Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey by Reid Mitenbuler

Shortest review ever: buy this book.

Can I say more? Of course. I can always say more. Do I need to? Not really. I’ve read a lot of books about bourbon. I’ve got a shelf full of them. Some are fantastic. A couple are really, really bad. Some just spit out the same marketing myths you’ve heard over and over. Some have amazing amounts of original research. Some of them are interesting, but dry. Others are entertaining, but empty of real information. 

Bourbon Empire is one of the rare ones that is both entertainingly written and full of interesting information. This was a book that I couldn’t keep to myself. On more than one occasion, I had to stop and read passages aloud to my wife. 

The parts that I especially enjoyed were the comparisons between times when a lot of people needed to make money on bourbon in a short period of time. Namely the years right after Prohibition and today. It seems a lot of the same techniques for “quick aging” were tried by post-prohibition distilleries trying to compete with imported stocks of fully matured whiskey as are being touted today by craft distilleries needing to compete with large stocks of fully matured bourbon. I won’t spoil the chapters for you, I really want you to read them yourself.

Most books on bourbon can’t help at least bringing up the mythical origin stories that most bourbon brands insist on surrounding themselves with. Some celebrate them as the honest truth. Others take pride in pointing out that they are damn lies. The difference here is that the myths are celebrated while they are being debunked. They are mentioned. They are poked, prodded and examined from various angles and then they are celebrated for being good, though not true, stories. 

So, go out right now to your local bookstore—or if you are like most of America who no longer has one go to Amazon—and buy this book. Reid Mitenbuler has crafted a book that is a pleasure to read and will teach you something to boot. Maybe enjoy it with a nice bourbon.

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Shrubs: An old Fashioned Drink for Modern Times by Michael Dietsch

A few years ago, as I was first exploring the fine world of bitters, infusions, tinctures, cocktails and ultimately flavors, I ran across a reference to a colonial era drink called a shrub. The site described it as: “drinking vinegar.”

The history geek in me teamed up with the cook in me to decide that this was certainly something that we would all be trying to make. I liked vinegar well enough. Normally in something or on something. Sometimes that something was oil with bread sometimes it was green leafy spinach. In either case, vinegar was something that made other things taste good. But these recipes made it seem like the star of the show. What would that be like?

Terrible. That’s what it was like. I’d never been more nervous to try something and yet had those expectations be so completely optimistic. I was sad, but resigned myself to keep an eye on this thing figuring I must have done something wrong.

A couple months ago, I ran across a book by Michael Dietsch called Shrubs: An old Fashioned Drink for Modern Times. I’d been seeing articles in the cocktail blogs I follow mention shrubs. I’d seen small outfits actually sell them. I’d never seen a book solely about them before. I resolved to set my previous shruby experience behind and buy the book. 

I wasn’t disappointed. The book gives you a brief history of shrubs, the evolution of the name, etc. It points out that a shrub was kind of just the name for stuff you drank. Be it alcoholic or not. Then it gives recipes. Oh, so many recipes. Both alcohol and vinegar based recipes. I was in heaven. If there is one thing I like more than a history book it’s a cookbook. And if the final product is drink related, even better. 

I figured the only real way to review this book was to try a couple of the recipes. I went for one alcoholic and one not. For the alcoholic version I chose the Country Gentleman’s Brandy Shrub from page 74. And for the non-alcoholic I tried the Cranberry-Apple Shrub from page 97. Both were basically chosen at random with an eye on ingredients I had in the house.

Country Gentleman’s Brandy Shrub

Nose: Perfumy in a lemon sort of way. Kind of like a gentle furniture polish.

Mouth: Thick. Lemonheads candy is the best way to explain it. Lemony. Sweet, yet tart at the same time. Hint of spice.

Finish: Slight lingering warmth, more lemon.

Thoughts: This is an amazing liqueur and one that not only gives me a use for the handles of brandy my dad keeps giving me, but that might make go buy one if I run out. I may need to make sure this is kept on hand.

Cranberry-Apple Shrub

Nose: Strong Apple Cider Vinegar. (To be expected, I only bottled it up a couple days ago)

Mouth: Thick. Tart and vinegary, but not overwhelmingly so. Vinegar balanced by the apple and cranberry.

Finish: Not Applicable.

Thoughts: This isn’t bad by itself. I wouldn’t seek it out that way, but I could choke it down. Where this shines is as a cocktail ingredient. I used it in place of vermouth in a manhattan and it was fabulous. It mixed with the Very Old Barton and bitters exquisitely. I’m very impressed.

If you are into flavor, the way I am, you owe it to yourself to buy this book. If you want something that will help you impress foodie friends, buy this book. Looking for cocktail ingredients that you haven’t had before? Buy the book. 

