Alcademics

A new batch of booze books has hit the market for your thirsty enjoyment. The following have hit the market since the 2019 holidays, so 2020 is starting out to be another big year for books on liquid refreshment. 

The information below comes from the publishers and the links are to Amazon, but feel free to order from your local independent bookstore instead. 

Whiskey Master Class: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, and More by Lew Bryson

Over the past three decades, Lew Bryson has been one of the most influential voices in whiskey—a longtime editor of Whisky Advocate and author of the definitive guide Tasting Whiskey. In this book, Lew shares everything he's learned on his journey through the worlds of bourbon, Scotch, rye, Japanese whiskey, and more (yes, there are tasty Canadian and Irish whiskeys as well!). In this book, you'll find it all:

• An overview of the different types of whiskeys, including the rules and identities of each. He also includes information on craft whiskeys, which tend to be more creative and freewheeling than the styles made by traditional producers.
• Exploration of the key whiskey ingredients, with a close look at the flavor contributions of malt, peat, corn, rye, wheat—even water matters.
• Distillation for non-distillers and the beauty of barrels: Whiskey is both an art and a science, and what's in the glass is affected by things like pot stills vs. column stills, barrel char, and of course, time.
• Numerous interviews with master distillers, still makers, and other artisans at the top of their field.
• Tasting notes throughout so you can identify the whiskeys you might want to try next.
• Every chapter contains a variety of unique, often behind-the-scenes photography.
• And with whiskey as the subject, this is a class where you'll want to do the homework!

The Good Reverend's Guide to Infused Spirits: Alchemical Cocktails, Healing Elixirs, and Cleansing Solutions for the Home and Bar by Steven Grasse, Sonia Kurtz, Michael Alan

A complete guide to home uses for neutral spirits, from infusions and tinctures to cocktails and cleaning solutions.

A bottle of rectified alcohol, like The Good Reverend’s Universal Spirit from Tamworth Distilling, is a bottle of possibilities. In these pages, you’ll discover over 100 recipes for infusions, tinctures, cocktails, cordials, elixirs, punches, and even household cleaners. This handbook will teach you to replicate famous liqueurs and classic cocktails, and help you prepare perfect garnishes and celebratory toasts.

With step-by-step instructions and photos, you’ll learn processes culinary, scientific, and alchemical to improve everything from your parties to your health. You’ll learn the processes of osmosis and dissolution that create the perfect infusions. You’ll be given the secrets to prep for guests lists of 1 or 100. You’ll be guided through pairing your alcoholic creations with the rhythms of nature.

Yes, with a bottle of purified spirits, you’ll be able to purify your own human spirit. These recipes explain not just the flavor benefits of their ingredients, but also the spiritual and supernatural. Discover the meanings of herbs, the ratio of the Fibonacci sequence, and the effects of moon phases, among so much more. Come for the drinks, but stay for the magic.

Camp Cocktails: Easy, Fun, and Delicious Drinks for the Great Outdoors by Emily Vikre 

Learn how to plan, pack, and whip up great drinks in the great outdoors.

Cabin trips, hikes, patio parties, camping adventures—however you enjoy the great outdoors, it should be fun and easy. And so should the drinks! Simplicity, though, doesn't mean you're limited to a bottle and a mixer. With Camp Cocktails, you'll have a variety of options for simple and tasty drinks that are ready to go wherever you go.

Cool off after a hot day spent hiking through the woods with a Flask Boulevardier or the Northwoods Sidecar. Break in the campsite with a Grilled Orange Cobbler or the ultimate beer-based cocktail. Bundling up around the fire? Warm up with the Salted Nutella Hot Chocolate, the Penicillin Toddy, or a spiked hot apple cider.

Every recipe comes with easy-to-follow instructions, and many feature expert bartender tips and hacks. A variety of occasions are all here, from stargazing to boating. And to round it all out, there's a whole chapter dedicated to foraging/found ingredients, and integrating nature into your favorite cocktails.

Seedlip Cocktails: 100 Delicious Nonalcoholic Recipes from Seedlip & The World's Best Bars by Seedlip

Seedlip is the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, solving the ever-growing dilemma of 'what to drink when you're not drinking'. It is based on the distilled non-alcoholic remedies from The Art of Distillation written in 1651, and now repurposed to pioneer a new category of drinks.

Seedlip is a grown-up non-alchoholic alternative to spirited drinks that balances crisp, delicious flavors and healthy, natural ingredients.

This recipe book offers an exclusive collection of Seedlip’s finesse cocktails as well as insight into their ethos, technique, and ingredients.

Highly illustrated, with recipes from the world’s best bartenders and newly commissioned images from leading drinks photographer, Rob Lawson, here are the secrets of the Seedlip way.

Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible 2020: North American Edition by Jim Murray

This is the world’s most influential book on whisky. Thanks to industry guru Jim Murray and his internationally acclaimed annual Whisky Bible, the Japanese are now running out of their own single malt and people have fought in Toronto liquor stores to grab the last bottle of his World Whisky of the Year. Rye, Irish Pot Still and Bourbon have all seen a massive resurgence in recent years not least thanks to the visionary campaigning of the world’s first-ever full time professional whisky writer.

Murray has tasted nearly 20,000 different whiskies for the Whisky Bible since it first hit the shelves in 2003. For this 2020 edition, he reflects on over another 1,200. The 4,700 whiskies included in this 2020 edition range from Scottish Single malts to Australian; from Canadian to Austrian. The whiskies from over 30 different countries are included. And evaluated in his forthright, honest, amusing, fiercely independent and non-pretentious style.

The Book of Ichigo Ichie: The Art of Making the Most of Every Moment, the Japanese Way  by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles

Find happiness by living fully in the present with this definitive guide to ichigo ichie--the Japanese art of making the most of every moment--from the bestselling authors of Ikigai.

Every moment in our life happens only once, and if we let it slip away, we lose it forever--an idea captured by the Japanese phrase ichigo ichie (pronounced itchy-GO itchy-A). Often spoken in Japan when greeting someone or saying goodbye, to convey that the encounter is unique and special, it is a tenet of Zen Buddhism and is attributed to a sixteenth-century master of the Japanese tea ceremony, or "ceremony of attention," whose intricate rituals compel us to focus on the present moment.

From this age-old concept comes a new kind of mindfulness. In The Book of Ichigo Ichie, you will learn to...

• appreciate the beauty of the fleeting, the way the Japanese celebrate the cherry blossoms for two weeks every April, knowing they'll have to wait a whole year to see them again;
• use all five senses to anchor yourself in the present, helping you to let go of fear, sadness, anger, and other negative emotions fueled by fixating on the past or the future;
• be alert to the magic of coincidences, which help us find meaning among the disconnected events of our lives;
• use ichigo ichie to help you discover your ikigai, or life's purpose--because it's only by learning to be present, to be tuned into what catches your attention and excites you in the moment, that you can identify what it is that most motivates you and brings you happiness.

Every one of us contains a key that can open the door to attention, harmony with others, and love of life. And that key is ichigo ichie.