If you're new to the world of wine, it will clue you in on what you've been missing and show you how to get started. It begins with the basic types of wine, how wines are made, and more. Then it gets down to specifics:How to handle snooty wine clerks, navigate restaurant wine lists, decipher cryptic wine labels, and dislodge stubborn corks How to sniff and taste wine How to store and pour wine and pair it with food Four white wine styles: fresh, unoaked; earthy; aromatic; rich, oaky Four red wine styles: soft, fruity, and relatively light-bodied; mild-mannered, medium-bodied; spicy; powerful, full-bodied, and tannic What's happening in the "Old World" of wine, including France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, and Greece What's how (and what's not) in the New World of Wine, including Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa U.S. wines from California, Oregon, Washington, and New York Bubbling beauties and medieval sweets: champagne, sparkling wines, sherry, port, and other exotic dessert wines Authors Ed McCarthy, CWE, who is a regular contributor to Wine Enthusiast and The Wine Journal and Mary Ewing-Mulligan, MW, who owns the International Wine Center in New York, have co-authored six wine books in the For Dummies series. In an easy-to-understand, unpretentious style that's as refreshing as a glass of Chardonnay on a summer day, they provide practical information to help you enjoy wine, including:Real Deal symbols that alert you to good wines that are low in price compared to other wines of similar type, style, or quality A Vintage Wine Chart with specifics on numerous wines Info on ordering wine from out of state, collecting wine, and more Wine For Dummies, Fourth Edition is not just a great resource and reference, it's a good read. It's full-bodied, yet light...rich, yet crisp...robust, yet refreshing....

    Today, trendy urban bars such as Apothke in New York, Apo Bar & Lounge in Philadelphia, and 1022 South in Tacoma, as well as "vintage" and "homegrown" cocktail aficionados, find inspiration in apothecary cocktails of old. Now you can too! Apothecary Cocktails features 75 traditional and newly created recipes for medicinally-themed cocktails. Learn the history of the top ten apothecary liqueurs, bitters, and tonics that are enjoying resurgence at trendy bars and restaurants, including Peychaud's Bitters, Chartreuse, and Vermouth. Find out how healing herbs, flowers, and spices are being given center stage in cocktail recipes and traditional apothecary recipes and ingredients are being resurrected for taste and the faint promise of a cure. Once you've mastered the history, you can try your hand at reviving your favorites: restoratives, sedatives and toddys, digestifs, and more. Whether you're interested in the history, the recipes, or both, you'll love flipping through this beautifully presented book that delves into the world of apothecary cocktails.

    And this new edition contains an additional 16 wonderful pages, including a featured supplement about the olfactory system and how it deepens our enjoyment of wine. Written in a question-and-answer format, the section is coauthored with Wendy Dubit, an expert on the subject. Plus, this unequaled volume retains all the invaluable information, fabulous illustrations, and gorgeous styling of the 20th anniversary edition. Wine lovers will still thrill to Zraly’s inimitable, irreverent style. As always, he answers every question about wine; offers the most up-to-date recommendations; provides advice on buying wine in stores and on the Internet; takes you on a country-by-country, region-by-region ratings tour of the latest vintages; and starts you on your way to becoming a wine connoisseur. Abundant full-color labels and maps complete the enticing picture. More current, more informative, more concise and precise than ever, this remains the wine guide against which all others are judged.

    Explores the world of Lambics, Flanders red and Flanders brown beers as well as the many new American beers produced in the similar style.

    Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, brings us up to date on what we now know about how humans created and enjoyed fermented beverages across cultures. Along the way, he explores a provocative hypothesis about the integral role such libations have played in human evolution. We discover, for example, that the cereal staples of the modern world were probably domesticated for their potential in making quantities of alcoholic beverages. These include the delectable rice wines of China and Japan, the corn beers of the Americas, and the millet and sorghum drinks of Africa. Humans also learned how to make mead from honey and wine from exotic fruits of all kinds-even from the sweet pulp of the cacao (chocolate) fruit in the New World. The perfect drink, it turns out-whether it be mind-altering, medicinal, a religious symbol, a social lubricant, or artistic inspiration-has not only been a profound force in history, but may be fundamental to the human condition itself.

    Since its opening in 2006, Death & Co has been a must-visit destination for serious drinkers and cocktail enthusiasts, and the winner of every major industry award—including America’s Best Cocktail Bar and Best Cocktail Menu at the Tales of the Cocktail convention. Boasting a supremely talented and creative bar staff—the best in the industry—Death & Co is also the birthplace of some of the modern era’s most iconic drinks, such as the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned, Naked and Famous, and the Conference.  Destined to become a definitive reference on craft cocktails, Death & Co features more than 500 of the bar’s most innovative and sought-after cocktails. But more than just a collection of recipes, Death & Co is also a complete cocktail education, with information on the theory and philosophy of drink making, a complete guide to buying and using spirits, and step-by-step instructions for mastering key bartending techniques. Filled with beautiful, evocative photography; illustrative charts and infographics; and colorful essays about the characters who fill the bar each night; Death & Co—like its namesake bar—is bold, elegant, and setting the pace for mixologists around the world.

