The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider: American Ciders for Craft Beer Fans to Explore

By Beth Demmon

Indulge your Love of Craft Beer with Hard Cider!

“A wonderful journey through the cider landscape”—Jim Koch, brewer and founder of The Boston Beer Company

#1 New Release in Beer

In this delicious book about hard apple beer, award-winning beverage journalist Beth Demmon invites lovers of beer to connect familiar flavors with the fastest growing and best gluten free beer alternative on earth: cider.

Beer fans: Want to try something new? Get into cider—you might be surprised! With simple guidance and easy-to-understand comparisons to beer, you don't need to be an expert to learn to love cider. Beth uses her beer knowledge to break down why certain tastes appeal, how categories overlap, and why you might just gravitate to distinct styles, regions, and approaches to cider making. 

Become a connoisseur of hard cider! Learn how to see, smell, taste, and otherwise appreciate the craft of beer and cider. Award-winning beverage journalist Beth Demmon takes us on a journey to the future of the best craft ciders. The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider is the starting point for lay people and beer connoisseurs alike.

In The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider, you’ll find:

• A guide for gluten-free beer lovers to find the best craft ciders for your palate
• A craft beer gift for any lover of beer looking to try a new drink with familiar flavors
• Beautiful illustrations of delicious drinks, with easy-to-understand and sensory-based explanations—all written by an expert
• Foreword written by award-winning journalist, best selling author, and creator of Beervana, Jeff Alworth

If you liked Fire Cider!;Cider Planet; or Cocktails, Mocktails, and Garnishes from the Garden, you’ll love The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Sep 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781684812417

Book preview

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Reviews for The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider

[jorgeousjotts · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting if you love plants or booze, fascinating if you love both! =D

[rubygarnet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesomely informative and a fertile source of culinary ideas.

[chin1a1sen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books which you can read cover to cover or one chapter at a time. It helps if you enjoy alcohol as the book provides historical background information in addition to botanical information. Overall this is both an entertaining and informative read.

[nicolewbrown · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is broken down into different sections such as Part I: We Explore the Twin Alchemical Processes of Fermentation and Distillation, From Which Wine, Beer, and Spirits Issue Forth; Part II: We Then Suffuse Your Creations With A Wonderous Assortment of Nature's Bounty Herbs and Spices, Flowers, Trees, Fruit, Nuts and Seeds; Part III At Last we Venture Forth 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.The shrub Damiana that grows in Mexico has long been believed to be an aphrodisiac. In 1879 a doctor wrote that it could be given to female patients to "produce in her the very important yet not absolutely essential orgasm." For decades people made imitation Damiana, sometimes made of strychnine and sold it as the real deal. However, in 2009 a study on rats showed that sexually exhausted rats could perform again quicker if given Damiana. No explanation was given as to how they exhausted the rats and no human trials have ever been given. The herbal liqueur is often sold in a bottle shaped like a fertility goddess."Beer is not made from hops. It is made from barley, and sometimes other grains then flavored with hops." Hops make the beer last longer. It is said that the reason the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock is that their beer had soured and they had nothing to drink. The Hop vine is from the cannabis family and is closely related to the sticky cannabis flower buds. Getting a harvest of hops in has always been a difficult task, though it is easier now than it used to be. First, it only grows where there is sunlight for thirteen hours a day, so 35 to 55 degrees north and south latitude. It is grown in Oregan and Washington, China and Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and of course, England and Germany.Then you have to make sure the seeds set and reproduce. The vines are grown on trellises. The vines have these little bristles on them that are abrasive and leave welts when you pick the hops by hand, which some people still do. Hops are also highly flammable. They can easily spontaneously combust and burn a barn or warehouse down. Then they have to be bottled in dark bottles in order to keep the light from spoiling the hops. By the way, any beer maker that tells you to put a lime in your beer is trying to get you to disguise the skankiness of their beer from its spoilage. To grow them you go to a lot of trouble, but for beer drinkers, it does seem worth it.Engineer, Amedee Francois Frezier was sent to Peru and Chile to make a reliable map of the area in 1712. The problem was it was under Spanish Control and he was French, so he went undercover as a traveling merchant. While he made quite a few great maps, he also picked up some plants. In Europe, they did have strawberries, but they were small, nothing like the large Chilean strawberries. So he grabbed some to sneak out of the country. Only five of those plants survived. He gave two to the ship's cargo master as a gesture of thanks for letting him use the limited supply of the ship's water on the voyage. One went to his supervisor and one to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, which left one for himself. There was only one problem. The plants were sterile. Chilean strawberries are either male, female, or bisexual. He chose the ones with the biggest fruits and they were all females. They needed a male to reproduce. Luckily they eventually discovered that the Chilean strawberry could be crossed with males from strawberries of other species. By the mid-nineteenth century, it was mated to the native Virginian species and the modern strawberry was born and put into all sorts of mixed drinks.Stewert makes reading about plants and such fascinating. They all have such interesting stories to tell and most of them have been around for thousands of years, with some going back as far as the Jurassic period. They've been used for all manner of things besides an alcoholic beverage too. For example, the star anise has long been used in herbal liqueurs, but 90% of its production is used to make Tamiflu. There is not much that people haven't tried to make alcohol out of including trees, which to me seems an odd choice. This book also includes recipes for various intriguing drinks and additives, such as syrups as well as tips on how to grow your own plants, herbs, flowers, fruits, and trees. Alcohol has been a part of humanity since the beginning of time. This incredible book illustrates how this has come to be and how they are used today. I really enjoyed this fun and delectable book that has inspired me to experiment in my home bar and truly appreciate what I've been drinking. This book is a must-read.

[martensgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating book that will appeal to drinkers, scientists and social historians. I was struck by how well balanced the book is; there is an awful lot of science packed in around the alcohol knowledge.

[sylviac_43 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like her "Wicked" books, this is more of a reference book to be dipped into than a book to read all in one chunk. It is a mixture of science, history, folklore, horticulture, and mixology, which is both entertaining and educational to read. I probably would have enjoyed it even more if I actually liked liquor.

[jimocracy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although this book is not best in its audio format, I really enjoyed it. The history, botany, and bartending made for a delightful read. I plan to buy a hard copy so I can make notes.

[tlcrawford · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first thing I want to say is that I enjoyed Amy Stewart’s “The Drunken Botanist”. The book is well researched, well crafted in a reader friendly voice that manages to explain science and history while still being entertaining. Stewart is through, if something contributed to the contents of a bottle on the liquor shelf she discusses it and she does not let the “Botanist” is the title restrict her to plant life. I am the annoying type of reader that needs to share particularly interesting bits of information as I read them, my wife is lucky that she was not with me as I read this. Most pages would have started me going, repeating some factoid that I thought was fascinating. The thing is I understand that most people do not share my interests. Sure, most people, not all, like to drink but most don’t garden and, as far as I can tell, they don’t care that they can’t tell one plant from another. People are interested in history but most are interested in one era or subject. Stewart tells, indirectly, the history of world trade, the movement and development of agriculturally important plants. and the development of the technology for using them and she wraps it all up in the story of booze. Then again people do like to drink and eat, and every plant discussed in Stewart’s book can be or has been consumed in one way or another. The descriptions of the plants, their histories and uses might seem like they go on forever, with much repetition, if you sit down to read the book in one sitting. I grab a little time here and there to read which mostly prevented me from experiencing information overload but at least once I felt is coming on. Every book on alcohol contains drink recipes and “The Drunken Botanist” is no exception but there are not as many as I would have guessed. Stewart carefully picked the recipes to feature the plant under discussion which means that some have very specific ingredients. Home bartenders like me will need to think twice about before adding a bottle to their bar that might only be used once. However Stewart’s drinks looked interesting enough that I have already decided to try a few of them. A bottle of Karlsson’s Vodka, which will get used even if I don’t like it on rocks with cracked pepper, some ingredients from the baking section of a good grocery, a little time making a syrup is not much of a cost to pay if the drinks are interesting. After all I have been trying new things since the day I was born.

[pensivecat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What is your booze made from? Plants, apparently! Not the most riveting reading, but a good guide to which botanical items makes up various kinds of liquor. A little history behind each as well, and how you can tell if it's the genuine article. I love the cover art.

[murderbydeath · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book! Chock full on information about what it takes to make a drink. As a gardener, I loved reading about how what I grow can be used in my cocktails at the end of the day. Beautifully organised by the base liquor/beer, flavourings, and garnishes, including recipes and growing tips for a few of the many plants discussed. Very accessible, easy to read, and entertaining. This is a book I'll refer to on a regular basis.

