Beverages Books

I bought this book on the recommendation of a couple of internet forums and the amazon reviews. This book is an absolute joy, and the drinks that it includes are uniformly well-crafted and delicious. I've had probably 1/3 of the drinks included in the book so far, and each of them has been a treasure. The most difficult thing about these recipes is finding the ingredients. We have a very good liqour store near here, Eagle's Landing Bottle Shop. They had enough ingredient to get me through these first drinks. I'm now working with them to order some new ingredients. My only caution is that you will drink more and spend a lot of money on liqeurs and mixers that you have never heard of. On the positive side, many of those are delicious by themselves.

Concise writing, excellent illustrations, wealth of info. This is a collection of 80 cocktail recipes that deserve serious attention and study. A real treasure for the cocktail aficionado or professional mixologist.
Well done Ted!

A wonderful book, well researched and written.Nicely laid out with attractive photos and graphics.Great recipes and scholarly research.What more could one ask for ? (except maybe for him to come over to your house and fix you one of the drinks in the book ;-)

this book represents a brilliant volume of classic drinks from yesteryear. Although some ingredients are dauntingly unavailable, most can be subsituted still making a fabulous cocktail. The cocktail revolution in back, baby, and this collection can help any barkeep excel to the top of their game. Get it, this is hott!!

The only reviewer who gave this book less than five stars (and only three at that!) has completely missed the point. If you have numerous cocktail guides in your collection, this one will probably be the smallest and you can bet that it will be also be the one you pull out most often. From the anecdotes to the delightful photographs of vintage spirits and antique bar tools, this book is as entertaining as it is useful. And don't think that because the recipes are forgotten or unusual that they are bizarre, unpalatable concoctions. They all had a reason for being created and initially published, which the author explains with charm and wit and research to back it up. Experimenting with new cocktails is much more fun when you know the story behind the drink and even the ingredients that go into it.

Another reviewer mentioned the page on orange bitters. That was such a revelation to me and worth the price of the book. It provided the clues necessary to help me at long last find this amazing (and seemingly mythical) ingredient that I had seen named in so many recipes. A resource guide in the back of the book will lead the curious cocktailian to other secrets as well.

Regardless of how many cocktail guides you already own, you need this one.

Jeffrey Caldewey and Chuck House's Icon: Art Of The Wine Label is also a highly recommended, distinguished guide which offers a collection of work by the modern masters of wine label design who have for decades helped define global wine label design strategies around the world. Icon is a collection of some of their best works, providing both an artistic assessment of the art of iconography to examples of 120 wine labels and bottle designs complete with their distinctive branding qualities.

This book was not only interesting to read, the artwork and dedication to all aspects of wine was unbeleivable. This is one I will read over and over again. Ok, maybe I will be just looking at the pictures...

This is a great book for any wine enthusiast. It is the ideal coffee table book to have out when your friends stop by. The book is interesting and a great conversation starter. I really enjoyed this book. Of course, it didn't have every wine label I was looking for, but it did contain many of them. This book would make a perfect gift for anyone.

A designers must have! Great inspiration on pushing the envelope in packaging design. Jeffrey Caldewey and Chuck House are the top of their field and it shows in every design. A great gift for the upcoming holidays. Everyone from wine connoisseur to artist will enjoy this book.

ICON - the embodiment of spirit, matter, and time. In Einsteinian terms, ICON would be the equation that sums time, space, matter, and ideology.

ICON is a tour de force, a signature piece representing the extensive body of work by two of the wine industries brightest stars, Jeffrey Caldeway and Chuck House, package designers.

One once told me that the contents of a barrel, brown bag for a label, sans introduction, sipped from a coffee cup in your kitchen, will defy distinction by most and keep both the wine and the consumer most honest.

But we of sophistication desire more than honesty, and more is ours in ICON. To the vast universe of wine, the package brings order to chaos, diminishes chance, dispels mystery, stamps a caste, creates distinction, and strokes your ego and those of others. We assume the package as an intimate expression of Self, much in the same way one would don a designer creation. Albeit, a label does nothing to alter the wine.