    In those days, hard beverage options were usually made with homemade hooch and flavorings of dubious origin and quality.      Thankfully, a cocktail renaissance has emerged in many of today’s bars, where inventive drinks showcase both the artistry and craft of bartending. At their moody and atmospheric West Village bar-restaurant Employees Only, master mixologists Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric can regale you with colorful tales of cocktail origins—or just pour you a mean drink. In Speakeasy, Kosmas and Zaric take their inspiration from traditional favorites, then use the finest spirits, the freshest ingredients, and a good measure of reverence for their craft to elevate the mixed drink to artisanal status. More than 80 imaginative libations that riff on the classics are showcased in this one-of-a-kind collection. Recipes emphasize fresh fruits and herbs, homemade syrups and infusions, and a careful balancing of flavors, with a mind toward seasonality. A Ginger Smash is offered in four different versions: kumquat, pineapple, pear, or cranberry, depending on the time of year. The Millionaire becomes the Billionaire with the addition of homemade grenadine and 107-proof bourbon. And the South Side becomes the West Side by replacing the gin with sun-kissed Meyer lemon–infused vodka. With the specter of Prohibition firmly in the past, Speakeasy shares recipes for the choicest potent potables, reimagining the finest drinks of yesterday for today’s thirsty imbibers.

    Surely an extension would give him a renewed sense of purpose in life as he approached old age.But as the walls of his home crumbled, so too did his mental health, and he fell, once again, into depression -- that great darkness where life feels like nothing more than a waste of time.And yet, it is in that great darkness that we discover what really makes us human. 'Michael Harding is no ordinary man or memoirist ... a book that champions the kindness (or at least company) of strangers as essential for that elusive state known as happiness' RTÉ Guide

    This book includes ingredients, methods, recipes and equipment information. It provides reference to intermediate techniques like all-grain brewing variations and recipe formulation.

    But the spritz is more than just an early evening cocktail—it’s a style of drinking. In Spritz, Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau trace the drink’s origins to ancient Rome, uncover its unlikely history and culture, explore the evolution of aperitivo throughout Northern Italy, and document the spritz’s revival around the world. From regional classics to modern variations, Spritz includes dozens of recipes from some of America’s most lauded bartenders, a guide to building a spritz bar, and a collection of food recipes for classic Italian snacks to pair alongside.From the Hardcover edition.

    

    All you need is the know-how.               That’s where Emma Christensen comes in, distilling a wide variety of projects—from mead to kefir to sake—to their simplest forms, making the process fun and accessible for homebrewers. All fifty-plus recipes in True Brews stem from the same basic techniques and core equipment, so it’s easy for you to experiment with your favorite flavors and add-ins once you grasp the fundamentals.               Covering a tantalizing range of recipes, including Coconut Water Kefir, Root Beer, Honey–Green Tea Kombucha, Pear Cider, Gluten-Free Pale Ale, Chai-Spiced Mead, Cloudy Cherry Sake, and Plum Wine, these fresh beverages make impressive homemade offerings for hostess gifts, happy hours, and thirsty friends alike.

    

    A cocktail renaissance has swept across the country, inspiring in bartenders and their thirsty patrons a new fascination with the ingredients, techniques, and traditions that make the American cocktail so special. And few ingredients have as rich a history or serve as fundamental a role in our beverage heritage as bitters.Author and bitters enthusiast Brad Thomas Parsons traces the history of the world's most storied elixir, from its earliest "snake oil" days to its near evaporation after Prohibition to its ascension as a beloved (and at times obsessed-over) ingredient on the contemporary bar scene. Parsons writes from the front lines of the bitters boom, where he has access to the best and boldest new brands and flavors, the most innovative artisanal producers, and insider knowledge of the bitters-making process.Whether you're a professional looking to take your game to the next level or just a DIY-type interested in homemade potables, Bitters has a dozen recipes for customized blends--ranging from Apple to Coffee-Pecan to Root Beer bitters--as well as tips on sourcing ingredients and step-by-step instructions fit for amateur and seasoned food crafters alike.Also featured are more than seventy cocktail recipes that showcase bitters' diversity and versatility: classics like the Manhattan (if you ever get one without bitters, send it back), old-guard favorites like the Martinez, contemporary drinks from Parsons's own repertoire like the Shady Lane, plus one-of-a-kind libations from the country's most pioneering bartenders. Last but not least, there is a full chapter on cooking with bitters, with a dozen recipes for sweet and savory bitters-infused dishes.Part recipe book, part project guide, part barman's manifesto, Bitters is a celebration of good cocktails made well, and of the once-forgotten but blessedly rediscovered virtues of bitters.

    Finally, a book that treats beer as seriously as wine! This latest volume in the acclaimed 1001 series supplies the connoisseurs' scoop on ferreting out the best among an ever-increasing array of available brews--from exotic foreign beers to the constantly evolving world of American microbrews and homebrews. The book focuses on the world of premium beers--from obscure labels to such traditional yet supremely local brands as Shiner (Austin, Texas), from Czech pilsners to German lagers, Belgian wheat beers, and Trappists ales, not to mention the classic British porters and Irish stouts--every type of beer is covered, making this the go-to volume for serious beer lovers. No mere catalogue or encyclopedia, the volume features critical tasting notes and subjective assessments that will help match the right beer to the right occasion. Is this beer light, crisp, and refreshing (good for a picnic), or dry, bitter, and appetizing? Each description includes notes on the flavor and body of the beer, explains why it tastes the way it does, and describes strength and ideal serving temperature.