p47]
4. Cork comes from the Portuguese Oak [Quercus Suber. It is stripped annually with each tree yielding about 4k corks, primarily used in wine bottling, yet the trees regenerate new bark each year and live for about 2 centuries before finally dying.
5. The real difference between American and Canadian whiskeys is that each batch of American whiskey reguires a new oak barrel, while Canadians can use barrels previously used for making wine or whiskey before. This gives it more flavor than American bourbon, but each batch may taste slightly different depending on what the barrels had previously held.
6. Absinthe doesn't make you drunk [crazy] because of the wormwood being fermented but the fact that it was originally bottles at 70% ABV as opposed to Brandy commonly bottled at 40% ABV. Since it was 75% stronger you got drunk and started acting crazy much sooner than had you been drinking Brandy which was very commonly drunk when people favored absinthe. In this regard think of Henry Miller and Anais Nin.
7. Vodka became popular in America only after WWII because distillers couldn't get enough grain to use, so begged potato growers to send them all the small and misshapen potatoes they had, since appearance wouldn't matter. Distillers sold 1M gallons of Vodka in 1946 and 30M by 1965. BTW, Vodka uses rye, wheat, and other grains in its manufacture, but most Americans think of it as only made from Potatoes. There is also a big controversy over where Vodka originated, whether Poland or Russia. [p70]
8. We also learn that that the agave plant used to make Tequila is not a cactus but a member of the asparagus family, and that each plant yields enough sap to make about 250 gallons of maguay beer, which was drunk some 2K years ago. How do we know that; well it is because some scientist analyzed some 2k year old coprofites. :-0
9. Although humans have about 25k different genes, an apple tree has 57k.
There was also a nice and lengthy section on herbs made from the green or fleshy part of plants and spices made from the bark, root, stem, or seed of plants.
As you can see there was a lot more to the book than the simple making of booze. Highly recommended.
There are all kinds of books out now covering mixology and the new cocktails, etc. What sets Amy's book apart is that she is a horticulturist, and she tells you about the fabulous plants that make or go into all the different kinds of fermented beverages man has come up with.
The book is divided into three parts:
1. Plants that are fermented to make the alcohol (wheat, potatoes, grapes, etc.)
2. Plants that are added to the alcohol (hops, gentian, aloe, etc.)
3. Plants that make up mixers and garnishes (spearmint, pomegranate, pepper, etc.)
Throughout the book, in the appropriate chapters, are recipes for 50 cocktails, and 13 syrups, infusions and garnishes, such as limoncello and "Brine your own olives".
This isn't a staid recitation of facts, but engaging, encompassing and trivia-filled reading. For example, the chapter on sugar cane (in part 1), tells you:
- the first and current places sugarcane is cultivated and how it is cultivated
- the botany of sugarcane
- how to make rum
- spirits made from sugar cane
- how rum became linked to British sailors
- drink recipes
Did you know that the British navy had rum rations for it's sailors until 1970! Do you know how to tell "real" tonic water from the cheap imitation? How about why a splash of water actually heightens the flavor of a spirit instead of diluting it?
There's a member of the iris family called Orris (part 2) which is used in almost every gin made. Yet is is cultivated on only 173 acres worldwide. Stewart writes, "Its popularity in perfume is due to the fact that it not only holds the fragrance in place but clings to the skin as well. It also happens to be a very common allergen, which explains why allergy sufferers might be sensitive to cosmetics and other fragrances - as well as gin."
I could write pages more about the great stories and tidbits of information contained in this book. I really had a fun time reading it.
The illustrations in "The Drunken Botanist" are fine, but they're stock illustrations. I miss Briony Morrow-Cribbs' and Jonathan Rosen's incredible drawings and engravings that were such enchanting - and vigorous - enhancements to Stewart's previous books, Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects and Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities .
Visit Stewart's website,
drunkenbotanist com
for links to plant and liquor sources. There are some heritage plants that can only be found in a couple places. and check out Redventure, a type of very slender red celery that is perfect for use as a swizzle stick!
Happy Reader
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2013
There are all kinds of books out now covering mixology and the new cocktails, etc. What sets Amy's book apart is that she is a horticulturist, and she tells you about the fabulous plants that make or go into all the different kinds of fermented beverages man has come up with.
The book is divided into three parts:
1. Plants that are fermented to make the alcohol (wheat, potatoes, grapes, etc.)
2. Plants that are added to the alcohol (hops, gentian, aloe, etc.)
3. Plants that make up mixers and garnishes (spearmint, pomegranate, pepper, etc.)
Throughout the book, in the appropriate chapters, are recipes for 50 cocktails, and 13 syrups, infusions and garnishes, such as limoncello and "Brine your own olives".
This isn't a staid recitation of facts, but engaging, encompassing and trivia-filled reading. For example, the chapter on sugar cane (in part 1), tells you:
- the first and current places sugarcane is cultivated and how it is cultivated
- the botany of sugarcane
- how to make rum
- spirits made from sugar cane
- how rum became linked to British sailors
- drink recipes
Did you know that the British navy had rum rations for it's sailors until 1970! Do you know how to tell "real" tonic water from the cheap imitation? How about why a splash of water actually heightens the flavor of a spirit instead of diluting it?
There's a member of the iris family called Orris (part 2) which is used in almost every gin made. Yet is is cultivated on only 173 acres worldwide. Stewart writes, "Its popularity in perfume is due to the fact that it not only holds the fragrance in place but clings to the skin as well. It also happens to be a very common allergen, which explains why allergy sufferers might be sensitive to cosmetics and other fragrances - as well as gin."
I could write pages more about the great stories and tidbits of information contained in this book. I really had a fun time reading it.
The illustrations in "The Drunken Botanist" are fine, but they're stock illustrations. I miss Briony Morrow-Cribbs' and Jonathan Rosen's incredible drawings and engravings that were such enchanting - and vigorous - enhancements to Stewart's previous books, [[ASIN:1565129601 Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects]] and [[ASIN:1565126831 Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities]].
Visit Stewart's website,
drunkenbotanist com
for links to plant and liquor sources. There are some heritage plants that can only be found in a couple places. and check out Redventure, a type of very slender red celery that is perfect for use as a swizzle stick!
Happy Reader
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Reviewed in Canada on April 5, 2023