You get the picture. I thought it was great.

The latest addition to my bourbon book stack: Bourbon, Strange by Chuck Cowdery

Bourbon is a drink. Obviously. But for a certain subset of bourbon geeks, it’s more than that. Bourbon grew up with our country. It’s history is our history. It’s stories are our stories. And though a lot of those stories have been lost, there are still bits here and there for historians to comb through. 

One of the first books I bought as I got interested in this subject as more than just a drink was 2004’s Bourbon, Straight by Chuck Cowdery. It’s a damn good history. And one I go back to as a reference all the time. Mr. Cowdery is an authority on bourbon and has one of the most consistently informative blogs on the subject on the internet.

This year, ten years after releasing Bourbon, Straight Mr. Cowdery released the sequel. Bourbon, Strange: Surprising Strories of American Whiskey is a second collection of the stories of American whiskey. And like it’s predecessor, it is both immensly enjoying to read and highly informative. As the title suggests, these stories tend toward the more unusual stories that the author has uncovered in the decades he has been researching bourbon and American whiskey.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s earned a spot on the whiskey book shelf right next to it’s older brother and I’m sure I will go back and reference it just as often. If you are looking for a non-alcoholic gift for the bourbon drinker in your life, you could do far worse than picking this up for them.

Book Review: Beam, Straight Up by Fred Noe (with Jim Kokoris)

Fred Noe is a man that I have seen on a couple of occasions. Each time it was to get a bottle signed. I didn’t say met, or spoke to, or anything more personal because for some reason, he intimidated me a bit. I’m unsure of the reason. I normally don’t get intimidated by people just because of celebrity. He’s kind of a bigger guy, so maybe that was it. Maybe I just didn’t have anything to say that would be worth taking up his time. He looked busy. He was telling stories. 

After reading this book, I don’t think I’m going to have that problem anymore. I’ll have at least one thing to say: “Sir, I enjoyed your book.” And I did. The book is one story after another with a little history thrown in for good measure. In those stories you learn a little about what makes up the man that is the face of Jim Beam. 

It starts where the story starts, with a little family history. It moves into Fred’s boyhood and his view of Booker, his dad. And then into college where he really used a trunk full of Jim Beam to try to solve every problem. And it turns out that he did have problems, not being the best student. After a stint in college he hits the road with a band and eventually ends up back home working at the distillery. Finally taking over for his dad as the face of the company.

But my synopsis doesn’t do the book any justice. Fred is a masterful story-teller, I’m guessing from years on the road doing just that, and it comes through in the stories he tells and how he tells them. I can almost hear the soft Kentucky accent as I read and laugh. And, oh did I laugh. This is a damn funny book. If you haven’t, go read it. It’s short. You won’t be sorry. (Oh, and my wife seconds this review...so there's that.)

Purchase info: Signed copy, $22.95 at the Jim Beam booth, Kentucky Bourbon Festival

Jeffrey Morgenthaler: The Bar Book, Elements of Cocktail Technique

I’ve been reading Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s blog for a long time. It was there that I learned that my home state of Wisconsin has it’s own kind of Old Fashioned made using brandy and fruit and…Sprite? (Asking around at family gatherings has confirmed the existence and popularity of the Brandy Old Fashioned, made Wisconsin Style.) So it was with great sadness that I noticed his blogging output had basically dried up to nothing.

But it was with great joy that I read the news that the reason for the dry spell was that he was writing a book instead. I immediately pre-ordered it and eagerly awaited it’s arrival in my mail box.

I wasn’t disappointed. There is a short introduction, but then it dives right into the ingredients and techiniques you’ll use as you build cocktails. It runs full speed through citrus, syrups, mixers, stirring, shaking, measuring, infusions, dairy and eggs, safe food handling, and garnishes. The book only pauses now and then for the occational recipe.

The Bar Book, Elements of Cocktail Technique by Jeffrey Morgenthaler is not a recipe book. This is a how-to book. It doesn’t just list out ingredients, it tells you why to use them. It doesn’t just say measure, it tells you how to measure. And it does so with warnings as to what might happen if things go wrong. 

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I cannot recommend this book enough. It is entertaining, informative, and beautifully presented. If you like making cocktails or just think that you would like to like making cocktails go buy it now.

Read This: Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh

Tonight is a night for a cocktail. It’s a warm, but not too warm, summer evening and I’m in the mood for something a little off of the beaten path. Something cold and refreshing, but strong enough to cut through the last bit of the cold I’ve been fighting this week.

