(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best beverage & wine books

Greetings from Santa Cruz!

I think I may be the perfect person to help you here. My bar staff is about the same size as yours, and I've been doing exactly this and lending out books from my personal collection each month.
Everyone else has had some great answers, so I'll try and bring something new to the table:

How's Your Drink? by Eric Felten is my favorite easy introduction to cocktail culture. It's written by the cocktail columnist from the Wall Street Journal and reads in a very conversational way. Can be finished in one sitting. Quick read that I recommend you have anyone new start with.

The Cocktail Chronicles by Paul Clarke is a relatively comprehensive overview of the current state of cocktails. It is based around recipes, but I wouldn't call it a recipe book as each recipe has a lot of commentary that goes into context and history.

Meehan's Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan just came out and is incredible. His previous book, The PDT Cocktail Book, is an invaluable resource for recipes, and the Bartenders Manual is a complete guide dealing with all aspects of the job.

Distillled by Joel Harrison & Neil Ridley is a good introduction to different spirits and goes chapter by chapter from vodka to whiskey with an overview of production processes and other factors that influence the flavor of the drink.

Straight Up or On the Rocks by William Grimes is a history of cocktails in the U.S. starting with the first use of the word and going through the early '90s. The author is a food writer for the NY Times and the book is very well researched.

The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan does a good job of explaining how cocktails are related to each other by putting them into families. His taxonomy may be a little odd, and in and of itself is not the last word in cocktails, but it offers a good perspective.

The Bar Book by Jeffrey Morgenthaler addresses technique. It's an opinionated book but he's usually right. Lots of great information. If I were starting off as a bartender and could only read one book, this is the one that would probably best set me up for success.

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh is based around historic recipes, but each of them has a lot of history incorporated and you also get a good introduction to some of the more obscure ingredients that have come back into fashion recently.

I've reached eight, so I'll stop there. If you would like additional recommendations in the future, please feel free to reach out. I've been collecting bar books for the last six years and have amassed a fair few and even read one or two.

You sound like you're in an enviable position. It's great to have support for making learning a big part of working with food/beverage. Pretty sure I've read a couple of your owner's books and have loved them and found them very useful. It seems like a really great company to work for, as well.

I'd also like to quickly mention Imbibe Magazine, which comes out every two months and is a great way to keep up with what's going on in the beverage world. I keep the most recent couple issues available for my staff to look through.

If there's anything else you'd like insight on related to bringing bar staff into the fold I'd be very happy to help.

I did a quick scroll through and didn't see it, but someone might have already said it. I highly recommend reading up in the form of The World Atlas of Coffee mostly because it is a very comprehensive look at specialty coffee from bean to cup and instills the humbling reality of what goes into every single cup and how many lives depend on the coffee industry. It goes on to explain brew methods, both espresso beverages and some pour overs/ immersion methods, and it's all around a very fascinating read. As far as knowing your stuff, finish that book and you're ahead of many many enthusiasts.

As for why you want to grind your own beans/ benefits of brews/ gear.... remember it all boils down (ha pun) to one thing- the flavor of your coffee. If you like what you have, that's great. If you taste a cup you like better, try to make it that way. If you grab a brewer of some kind, use things like the Coffee Compass and the Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel to dial your brew to your liking. Everyone else in this thread has probably covered the basics, but I'll run through a couple as well:

• Full bodied/ intense mouth feel. These brewers will have all the oils and particulates and generally result in a 'stronger' cup. These are your french press, your moka pot, etc. You get more of the "stuff" out of the coffee with these. I'll cover that a little later on.
  
  
• Middle of the road/ 'standard' coffee. These brewers are going to be all the standard pour over methods like the V60, Kalita Wave, etc. These are typically single cup methods, and with paper or cloth filters will pull a little more out of the final brew resulting in more clarity, as in less oils, particulates, etc.
  
  
• The last category (in my mind) I pretty much reserve for the Chemex. It is a super dense paper filter that pulls nearly all oils and particles out of the final cup, leaving what's thought of as a very clean cup.
  
  
• Edit: wanted to throw in the Aeropress since many sing it's praises. It doesn't really fit any of these categories because it can be used with a variety of different methods to produce a wide range of cups, though I believe most people that have one end up dialing one recipe in and sticking with it. A metal filter gets a full bodied cup with a heavy mouthfeel, two paper filters gets closer to a chemex, fine grind can give a coffee extract like espresso (but not actually espresso) to cut with water for an americano feel... it's a work horse, affordable, and all around easy to use. I just don't recommend this crazy inverted method all the kids are talking about. Good way to get burnt, and not that much benefit if you ask me.
  