[jen6e6moore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A delightful collection of plant history and trivia, growing tips, recipes - and the histories behind pretty much every variety of fermented drinkables you can imagine. A fair warning to anyone considering an ebook copy: the complex layout is not particularly well suited to e-format.

[dorritt_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an oddly compelling little tome! Being neither a drinker nor a botanist, you’d think I’d be a poor prospect for a non-fiction work about the botanical origins of alcohol. Instead, I ended up reading this whole work straight through, sucked in by the book’s quirky mix of history, chemistry, anthropology, botany, geography, taxonomy, mixology, toxicology, and gardening tips. Had no idea how much there was to know about booze! That is, I knew from high school biology that yeast can convert pretty much any sugar into alcohol, and I knew that all plants store energy as sugars/starches … but for some reason never put the pieces together; that, ergo, pretty much every imaginable tree/plant/flower/fruit/vegetable/seed can be transformed into an intoxicant. Which, it turns out, is an aim we humans have been obsessively pursuing for the past 4000 years or so!I now possess answers to so many questions I didn’t even know I had: what makes Kentucky bourbon so good (hint: it’s nothing to do with the alcohol), why almost all commercial apple trees are cloned, why barley – not hops – is the distiller’s best friend, why “100 proof” means 51% pure alcohol, what hops and marijuana have in common, the proper pronunciation of ginseng (turns out I’ve been doing it wrong for, like, 50 years), the unexpectedly swashbuckling and dangerous history of botanical discovery, the chemistry behind the magic that occurs when whisky comes in contact with oak, why moonshine is often so deadly. I’m also now an expert on freaky plant sex, but since this is a family forum I’ll leave it at that.The book is laid out as if to be used as a reference, but as my experience proves, it also works as a cover-to-cover read. Nor is it necessary that you possess a background in science or down drinks like a feature actor on the show Mad Men to find this entertaining and enriching. (Though now that I’ve read this, I do find myself possessed by an irresistible desire to sample all the exotic beverages and cocktails Stewart describes – is there such a thing as a “Drunken Botanist completist”? – which could definitely put a dent in my happy hour productivity.)Perhaps because this book is so quirky is why it worked for me: I do love it when an author takes me in hand and introduces me to a whole new discipline/philosophy/world that I never appreciated before!

[nielsengw_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In almost everything you drink, a plant is involved—especially the tasty, alcoholic kinds of drinks. Gin? Comes from juniper and sometimes contains bay leaves. Midas Touch beer? Saffron is involved, as well as Muscat and barley. Kahlua gets some of its flavor from vanilla flowers. Plants dominate the alcohol-making process. Amy Stewart’s The Drunken Botanist lists every plant, flower, tree, herb, spice, fruit, and nut involved in almost any liquor imaginable. Stewart explores the world of drinking from a purely botanical perspective. She provides details on the breeding history of certain plants, how their biochemistry provides flavor and structure to the end product, and its history in the use of drink-making. Also included are several classic drink recipes. The pure amount of information in here is staggering. This is another of those “nugget” reads—check in, grab a few choice bits, and then check out. It gets a little overwhelming when you try to consume it all in one sitting. To be fair, Stewart does keep the writing light and understandable, and her regular digressions into plant care or biographical history break up the fear of reading entry after entry. I enjoyed this book for the fact that she explored very little-known liqueurs, including Lillet, Fernet, and several other obscure bottling. Even a liquor expert will still find a few things they didn’t know before. A thick but still informative book.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well researched information and interesting up to a point. After a while the book becomes more like an encylopedia.

