Here is a list of 31 drink books coming out near the end of 2023! This isn't every cocktail book coming out (and there are plenty of beer and wine ones I didn't include) but a selection of them. Happy reading or gifting or just putting them on your coffee... Read more →
For the San Francisco Chronicle, I wrote about the Chartreuse shortage and how some bartenders are looking locally to Brucato Chaparral as a stand-in. Read more →
After reading my book Doctors and Distillers, Harold McGee (On Food and Cooking) pointed out to me that proof of distillation in ancient India (supposedly from the fifth century BCE) is not as well established as previously thought. Many histories on distillation cite work from 1979 that claims that elephant... Read more →
I was interviewed for this terrific story in Vanity Fair that brings together the modern manifestations of clear ice with its history as a luxury item that quickly transforms into an everyday necessity over and over again. I think the writer did a great job with it. Read it here. Read more →
This is a quick post on some books I've read on women distilling in olden times. Distillation of spirits came out of medical alchemy (which is to say medical proto-science), and early alchemy books included lots of recipes for distilled medicines with stuff like gold and silver included in them.... Read more →
For my book Doctors and Distillers I referred to the Smithsonian's "Balm of America" collection of patent medicines. The collection is images of patent medicine bottles, pills, etc. I was just made aware of another patent medicine collection at NYU - and in this one you can spin the bottles... Read more →
I'm doing some historical research and came across this article from 1905 - just before the Pure Food & Drug Act was enacted. (See Doctors and Distillers for more about that!) This is from the "Truth" newspaper from Salt Lake City. It lists the alcohol percentages of many bitters and... Read more →
Here's something. I read a lot of books, most of them about liquor, but not all. I am in several book clubs but one of them is my "normal" club in which we discuss non-boozy books. (With exceptions! Once I chose a book on ice; more recently another member chose... Read more →