In this treatise of wine package history, we are reminded that necessity is the mother of invention. Order to chaos produced the first labels. Labels of origin, distinction, and personality followed. It wasn't until recent times that ego drove the package, and Ego is the stuff of ICON.

This book reveals both Jeff and Chuck as modern day alchemists, intently stirring their witches brew of ego, dream, soil, anxiety, money, sweat, clone, ambition, microclimate, and desire, distilled into an amalgam of glass, cork, paper, and ink which will transform total of Past into the largesse of Future . . . a responsibility from which all but the most tempered would shrink.

And whom amongst us do we charge with this lofty responsibility? It must be entrusted to those select few who have the creative talent, skills, will, and ability to lift mere grape juice to the pedestal upon which it currently resides. Package designers must do for others what they are incapable of doing themselves.

Jeff Caldeway and Chuck House are gifted Iconoclasts, challenged with creating an artistic expression which will herald not only the product but, moreover, the totality of the person, the sole of the winemaker, the beast that lies within. We find the authors delving into a very intimate and complex process of discovery. Needs. Wants. Values. History. Family. Dreams. Hopes. Fears. Stuff. From all this they must derived a package that projects not only the person and the product, but also an expression that potentially becomes a fulcrum on which success and failure balance.

Drawing from ancient beginnings, Jeff Caldeway and Chuck House have successfully bred charm and aristocracy into the great wines and spirits of present day, inscribing pedigree after pedigree that will endure. Page after page brings to mind another example of success that can be directly attributable to the profound influence their package had on the wine selection process.

The depth and breadth of their body of work clearly place Jeff and Chuck at the forefront of the wine package business for more than three decades, leaving a legacy most others could only hope to achieve. ICON secures their place amongst the elite who's creativity exceeded all those before them, who's work will not soon be eclipsed.

Art, beauty, and finesse abound. ICON elicits something that is deeply satisfying, much like a well-turned ankle or great music. Printing, inks, paper, photography, binding are all first cabin. ICON is a calling card, a testament, and an example of excellence that the authors expect from themselves and deliver to others.

We are blessed to have such a fine compendium to grace our lives, the likes not often achieved. It is a gift, a reference, a history, a conversation maker, and a commanding centerpiece for any lover of wine and art. I would recommend you add ICON to your collection and see how long it stays on your coffee table! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Share it with a friend.

The book was well written and full of history, but there was very little about the tea plant itself and how it evolved into a domesticated shrub. There should have been more photos and perhaps some botanical prints of the tea tree and shrubs. As a history and a how-to-prepare-a-good-cup- of-tea, the book is fine, but for those of us who like detail, it lacked a lot of what I look for when learning about a new subject.

This may sound funny to those who are not "into" tea, but I simply couldn't put this book down until I had devoured it cover to cover. Being a tea dealer, I have read many books about tea, heard many stories in the last 10 years and have gleaned lots of info. But since reading this book, my tea classes have gotten even more interesting for my students and myself.

Get it, you'll like it. If not for yourself, get it for a tea loving pal.

What I really loved and appreciated in Beatrice Hohenegger's book is that she set up her storytelling within an intelligent and in-depth historical and political context. Her research is done in forth-right terms, and her writing style is direct, lively, and a pleasure to read. After reading Liquid Jade, drinking a cup of tea is not a trivial gesture any more!

I'm an avid tea person, have been known to pay $5 a gram for good tea, and have read every book I could find on the subject. I have also purchased every tea book I could find and afford (the seminal 1930 two-volume work "All About Tea" by W. Ukers is available for $1000 or more but I'm, ahem, still saving up).

Tea histories written for consumers in the west necessarily follow the same general format, starting with the development of tea in ancient China with side trips to Japan and India and the interactions of all three countries with European traders and so on. This book is exceptional in that the author has an outstanding ability to both understand the Eastern cultures and to convey their meanings, including of course their tea cultures, to modern readers. This book has impressed me more than any other book I've read on the subject and, as the saying goes, if I had to start over and own or read only one book about tea, this is the one I would pick for myself. The author is to be congratulated- and thanked, even.

I spent 23 years on tea plantations since 1974. I started my tea trading business in 1998 after leaving plantations. Then I started my tea books library after seeing a very large volume of tea literature in China, which I started visiting regularly since 2004.