[buchowl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A treasure trove of information and an unmitigated delight to read.Is this a cookbook, a gardening primer or a history tome? Yes to all and greater than a sum of its parts. Author Amy Stewart states her aim is to turn the gardener into a party host/mix master and the bartender into a gardener (even if only of a window box)and with this book she could very well do that.Divided into a logical progression of three parts, the book begins at the beginning with distillation/fermentation. The classic cast of characters are covered - grains, sugarcane, grapes, etc - but also more obscure sources such as date palm, parnips and monkey puzzle (?!). In Part Two, Stewart discusses the flavorings added to the alcohol to make various spirits and liqueurs. Categories covered are herbs/spices, flowers, trees, fruit and nuts/seeds with the mulitple entries in each category dealt with in detail. Part Three is where the flavorings and garnishes are added to a finished cocktail. Much of this materical has already been covered in Part Two (and is therefore put into handy dandy tables labeled Growing Notes) but anything unique to this section receives its own entry. In conclusion, there is an extensive recommended reading section.Truly a joy to read, the writing is cheeky and fast paced but without sacrificing detail - it reads much more like a novel than appearances would indicate. I know I've gone on about the extent of detail in this book and the reason for this is that I was looking for Stewart to trip up in this regard. Having relatives in East Europe who were alcohol distributors who passed some of their knowledge on to me made me a hard judge but Stewart hit every point with mastery. So much bang for the buck here - 50 recipes included for cocktails and another 13 for "add-ons" (I never thought to make my own maraschino cherries - yep, there's a recipe). Also included are a number of "aside" and "grow your own" boxes scattered throughout (with my favorite being about the drunken lorikeets). Highly recommended and deserving of 5 stars. So why is the rating missing a half star? The ARC I am reviewing does not have the final index or table of contents set; a misstep in this area would be extremely problematic in this type of reference work (I can't review what I can't see). Even so, loved it!

[rshelton_22 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book on all things botanically related to alcohol. My review on The Cookbook Papers:"Every great drink starts with a plant," so says Amy Stewart in The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Greatest Drinks." Stewart should know; she's also the author of Flower Confidential and Wicked Plants.The Drunken Botanist explores every botanical (160 species in all) related to alcohol. The first part explores the classics. These are the plants that are transferred into alcohol, from agave to wheat. Stewart combines the plants history, misconceptions, the differences between plant varieties, and how they are produced into alcohol. She further goes into the varieties of alcohol based on production. For example, there are 9 different apple spirits all differentiated by the apple fruit varietal content, aging, and other factors (apple brandy, applejack, apple liqueur, apple wine, Calvados, Calvados Domfrontais, Calvados Pays d'Auge, eau de vie, and pomeau).The second part explores trees and their relationship to alcohol and mixers. Stewart writes about the interesting history of angostura bitters and why quinine glows under ultraviolet light. The third part explores fruit and alcohol, diving into such favorites as Theobroma cacoa (chocolate), marasca cherry (maraschino cherries), sloe berry (sloe gin), and the many varieties of citrus. If you have a green thumb, she gives tips for growing black currants, cherry trees, sloe shrubs, and citrus. She ends this section with nuts and seeds.The last part is dedicated to finishing: herbs for muddling and infusing; flowers for garnish, color, and flavor; and trees, berries, fruits, and vegetables that are so important in mixed drinks.Informative read with lots of recipes to experiment with, The Drunken Botanist is more than a coffee table or a culinary or bar reference book. It truly is a guidebook to all things botanical in both the worlds of new age mixology and classic bartending. Recommended read.

[ursula_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Plants viewed through the bottom of a glass. Stewart talks about plants and the ways they have been used through the ages in alcoholic beverages. I don't think the book is really meant to be read straight through, more as a pick-up-and-read-a-bit book, or as a reference. Going through it in one go makes some aspects seem repetitive (the means by which grain and yeast interact to form alcohol is described multiple times, and so are things like the scent of linalool). But much of the book is intriguing, like discussions of various plant mutations both intentional and not that have occurred to make some ingredients more popular than others for drinks. If you're a gardener, you get the bonus of tips on growing a number of plants that can be used in drinks. If you're just someone who enjoys beverages, you get a good variety of classic drink recipes. If you don't fall into either of those categories, you'll get a nice assortment of information useful for your next bar trivia night, or just to impress your friends.

