Amy Stewart - The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks

96 kbps, Read by Colleen Marlo, Unabridged
 
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-drunken-botanist-amy-stewart/1113897294?ean=9781616200466

Overview
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 fascinating concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology—with more than fifty drink recipes and growing tips for gardeners—will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party.

The Washington Post - Rick Nichols
The Drunken Botanist is a strange brew—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…What Stewart's book lacks in narrative spine…it makes up in easygoing charm, sly wit and an eye for the telling anecdote…The Drunken Botanist is a sipping book, not a quaffing book, best enjoyed in moderation. In front of a fire, perhaps with a Manhattan with a real, not chemically shined, maraschino cherry. Or maybe on a serendipitous spring evening, on the porch swing, with a sweet-scented jar of May wine.

Kirkus Reviews
A comprehensive guide to the intersection of plants and booze. Fine Gardening contributor Stewart (Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects, 2011, etc.) brings together an encyclopedia of information on 160 plants from around the world that are often used in alcoholic beverages. Her enthusiasm is evident throughout, as she brings readers into "the dazzlingly rich, complex, and delicious lives of the plants that go into all those bottles behind the bar." Classic plants like grapes, apples, corn and sugarcane are just a few of the botanicals that Stewart examines. She also studies the herbs and spices used to flavor base alcohols, as well as elderflowers, hops, roses and violets, which will alert gardeners to the potential living in the garden. Stewart rounds out her in-depth coverage with a full section on fruit, including apricots and yuzus, and nuts and seeds like almonds and walnuts. The history of fermentation and distillation, the origins of plant-based medicines, tips on growing your own plants and more than 50 cocktail recipes add multiple layers to an already vast amount of information on botanicals. Gardeners, nature lovers and mixologists will find themselves reaching frequently for this volume; the hard part will be deciding what to try next as they discover that a liquor store is really "a fantastical greenhouse, the world's most exotic botanical garden, the sort of strange and overgrown conservatory we only encounter in our dreams." A rich compendium of botanical lore for cocktail lovers.