  Now, it is worth noting that with a metal filter in a chemex, you can emulate the mouthfeel and content of a french press brew, and with a finer filter in the press, perhaps you get a cleaner cup. Remember, these are just basic fly-bys for you getting started, and no brew method is set in stone.
  
  Now, last topic is obsessing over water/ coffee ratios, brew times, grind size and consistency, and equipment in general. So unless you are roasting your own beans, your only job as a brewer is to take away as little from the quality of the bean as you can. You are never going to make a roasted coffee bean better than it is by brewing it a certain way. In this way, your entire job is minimizing the negative effects you can have. First is the grind. Once a bean is ground, it begins to lose quality with time as it oxidizes. Hence why we (in this sub) have our own grinders. The closer to the brew time you grind, the better it will be. Second comes grind consistency. Flavors in coffee come from water-soluble molecules that leave the bean and dissolve into the hot water during the brew. In order to get these extracted properly, you need to control all variables as much as you can. The first is the aforementioned grind consistency. If you grind your coffee and some grounds are tiny, some large, you wont get the same flavors from each ground at any given time, and you will over extract the small ground and under extract the large one. Basically, you want all of the coffee grounds to be perfect spheres and the exact same size. Since that is impossible, you spend money on grinders that can get as close to it as we know how. Next is temperature. This is simple to start and gets more complex as you experiment. You want hot water to penetrate and dissolve the coffee, but too hot and you'll have burnt flavors. Starting out, shoot for around 200-205 degrees F. You can look through research and recipes and play around with it later. Since you are just starting and they are cheaper, get a gooseneck kettle for the stove, boil it, let it sit for about 30 seconds to a minute off boil before brewing. Fourth is brew time. This is another critical step that doesn't depend on your equipment- this is all you. Brew time is important because those molecules I was talking about dissolve at different rates. Look at a standard pour over with a common grind size- in the first say 30 seconds of the brew, the lighter flavors (see coffee taster's flavor wheel above) like the floral notes and citruses will be fully extracted. Then the mids of caramel and some chocolaty notes in the next minute or so, then at the end comes the heavy flavors or smoke or tobacco. Why? Well it's because the molecules are different size and therefore take different amounts of time to dissolve. If you brew for too long, the really big molecules come out to play, and you'll be sipping on a delightful cup with a strong scent and notes of rubber and charcoal. No bueno. So brew time is another facet to dial in.
  
  All in all, there are a lot of nitpicky points to focus on, but to take it back to the beginning, it's all about the flavor. These are some basics that other people have pointed out to me and that I have discovered, but all the knowledge in the world won't make the perfect cup of coffee because it doesn't exist, or rather it is different for every palette. Some lucky bastard out there may have taste such that McDonald's coffee really is the best there is. For the rest of us, we spend a stupid amount of time and money chasing something better. Welcome.
  
  Sorry that got a little out of hand. I was going to keep it simple, but coffee isn't really simple for those that are in too deep.

TeaForum is a good resource. And I highly recommend the book Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties by Kevin Gascoyne.

90% of tea is bad or mediocre and winds up in teabags. Maybe \<0.1% of the global harvest = the high-end stuff geared towards "enthusiasts." Online specialty vendors, usually based in the East, are your best bet. You won't find the very best teas in most tea houses, although there are certainly exceptions.

Here are a few of my favorites lately, I'd consider these among the best you can get of the varieties I lean to, which is Black, Darjeeling, and Green.

Yunnan Pure Gold, Teaspring (China, Black) - Peppery, leathery, malty, complex, sweet. Extremely high quality Dian Hong (black tea from Yunnan). Some Dianhong's have perfect beautiful gold leaf appearance but mediocre taste- this example has not hugely impressive leaf appearance but a sublime flavor profile.

Keemun Xian Zhen, Teaspring (China, Black) - Keemun is one of China's 'ten famous' tea's. This is one of the finest Keemuns available. Smooth, burgundy-wine-like, elegant flavor profile.

Halmari Gold Assam (India, Black) - Assam is India's largest tea-producing region, but makes mostly cheaper 'ctc' tea found in tea bags. This on the other hand is the cream of the crop, and to common ctc Assam as say a Chateau Lafite is to a Box of Gallo. Malty, smooth, complex, not harsh. This is the estate's direct retail site.