This book is the best one I have seen which narrates the world transition of tea scene in the most lucid way.

Patricia does a great job discussing all the valuable information about green tea. First discussing the method of green tea and weight loss.
She has introduced a safe weight loss method that works and most importantly it's safe. Drinking green tea helps you burn fat and increase metabolism. Green tea has antioxidants which help prevent heart disease, certain cancers, and many other illnesses.

Great book for both tea lovers and those seeking a healthy weight loss method.

You know the kind of person who when you ask: What are you drinking? they answer--TEA. Ask another person, like author Patricia Rouner, and you will know more about green tea that you thought possible.

Some of the topics covered are:

-- The science
-- Growing and processing tea
-- How to brew (and this IS important)
-- Polyphenols (huh?)
-- Coffee / caffeine comparison
-- Extracts
-- Fighting diseases

The subtitle about weight loss might pull a lot of readers in, but the chapter on fighting disease was very important.

"If only half the studies are proven accurate, green tea's health benefits are stunning," the author states on page 85. She had Googled "kidney disease and green tea" and 477,000 articles of interest were listed. A sample of the health issues discussed in the book are: immune system, allergies, Alzheimer's, blood pressure, bone density, carbs, artery disease, etc., etc.

Did you know...?

-- A report stated that oral cells damaged by smokers can be decreased by drinking green tea.

-- The most popular tea brands have different antioxidant levels.

-- Adding sugar and milk do not affect the flavonoid in the tea, but increase the calorie count.

-- Ice tea "happened" in 1904 at the St. Louis Exposition. It was HOT! and no one wanted the vendor's hot tea. He added ice, and happy lines formed. Ice tea makes up almost 85% of tea consumed in the U.S.

The FAQ (one at the end of each section) about caffeine was interesting. A pound of tea has more calories than a pound of coffee--but tea makes 300 cups while coffee yields 80 cups. Draw your own conclusions on that.

All that said, what is it about green tea that helps you lose weight? Well, it speeds up metabolism and helps the body bun fat, about 80 calories a day. It can reduce hunger, which means lower calorie intake. It can help older people lose weight and younger people prevent middle-age spread. With almost two-thirds of Americans overweight--that's a good deal. And you'll learn so much more in the "Science" chapter.

Losing weight is part of being more healthy--and green tea combines the two benefits.

Armchair Interviews says: If you want to know about green tea...but were afraid to ask, this book has all the answers. So when someone asks, "What are you drinking?" they better be prepared for a lot of information.

Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (8/06)

Drinking green tea has been a favorite of mine for quite some time so when the opportunity came up to review "Loose Weight with Green Tea" I took the task. I had previously heard that green tea had many benefits and that people in China have been drinking it for about 4000 years. Surely, anything that has been consumed for that many years and still considered medicine by them is worth researching more.

Rouner's book certainly is full of condensed research. She has spent much time and effort compacting information into a small, readable book. The beginning of the book gives scientific research results as well as growing and processing. It was interesting to note that there are over 3000 varieties of tea grown. It's not much wonder that many of the teas taste so different from each other. The remainder of the book covers making of the tea to drink, the benefits, the nutritional values, as well as addressing the caffeine concerns and a little trivia dispersed throughout the book.

I learned from Rouner's research that the "most critical factors in brewing tea are the water, temperature of the water and the tea." Regarding water she claims that if the water (from the tap) doesn't taste good, it will reflect on the taste of the tea. Rouner talks about spring water as well as reverse osmosis, the most effective treatment, being used for tea water. She claims that minerals in the water are essential for good tasting tea therefore discourages the use of distilled water. "For green tea the water temperature should be between 160-175 degrees Fahrenheit" which means the water must not be boiling (212 degrees.)

It was interesting for me to learn that when tea was first introduced to England it was cost prohibitive, however, milk on the other hand was not. How much milk was added to the tea indicated social standing. The poorer people used a lot of milk in their tea whereas the more affluent the people were, the less milk was used.

Rouner's main point of "Loose Weight with Green Tea" is just that - encouragement to add green tea daily to the diet, not only to loose weight but to maintain it. Her research shows that metabolism can be increased by consumption of green tea in turn causing burning of access fat as well as provide the body with essential antioxidants.