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nature seems to love making alcohol; take any plant with sugars present in it (any fruit and a lot of grains) and let it sit out where wild yeasts can land in it, give it a little time, and alcohol will appear. Humans have been taking advantage of this for thousands of years and show no signs of losing their enchantment with alcohol. It seems that no matter what area humans lived in, there was *something* that could be turned into alcohol. And if it couldn’t be turned into alcohol, it could be used to flavor alcohol. Stewart has written a book that, while small, is encyclopedic in style. First she takes us through the plants- grains, potatoes, cacti, grasses - that are fermented and distilled to make hard liquors; then she goes through categories like fruit, sap (sugar maple), and roots that are fermented and the herbs, seeds, nuts, and barks that are used to flavor the brews. For each plant she tells us how and where it was/is used, what it adds to the brew, which brands of the brew are best, and for many, how to grow the plant. This is where the book ties into gardening: while the average gardener won’t be growing grain and setting up a still, most gardeners are able to grow some mint for mojitos, jalapenos for some special margaritas, cherry tomatoes for a Blushing Mary, or a fruit tree. Face it; nearly everything in an alcoholic drink comes from plants except for bacon vodka and Irish cream. And a lot of those things are easy to grow. The author includes over 50 drink recipes for the home mixologist. The book accomplished two things for me: I have a lot better understanding of alcohols and the history of drinks, and I want to try a lot of things I can’t afford but really want to taste, like violet liqueur and fancy vodka. And I’m looking at my garden with a new eye: what can I grab out of it to make a drink?

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Around the world, it seems, there is not a tree or shrub or delicate wildflower that has not been harvested, brewed, and bottled. Every advance in botanical exploration or horticultural science brought with it a corresponding uptick in the quality of our spirituous liquors. Drunken botanists? Given the role they play in creating the world's great drinks, it's a wonder there are any sober botanists at all. Summary: The Drunken Botanist is, as evidenced by the quote above, a look at the various plants - and there's a lot of them - that go into producing various varieties of alcohol all over the world. It's written a bit like an encylopedia: a collection of short essays about each plant, with a description of how it is used in alcohol production and its flavor (for some of the less-well-known species) as well as some of its relevant natural and cultural history. Stewart builds the book the same way one would build a cocktail - starting out with the plants that contribute to the base spirits and other standard drinks (agave, apple, barley, corn, grapes, potato, rice, rye, sorghum, sugarcane, and wheat), then moving into the variety of plants used to flavor various liquors, and finally touching on the remaining plants most frequently used as mixers. There are also tips on growing your own bartender's garden, as well as more than 60 recipes scattered throughout the books in their relevant sections, including classics (and slight variations on classics) and some more modern creations.Review: While this book took me seemingly forever to get through, I think that was more a product of the structure of the book than of anything else. The short-essay/article format of this book made it wonderful for the commute - get on the bus, read about a plant or two, get off the bus - but it simultaneously made it almost impossible to read straight through. But apart from that, this book was definitely a fun and interesting read. Stewart manages to pack in not only the basics of how fermentation and distillation work to produce alcohol, but plenty of history on how and when each of the plants became involved in the process ("The tradition of flavoring alcohol with apricots seems to have begun about ten minutes after the introduction of the apricots themselves."), and lots of great trivia ("Next time you pull a piece of silk from between your teeth while you're eating a fresh ear of corn, remember that you've just spat out a fallopian tube."), all with a light, easy-to-read style and a humorous edge. While I already had a pretty good grasp on the science of fermentation, I did learn quite a bit about how the specific process varies for each of the different species of plants involved, and I picked up some useful trivia. (For instance, the word "proof" as a measure of the alcohol content of various liquors comes from the fact that if the rum rations on British naval ships were watered down, they wouldn't catch fire when mixed with gunpowder and lit - a test which was demanded as "proof" that sailors weren't being cheated with watery rum.) I also came away from this book with an increased appreciation for the more high-quality liquors - particularly liqueurs that are actually made from the fruit in question, rather than loaded with artificial flavoring - and have started to cast a skeptical eye on some of the cheaper bottles in my bar. (Although on that tip, it turns out that Amaretto di Saronno doesn't actually contain almonds, but instead the closely-related apricot kernel.) And while I probably won't be growing my own pomegranates for grenadine, I've got a pot of mint on the back porch (as should everyone who enjoys cocktails!), and I will certainly be mixing up some of the recipes Stewart provides. 4 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: This book would be great for the cocktail enthusiasts out there, particularly (but not exclusively) those with a scientific bent.