Cha Wang Huang Shan Mao Feng, Teaspring (China, Green) - Many would recommend Dragon Well (Long Jing) as the archetypal China Green for a newb to try, and that's all well and good if you can find it, but the best Dragon Well is extremely pricey and hard to procure. Due to the famous name, one is usually paying just for the name because the best is not commonly available retail. This on the other hand is one of my favorite China Greens I've had in the past few years. Succulent, notes of asparagus or artichoke.

Castleton Second Flush 2017, Vahdam (Darjeeling, Black) - Darjeeling has had some issues lately, but this is an archetypal 'muscatel' Second Flush Darjeeling. Fruity and complex.

Gopaldhara Wonder First Flush 2018, Vahdam (Darjeeling, First Flush 'black) - First Flush Spring Darjeelings are referred to as black, but they are not really fully oxidized, and perhaps closer to White or Oolong. Astringent, notes of melon. This was one of my favorites in 2017 and a daily drinker for me. Haven't tried the 2018 yet but I trust it is a good example, as this estate tends to be consistent.

Jin Guan Yin Golden Tie Guan Yin, Seven Cups (China Anxi Oolong) - I'm not an expert on Oolong, but I've had a fair amount over the years. Tie Guan Yin is a leaf varietal, and a very common item on a typical North American teahouse menu. This is an excellent example. Minerally and vegetal. Seven Cups is run by Austin Hodges, one of the original 'specialty tea' renaissance evangelists in the US and a respected figure in the industry.

And like coffee, preparation is key. It's really impossible to achieve consistent results without a scale and timer, and perhaps thermometer for green/white especially, which aren't to be steeped at boiling and can be fussy.

I posted this in another thread so sorry its just a copy paste, but very relevant---


I dont recommend bartending school. i haven't been personally, but you dont need to pay for the education if you work at the right bar. I learned everything while getting paid.

Death and Co makes amazing books to teach and inspire how to make great unique cocktails. The modern classics covers the fundamentals of bar tools and all the philosophy, plus theres a bunch of neat recipes. They also have a codex thats super interesting in that they simplify and break down the origins of most cocktails. Everything is a riff on a classic, in one way or another.

Another one I like is from Smugglers Cove in San Fransisco (i think?) This book touches more into tiki and tropical cocktails, but its a lot of fun and there are plenty of great cocktails without super esoteric ingredients.

On the opposite end of the relax tiki book is this book from Grant Achatz, 3 Michelin starred chef of Alinea in Chicago (hence the pricy book). He also owns bars in Chicago and New York, and have some of the most exceptional drinks I've ever had. He's big on molecular gastronomy, wether its juice filled caviar balls, dry ice used to chill your drink tableside (with lots of smoke) or this tableside infusion. A lot of it is super over the top and not necessary, but for presentations sake its incredible. really innovative and inspiring

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I suggest that if you want to get into cocktails and mixology, find a nice restaurant with a cocktail program. If you're near a big city, try bar backing at a nice cocktail spot or restaurant, it'll help you kind of see things from the outside for a bit and will make it all less daunting.

cheers

andtheodor beat me to the question by question post, but I am up late and can't sleep, so I will take a stab at this as well (BTW, andtheodor is a great resource for wine questions, he/she really knows his/her stuff)

> What are some good online resources?

Wikipedia is a good resource for definitions and wine classification laws by region.

> Is there a simple way to classify wines (beyond red,white, blush)?

Most wines are classified on a menu by red, white, blend, rose. Many good wine lists categorize by region. There isn't a standard way to classify wine. Sometimes it's by varietal, region, or by flavor profile. Depends on what the restaurant or wine shop wants to cater to.

> When I read the words bouquet or spice, does that mean the wine was actually made with these, or just that it gives of that taste/aroma?

Wine is made from grapes (generally speaking, I'm not talking about apple wine and stuff) and most laws don't allow anything to be added to the must (must is un-fermented juice). Bouquet is referring to the nose, or smell. Spice is a aroma/tasting note commonly found in Zinfandel or Syrah. Sometimes it's a baking spice you taste/smell, other times it's pepper.

> What would you call a chianti that uses more than just sangiovese? A blend?

Chianti means it's from that region in Italy. Some Chianti is blended, but has to be a certain percentage of sangiovese to be legally called Chianti. A sangiovese from Tuscany (where Chianti is) that does not adhere to the rules to be called Chianti is sometimes referred to as a "Super Tuscan."