I encourage those that are interested in a healthy body to consider reading Rouner's "Loose Weight with Green Tea," add drinking green tea to their daily routine, and benefit the abundant results. Here's to health!

This small books packs a mighty punch! Patricia Rouner has assembled enough research and clear-thinking into a guide that will not only answer all of your questions about green tea and its benefits, but what may be important, and how you can use the information to become healthier and to lose weight if you so desire. Witty and well-written, the book is a quick read, full of facts, supporting facts, and more support for conclusions than you may expect or be used to. I recommend it as an advanced primer for green tea and as a thoughtful guide to contemplation of how to best present an overview and an in-depth study of one subject all at the same time.

There has been a ton of research conducted in regards to the benefits of Green Tea. Patricia Rouner has compiled and summarized this information into a great book called Lose Weight with Green Tea. While I feel the title and back cover text is very "hypey" the information presented is clear, concise, and very informative.

One of the best pieces of information covered in the book was explaining the components of green tea that actually provides the real benefit - polyphenols and antioxidants.

Other information included was:
-The different types of tea
-The best way to prepare tea
-Which commercially available green teas have the highest antioxidants
-The benefits/harms of caffeine
-Green Tea supplements and what to look for
-How much green tea should you drink?
-How green tea combats certain diseases

The bottom line is, a person loses weight with a proper diet and exercise but green tea can slightly increase your metabolism and provide additional health benefits so drinking it is a good idea, but as can be expected, you can't eat Cheeseburgers 3 times a day and lose weight just by drinking Green Tea.

This is the be all end all of information as far as wines are concerned. We keep a copy in the shop at all times for new employees, and when they encounter a question on a certain varietal or terminology, it answers all the customers questions. Highly recommended.

If you love food and wine, this book is the perfect companion to the Food Lover's Companion. It's the ultimate dictionary for wine terminology.

This book was my favorite dealing with wine. It contains much of the same info as the Oxford Companion, but you can hold it in your hands and carry it about. It contains very useful information if you are learning about wine. Also has a great pronunciation guide for wine terms.

Whether you are new to wine or are a Cork-dork, this book, written in an easy to understand manner, is an excellent resource. The New Wine Lover's Companion is a must-have for any kitchen or wine library.

I purchased this book as a gift and my husband loved it. Yes, It is a dictionary so no pictures just words! It is a great addition to the "Complete Wine Course" by Kevin Zraly. Its small format is great to take along to diners or wine tasting party.
Great value for the price.

This was a fun book to read and reread from cover to cover. Each chapter was entertaining and informative with interesting tid-bits, historical caveats, and famous quotes. If you want to impress (or bore) your friends with seldom-known facts or off-the-wall stories about their favorite drink, then buy this book. This book is the best accompiament to a good dram of single malt scotch.
Cheers!

This thing has the most unbelieveable facts! I feel like I need to be taking notes to remember all of them; I might start doing just that. I would think this was a parody if I didn't know any better, but all these stories are either fact or at the very least well established theories.

Completely fascinating book! ...especially beacuse I LOVE the booze :)

My husband is a wine writer for our local newspaper so I purchased this book for him. He liked the book so much that he did a side-bar to his last article with the following review:

More than just a book about wine this is "a collection of useful and useless information as it relates to the history and consumption of all manner of booze." There is a remarkable amount of information packed into this entertaining and offbeat book. You're likely to find yourself reading it two or three times because it is impossible to remember all the frivolous and factual trivia Lender offers up. For example, an Italian café owner created the beverage Compari in 1860 but it became wildly popular in the U.S. during Prohibition where it was considered a digestive bitter, not alcohol. It just happened to be 48 proof.

Lendler has crafted a simple yet engaging book on the history and peculiarities of just about every alcohol type we know -- he peppers his succinct and interesting descriptions of the beverages' histories with a rapier wit in a conversation-like tone (e.g. he writes out the word "Natch" in place of "Naturally"). It is a fun book to read.

This is a must-read for anyone with a passing interest in any particular genre of alcohol, or for anyone who just enjoys good reading.