[pennymck_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating mix of historical and botanical information about all the possible ingredients in alcohol and alcoholic drinks. Very readable

[mstrust · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book goes into meticulous detail in listing all the plants, trees, herbs, nuts, flowers, spices and pretty much anything else that has ever been fermented and distilled to make alcohol. Stewart tells how agaves are harvested, what that flavor in Amaretto di Saronno is (nope, not almonds), what kind of bugs find their way into what liquour and gives comparison charts for the multiples of say, violet liqueurs. This isn't just a gathering of dry facts though; when something is badly made Stewart tells you.Stewart is the other of several botany and gardening books, is the a founder of a gardening blog and has a bookstore. I'd read about this book here on LT, so when she appeared nearby a couple of weeks ago I went to grab this for the signing and listen to her talk about all the research (parties) that went into the two years she spent on this book. It's so complete that I know I'll be taking it with me to find things I never would have tried before. Who hasn't looked at a bottle of something and wondered what to do with it? You'll get the answer here.

[klockrike · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fantastic book about the myriad ways we have transformed plants into drinkable, alcoholic liquids, and then flavored them with additional plants. Thoughtful, fact-filled, funny, and of immense interest to many people - I hope till book will sell well. There are very few factual errors, which is nice, and the stories and writing feels personal without being informal or silly. Wonderful book!

[varielle_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Drunken Botanist is a witty reference work exploring man’s history with the plants that make his drink. Appealing to your erudite drinker and interested teetotaler, in essay form it touches on every aspect of man’s relationship with the plants that seem to make him the most happy. From the common to the obscure the plant’s history and the science of the fermentation process are explored. Nice illustrations and drink recipes are included. Two glasses of fruit of the grape please.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Around the world, there is not a tree, shrub or wildflower that hasn't been brewed or bottled, according to The Drunken Botanist, a fascinating look at the relationships between plants and alcohol. Amy Stewart explores history, horticulture, trivia, tips for growing your own and, of course, recipes. Humankind's relationship with alcohol is a long one. If it grows, we've tried to ferment, distill or brew it. There are so many fun facts in this book, found on every page. How to drink absinthe, a particularly literary liqueur. The role bugs play in making booze. Why beer bottles are brown. How to make alcohol from bananas, sweet potatoes and even parsnips. I'm an avid wine drinker, and now I want to try aromatized wines; before this book, I didn't even know what those were, but they sure sound delicious.The Drunken Botanist is a pleasure to leaf through, preferably with a drink close at hand. It reminds me of an old-fashioned reference manual, with its charming black-and-white sketches and cocktail recipe "cards." This book should appeal to all kinds of hobbyists: nature lovers, gardeners, brewers, cooks, mixologists and anyone who enjoys a tipple from time to time.

[shars_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this as an Early Reviewer book. I'm very grateful to the ER system for introducing me to this author's work! I've ordered some of her other books and hope that they are as delightful of a read as this one is.The Drunken Botanist explores the relationship between man, the alcohol he drinks, and the plants that furnish the raw materials. It's an intriguing mix of research, anecdotes and recipes, presented in a very readable format. If you have a favorite drink or spirit or product of nature's bounty that has caught your fancy, you can read all about it here. There are recipes to let you taste what the author discusses, and the all-important note about *knowing* what item(s) you are using; nature does throw out some poisonous items, so take the author's advice and educate yourself.Having this book in the Early Reviewers program has certainly helped the author's sales (at least on my end 8-) I greatly enjoyed the author's style, and education mixed with fun is always a hit. Wonderful!

[kellswitch_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book looks at the various plants that go into making some of the most well known, and not so well known, alcoholic drinks. It is broken into three parts, the most common and well known plants and drinks, then to the more unusual plants, herbs, fruits and spices and finally tips on growing your own plants for use in making drinks and recipes are included throughout.The first part was the best and the easiest to read as it had the most information, not just about the plants and drinks themselves but some of their history and developments. The writing style is very engaging and you learn a lot without feeling like you've had a ton of information dumped on you. The second part dragged a bit as some of the plant entries were just lists of how they were used in drinks with no history of further information, though this is understandable as if the author had added as much information in the second part as in the first the book would have been huge. The third part about growing your own plants was short and not very detailed as gardening is so specific to your region but gave a good impression of what would be needed and what to consider when looking to grow your own. I learned a lot from this book and was inspired to look up further information, more than anything I loved reading the history behind some of the drinks and ingredients we take for granted.