I have a lot of cocktail books on the shelf. It’s easy to get excited by them while I’m out shopping. Excited to the point that I forget that my prefered method of imbibing usually consists of only a whiskey and a glass. So yes, there are a lot there. And I’ll admit, most never end up getting read. Just as a cookbook doesn’t make a very interesting read, neither does a cocktail recipe book. Unless it brings something to the table beyond the recipe. 

To me a cocktail book worth reading has a few things between it’s covers. Obviously it needs tasty sounding drinks. That’s a given. To me it should also have a bit about each drink. It’s history, where it comes from or even why it works. I like to learn. It should also be entertaining. There is seriously no reason why you shouldn’t have fun reading about things that will help you have fun.

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh is all of these things. It is entertaining. The preface hooked me. I loved the history section. And the anecdotes about the cocktails included often brought a smile to my face. I learned a lot. Both about the history of the cocktail and about why certain drink work as well as they do. And it has tasty sounding drinks. Though very few where I won’t need to go shopping before I start mixing. In fact, there was only one drink in the entire book that I could make for myself tonight. The Pegu Club. (Yes. I happened to be out of vermouth. So no, there were no boulevardiers. Which is ok as that is the only drink in the book I’d had before.)

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I enjoyed the heck out of it. Both the drink and the book. One thing I liked especially liked about the book was it's binding. It has a large spiral binding covered by a hard backing. This is a book designed to lay flat. This is a book meant to be used. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in old cocktails, fans of historical bottles or advertisements or anyone who might want to make an extra special shopping trip to pick up the out of the ordinary ingredients that are included in almost every recipe. I look forward to a few of those trips myself.

Purchase info: $19.99 at The Afternoon, Mall of America, Bloomington, MN

Book Review: Punch by David Wondrich

If you grew up in the Upper Midwest, like I did, you may have grown up thinking that punch was kool-aid and fruit juice mixed with lemon-lime soda. It’s what was served in every punch bowl I’d ever seen. Imagine my delight when I learned that punch had a much more grown-up origin.

I started reading this book because I love social gatherings, I love those gatherings to have interesting drinks and I love history. The idea of having a punch party intrigued me. After reading this book I felt certain that I needed to have that party. 

I have a theory that you can learn more about a people by studying what they do for leisure than you can by what they put down in their histories. Histories are full of kings and wars. Leisure for much of history revolved around booze. And along with that history of booze you get trade, society and yes even a bit of war. f that were all that were in this particular book, I would have been content. But I wouldn’t have shared it here. 

This book contains a lot of history, but fully two thirds of that is buried in the 44 recipes for that most social of drinks, Punch. The recipes are separated by ingredient, historical era and location. There are the Arrack Punches from the East India Company, Brandy and Rum Punches from England, Gin Punch, Milk Punch and Punches from the US that morphed into modern cocktails including the ones most intriguing to me, Whiskey Punch. You also get a bit of instruction on preparation and ingredients which is helpful since the original recipes span 400 or so years and at least three systems of measurement (two of which have the same names for differing amounts). And a bit of help sourcing the rarer implements and ingredients. 

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All in all this is a book sure to intrigue the history lover and it’s sure to provide at least one recipe that you’ll want to use at your next gathering of friends. I know I’ll be using at least one.

Book Review: Craft Cocktails at Home

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How much is a "dash" of bitters? What can I do to turn my tap water into "Magical Alpine Fairy-Water?" A cream whipper is just for making whipped cream, right? These are just a few of the questions that are answered in Craft Cocktails at Home by Kevin Liu. 

I originally picked up this book to answer that very first question above. I was trying to test out various bitters to see which I preferred. I do that. Head-to-head testing seems to be my favorite way to find these things out. But in order for the experiment to make sense, I needed to be consistent in my measures. A quick Google search led me to the Amazon listing forCraft Cocktails at Home. Before I knew it, it was ordered and on its way.

I figured if it could answer that one simple question, there were probably quite a few more that it could answer as well. And though I will probably never find myself making cranberry bubbles to put on top of a cocktail, the fact that I now have a reference as to how to go about doing it fills me with joy.

But the book doesn't just cover how to make drinks to impress your friends. It also covers topics that might make it less likely for you to kill them as well. Things such as shelf-life and preservation. There are also entire sections dedicated to filtering, carbonating, foaming, smoking and, yes, even something as "basic" as building a balanced drink.

I would say that the section on the science of flavor is probably my favorite. Or maybe it's the hacking together useful gadgets sections. Or maybe the part on bitters…

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To say that I enjoyed this book is an understatement. It hit the geeky science side of my personality perfectly and followed it up with some fun DIY hacking. And all in the service of making a fun cocktail. What's not to love?

Purchase Info: $7.88, Amazon.com