If you like to tip a few here and there (and who doesn't?)this is a great read with pieces of trivia that you need as someone who enjoys a drink or three. It's not a novel so you can pick it up and put it down-even if you only have a minute.

Enjoy the book and dazzle your friends with your knowledge of a pastime that you are sharing.

5 stars!

I was initially skeptical about a book on this sports drink but it turned out to be a very interesting purchase. It is amazing that one sports drink could control upwards of 85 percent of the market but Gatorade continues to deliver. From the Volkswagen advertising strategy to constant scientific improvement this is an excellent look at marketing and management. For those interested in sports marketing this is a must have for that library. The book is very well written and is the write balance of history, modern strategy and analysis to make this a book you will want to read again.

Hands down, this book was one of the best business success story books I have ever read. It was not as dull and boring as one may think, since the author incorporated a great deal of sports trivia into the plot. The history of the Gatorade start-up could not even be told if it was not for the sports behind it. I found the sections on the Sports Science Institute particularly interesting, which is where Gatorade tests the efficacy of their products on actual athletes. Also extremely interesting was the history behind the origination of the traditional "Gatorade dunk" witnessed at the end of every Super Bowl. If you want to know who and when this started, buy this book and read it. You will not be disappointed! It was extremely interesting!

Rovell takes an inside look at how and the process of gatorade became a house hold name and the marketing it took to get there.

Amazing how Rovell was able to piece together such a detailed history of a product which was developed in a basement over 40 years ago. The relatively unknown early history of Gatorade at the University of Florida was fascinating. And the behind-the-scenes account of the part of Gatorade that we all know about, the commercials, was equally interesting and entertaining. I found myself singing 'Be Like Mike' and reminscing about the great Jordan commercials. I definitely would have paid a premium for an accompanying dvd of all the great Gatorade commercials. If you have any interest in Gatorade at all, this is an absolute must read. If you are interested in sports, business, or just want a good story, then First in Thirst is also for you.

This is such a powerful brand story that you may actually get thirsty reading it. Most people have no idea that sweating creates a huge drink market, but author Darren Rovell tells a well-researched, interesting and compelling story about how a group of Florida doctors concocted a simple drink to prevent dehydration. A combination of good science, luck and efficient marketing helped transform this initially unpalatable drink into the world's most popular sports elixir. Along the way, Gatorade marketers forged relationships with athletes, teams and superstars, and capitalized on the public's fascination with sports. The end result was a sales and marketing bonanza. We recommend this brand building saga to all marketers or to anyone interested in just how a drink built a bridge between sports and popular culture. Even if you don't break a sweat reading Rovell's marketing saga, prepare yourself to buy a bottle of Gatorade - you're going to want to satisfy your thirst to check this out.

As always an excellent and concise guide to wines of the world.

For the last 14 years, I have used this guide as an indispensable reference for my wine selections. I can not think of any selection made, using this guide, where the wine did not meet my expectations or the expectations of those that tried my selections.

For those that are new to wines, trust this guide. For it will give you the choices and accuracy you can depend on.

parker is good, but johnson is more reliable. Wine is not a precise science, so parkers scores of 89, 93, etc are misleading. One learns this by subscribing to his online service and learning that the same wine sometimes changes from a 96 to an 87 from one year to the next.

johnson honestly gives general but reliable guidelines as to good years, ordinary years, and forgettable years.

it also fits in the shirt pocket.

The classic pocket guide, though getting a little bulkier. In an attempt to keep this edition from being even thicker, some material from previous editions has been cut; e.g., listings for particular foods and suggested wines to accompany them. But it is still handy, detailed, comprehensive, authoritative, and all most wine drinkers need, unless you're the type who sniffs corks.

Simply awesome. I know nothing about wine other than what I think tastes good. This book has helped guide me on what to buy and when to drink it in a very clear/easy to understand way.

This is, hands down, the most authoritative text on tea to date. It is in the same league as William Ukers 1935 edition of his "All About Tea". What a refreshing breath of fresh air this book is with it's numerous eye witness accounts of tea manufacturing. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Heiss, for this spectacular contribution to the world tea community.