[jackieblem · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is delicious in several different ways. There's so much to learn, but with Stewart's gleeful exuberance and depth of knowledge, it's nothing but fun and fascination. And thirst, of course. There are lots and lots of cocktail recipes throughout the book. Trust me--you want this book. And buy one for your friends, because they will steal yours when you aren't looking. It's THAT kind of wonderful book.

[13west · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, Amy Stewart, you’ve done it again!! Previously, in Wicked Plants and Wicked Bugs, we learned how potentially benign gifts of nature can be our deadly undoing. That made us all much more cautious and caused all sorts of stress and worry. And, how did we cope and calm down? We had a simple and refreshing libation. Now, in The Drunken Botanist, we learn that our basic alcohol over ice with a dash of whatever and a splash of something and a sprig for a picturesque finish is not so simple after all. It’s wrought with geography and history and botany and chemistry and politics and enough complexity to make one wish for simpler days of temperance and Prohibition. Well, that may be taking it too far, but it’s at least enough to cause one to quickly sit down, pour oneself a drink, grab this book, and ponder what to do next!It’s always best in arenas of the unknown to start at the beginning and that is exactly what The Drunken Botanist does. To understand and appreciate the book is just like making a cocktail. Part I enumerates the plants that are used to make the basic varieties of alcohol. You quickly learn that there are almost an unlimited number of results of fermentation or distillation. What you get usually is dependent upon plant availability, geography, or tradition. What you do with your basic alcohol (aging, etc.) can then produce the next range of products.Moving on to Part II, we now start adding various herbs and spices, flowers, trees, fruit, and nuts and seeds to our “basic” alcohol. This is how we get to that whole range of liqueurs, crèmes, fruit-this and nut-that. I’m particularly intrigued by the origins and history and varieties of gin. I’ve long said that there should be a museum of gin. And do you know anyone else who carries a little picture card in his wallet showing some ten botanicals in gin!What is striking at this point is how important the varieties of alcohol and spices have been in the trade and commerce and history of the world.Part III finishes the cocktail with the bounty of the garden used, as some would say, a garnish, but more importantly as fresh ingredients in your libation or as an integral part of a well-considered finished product.There’s a basic backbone that runs through The Drunken Botanist so that it’s readable for a good knowledge and understanding of the depth and breadth of the subject, but there are also so, so many small sections and sidebars that can be read separately (and at random). There’s more basic knowledge and trivial pleasure here than you could quickly skim through.So, taking my gin martini … on ice with dry vermouth and orange bitters … in hand, I’m ready to read on. The only thing that I might ask for is some new liquor that might stand as tall as the redwoods of Amy Stewart’s northwestern California. St. George Spirits has their Botanivore gin with 19 botanicals, Anchor Distilling (San Francisco) has their Junipero gin, and Clear Creek Distillery produces Douglas fir eau-de-vie. Maybe something along the lines of a Sequoia semprevirens liqueur. Hmmm.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed it tremendously. I will have to look into getting her other books because her writing style is light and delicious. So many interesting facts included, and the recipes make me want to fill my cupboards with alcohol just to try them all! I won't, but she does make them sound interesting and delicious. She includes the history of the plants and the process of making the alcohol from them, also some neat biographical facts of the botanists who discovered/created them and the world circumstances which influenced the popularity of certain drinks. I could go on and on. I will be keeping this book for both reference and inspiration. In fact, I just ordered this in the hardcover version, along with two of her other books, I enjoyed it that much.

[cissa_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant!I loved this book. While the format is something like an encyclopedia, I read it cover-to-cover, and was sad when i reached the end; the entries were that informative and well-written that it was more engaging than some novels I've read recently.I knew some of the background info, but a lot was new to me. And fascinating! As a species, we are clearly keen on fermenting anything that might be fermentable!The suggestions of ways to explore more- like with tequilas and liqueurs- were really interesting, and our bar storage is going to be increasing. The drink recipes included worked really well based on those I tried.Now- I got this as an ARC from LibraryThing, so the indices weren't functional, and the printing was gray-scale rather than the 2-color promised in the "real" version. Based on this, though, I've ordered the ":real" version, because I think it'll be worth it; I've also ordered a couple of the author's other books.It really is that good.If you are interested in the history of booze, or in cocktails, or spirits in general- I HIGHLY recommend this book. It is not only really informative, it's a great read.