Finds for libation lovers on your gift list
If there are libation lovers on your shopping list, here are a few last-minute finds that might help make their spirits bright this holiday season.
• “The Spirit of Gin: A Stirring Miscellany of the New Gin Revival” by Matt Teacher (Cider Mill Press, $24.95) – A must-have for modern-day gin enthusiasts, this butter-colored hardbound book with silver and gold lettering has the look of something out of the early 20th century. Part travelogue, part reference guide and part picture book, it demystifies the art and craft of distillation and offers first-person narratives of visits to famous gin joints like Harry’s Bar in Venice and Dukes Bar in London. Better still, it includes some of their recipes. Vintage prints and reproductions of early gin labels are sprinkled throughout the text, which details the London gin craze of the 1700s, the making of “bathtub” gin during Prohibition in America and today’s rise of small-batch distilleries. There’s a comprehensive but self-described “incomplete” catalog of gin distilleries – including Spokane’s Dry Fly Distillery and Heritage Distilling in Gig Harbor, started by Justin Stiefel, who grew up in Spokane. The book also discusses auxiliary ingredients – like tonic, syrups, bitters, vermouth and lemon – and references to gin in literature – from 1953’s “Casino Royale” by Ian Fleming to “Islands in the Stream” by Ernest Hemingway, published posthumously in 1970. There are recipes for classic as well as current cocktails, including a gin-free “preventative rehydration” measure – coconut water, orange or pineapple juice and a bit of salt – which, after all the gin tasting Matt Teacher must’ve done for this book, was likely much needed on more than one occasion.
• “Tasting Whiskey: An Insider’s Guide to the Unique Pleasures of the World’s Finest Spirits” by Lew Bryson (Storey Publishing, $18.95) – “People don’t just want to drink more good whiskey; they want to know more about it,” Lew Bryson writes in the introduction to this softbound, 15-chapter, comprehensive but highly approachable guide to American, Irish, Scotch, Canadian and Japanese whiskeys. But this isn’t the insufferable stuff of a whiskey snob. Bryson, a manager editor and writer for Whisky Advocate, is a knowledgeable yet down-to-earth educator. His tone is conversational; his content, accessible. He advocates, for example, the keeping of a “decoy bottle” for those times when an extra-thirsty friend stops by and seems interested in drinking all of your best booze. Bryson discusses collecting, mixing, making, aging, tasting, diluting and pairing whiskey. He also lists his recommendations for “good buys” ($30 and under), premium bottles ($30 to $100) and “superpremium” bottles (more than $100). Handy diagrams include flavor profiles and guides to grains. Bryson also walks readers through the making of some classic whiskey drinks, like the Old-Fashioned, whiskey sour, Sazerac, Manhattan, mint julep and Rusty Nail.
• “Book Girl’s Guide to Cocktails for Book Lovers” by Tessa Smith McGovern (Source Books, $11.99) – This slim hardbound book features 50 cocktails inspired by the works of classic or contemporary writers – from Isabel Allende to Virginia Woolf and Dan Zevin of “Dad Gets a Minivan.” There’s Papi’s Rum Punch for Junot Diaz and “This Is How Your Lose Her” and a gin rickey for F. Scott Fitzgerald and “The Great Gatsby.” For Earnest Hemingway and “The Old Man and the Sea,” there’s a mojito. And it’s a beer margarita for Matthew Quick of “The Silver Linings Playbook.” There’s a beverage for each of the Brontë sisters; it’s “negus,” or mulled wine, for Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre.” Each entry includes a short biography of the author as well as an even shorter excerpt, plus additional recommended reading and a photograph. Tessa Smith McGovern is the founder, host and executive producer of BookGirlTV, a popular Web series for book clubs. She teaches writing for digital media at Sarah Lawrence College.
• “Skinny Sipper’s Low-Calorie Cocktails” (Octopus Publishing Group, $9.99) – This slim hardbound book contains recipes for cocktails with 150 calories or fewer. “Dive in!” the cover encourages. “On the rocks not on the hips!” Recipes are divided into four chapters: martinis, short drinks, long drinks and shots, poptails and slushies. What’s a poptail? Think Popsicle plus cocktail. The introduction suggests using substitutions and making adjustments to cut calories as well as knowing your base boozes. Clear “white” spirits like vodka, gin and rum contain about 55 calories per shot. Other tips: use fresh juices and muddled berries for flavor instead of sugary syrups, and use diet cola in that Cuba Libre. The Salty Dog – gin or vodka, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, a pinch of salt – is one of the best bets at 78 calories. So is the Rickey – whiskey, lime, soda – at 86 calories. Other recipes include the Watermelon and Basil Smash – gin, watermelon, basil, sugar syrup – at 129 calories; Beetnick – vodka, agave and beetroot, orange and lemon juice – at 134 calories; Negroni – gin, Campari, red vermouth, orange wedge – at 115 calories; and Vodka, Lime and Soda – at 108 calories. Most are accompanied by color photos