Frank Murphy, author, "The Spirit of Tea". Owner, Jade Mountain Tea Company, Santa Fe, NM

This is an amazing and informative book on tea. I am very pleased with the quality of its publication and the amount of information compiled and composed within such a beautiful book. The pages of which allowed me to rediscover one of my favorite drinks. I had forgotten how truly wonderful a good, properly made cup of tea can be. Our society has become super sized and highly caffeinated to the point that we no longer recognize the complexities as well as subtleties of tea. This book will show you how to buy, brew, and appreciate this fascinating beverage. From the first sentence to the last prepare to escape on a wonderful journey back in time when this drink was first presenting itself to humans right up to modern day. From the dynasties of the east to the aristocratic monarchies of the west, tea has traveled a long way to what we know today and the Heiss' will take you on that Journey. Sit back and make a cup of tea and prepare to be filled with the knowledge that The Story of Tea will bring you. Forget what your corporate retailer has taught you about tea and allow yourself to be educated on this historical and healthy drink. After reading the book you will most definitely want good quality tea. There are good teas out there and the book will give you listings of places to get them as well. They are not as hard to get as you might think.
So get yourself a teapot, some good loose tea, and a strainer and enjoy this wonderful drink, not to mention the book itself!

Like a slow fulfilling cup of warm tea this book caresses the very soul of the reader. A wonderfully arranged in depth guide to tasting and brewing tea. Surveying the customs, crafts and history of tea. The authors chronicle tea's influence across the globe and provide a complete reference for enjoying the ART of tea preparing and drinking. Ten Speed Press elegantly compliments the Heiss' narrative. The Authors have done great justice to the fascinating and colorful world of tea. After reading this book your simple cup of tea shall no longer be a simple matter.

I've read quite a few tea books over the years, but never one like this; this one revolutionized the way I buy, brew, and enjoy tea. The extensive information on tea production finally gave me a real understanding of the different types of tea available on the market--plus a greatly enhanced appreciation of the incredibly intricate processes involved in making tea. A book loaded with so much information could be dull to read, but it's not-- in fact, I found it hard to put down. The authors are clearly devoted to their topic and the combination of history, travelogue, fabulous photography, and esoteric tea facts is fascinating. My morning (and afternoon and evening) cuppa tea will never be the same!

Mary Lou and Robert Heiss have solved a 20-year problem, with their book "The Story of Tea". Through extensive research, ardous sampling and comparing, learning and listening to the tea growers, processors, exporters, importers, wholesalers, retailers and drinkers, they have composed an incredibly accessible insight into the complexities of one of our most mysterious (but beloved) beverages. I've sampled many, many teas over the years--including many from the Heiss' own Cooksshophere web site retail store--and sit and wonder why I prefer one over the other, why one type of tea makes me feel happy, the other a little jumpy, others that are soothing, still more that are too mellow for me. Now, when I have a question about tea, and want to take a mini-journey somewhere, I know where to travel - to the Story of Tea.

This is a well-written book detailing the steps for producing quality wines at home. I have made wine for several years now and I found many helpful suggestions to make my vintage even better. It works well for the novice as well as the veteran wine-maker.

If you want to make home made wine and you actually want to make something decent this book is great. You shouldn't really need another book.

I loved reading this book, Warrick really knows his wine-making. He explains when, how, and in what order to ad this and that, temperatures to keep, tools and equipement to buy etc., after reading this book, I feel that I have enough knowledge to make a few gallons of bubbly delicious red wine. This book is very comprehensive and easy to read with more than enough information to enable you to make wine.

This material takes you from the unpicked grape to the finished product. The importance of sanitizing equipment, what you should have and what you can do without are all covered. The only drawback is that fruits other than grapes are not mentioned. The author believes that non-grape wines are lesser than grape wines. As is true in just about any other field two winemakers will producr three or more opinions on each aspect of the art. This book does not agree with any other wine making information source thus it is very valuable. I would recommend this book to the beginning wine maker along with the several others offered for sale at Amazon (this is not a paid advertisement) such as The art of making wine. Remember that every one has their own point of view and do that which works for you.

This book is easy to understand and should enable a novice to walk through the wine making process with ease.