> If it is a blend, does it means that it was mixed after fermentation?

If it is blended before crush while harvesting (then crushed together), this is referred to as a field blend. Most are blended after fermentation, but not always.

> What do you call a wine using only 1 grape?

It is called a single varietal. This is a bit of a misnomer though, as many wines in CA labeled 'Cabernet' for example, only have to be 80% Cab to have it labelled as such. Some wines are 100% varietal, some are blended. It depends on the laws of the region it is from on how it is labelled.

> When pairing with foods, are there any rules of thumb? (besides the old red w/ red, white w/ white).

There are too many pairing rules of thumb to list. Sometimes you contrast a food/wine, sometimes you complement. Depends on the dish & wine. Learn what the parings are for every item on the menu, I'm sure they will train you on this.

> Also, I tried chianti with chicken parmesan and lasagna today. I do not like the wine itself. But after sipping the wine and then taking a bite of food, the food seemed to have a whole new level of flavor. But then going back to the wine after the bite, I didn't like the wine - it almost tasted worse. Should it be a mutual relationship? Or is that just kind of the way it is?

Depends. Italian wines are notorious for being 'food wines' in that they are made to complement a meal. You may just not like the Chianti you were drinking. They range in profile from earthy to sometimes almost fruity. Wine should always be good on it's own, but better with the dish it's served with.

> There seems to be hundreds of different grapes. Are they all suitable for wine?

In general, you are looking for vitis vinifera grapes, those are the species you make into wine (for the most part). Other vitis species are made into wines, but vinifera is what you should concern yourself with. Learn the varietals of Italy, since it sounds like that is what you will need to know.

> Regional wines? I understand that they come from certain regions. But how do they fit into the grand scheme of things? (i know this is a poorly devised question. You have artistic freedom here)

Region is as important as the varietal. A Napa chardonnay is completely different than a white Burgundy (also chardonnay, but from the Burgundy region in France). Sometimes wines are labelled by varietal, sometimes it's by region. Depends on the laws of the country it is from.

> If I know the basics about, say, Chianti, will it pair with food fairly well no matter the brand/blend? For example, If I recommend a Chianti that is 100% sangiovese, will it pretty much pair just as well if I recommend one that used Sangiovese and Canailo grapes?

Not necessarily. You need to know each specific Chianti and what it pairs with, as Chianti can be different in style depending on the producer/bottler . Just because it says Chianti doesn't mean it's a concrete flavor profile. They can span the spectrum in style depending on how they are blended.

> Naming "systems": Pinot grigio is named after a species of grape. Are all single grape wines named by the grape? Also, if they contain more than 1 grape, are they all almost exclusively named by region? How else could/would they be named? I think this kind of goes back to question #2

Varietal labeling is a new world thing (US and Aussie wines) while regional labeling is an old world thing (European wines). France, for example, allows their vin de pays classified wines to label by varietal, while AOC wines must use region (except for Alsace). Italy is crazy because sometimes wines are named for region (Chianti, Valpolicella, Barolo, etc.) while sometimes wines from those regions are named by varietal (sangiovese, pinot grigio, nebiollo, etc.) Just because it is named by region does not mean it is a blend. Red Burgundy from France for example, must be 100% pinot noir by law.

Lots of good questions here, but I agree that you are asking too specific questions. Buy the Wine Bible and read the first parts on intro, viticulture, & wine making, then read the section on Italy. It will take only a few hours to read all that, and you will be in a good position to 'fake' your way through the rest. Good Luck!

I totally agree with jonetone. I'm a huge cocktail nerd, and that's my first love when it comes to alcohol, but I totally love wine and beer as well (though I didn't until I started tasting good beers!). The variety in each of those categories is huge, and it sounds like you've barely scratched the surface in any of them. Experiment!

Yuengling is a bland, cheap beer. Most people in most parts of the country drink bland, cheap beer. But beer can be totally full of flavor. Depending on where you live, you might have a big craft brewing scene. I live in Boulder CO where it is huge, for example. If you live in such a place, a great way to try beers and learn to appreciate them is to go to a well-regarded craft brewery's tap room, take a tour, and taste everything they've got. It's tons of fun and usually pretty cheap. If you don't have breweries nearby, find a good liquor store and experiment with a variety of styles. Don't buy just the cheap stuff - like liquor, the cheapest beers aren't that good. Oh, and always pour your beers from the bottle into a beer glass; like wine, you need to be able to smell the beer to taste all of the subtle flavors.

Based on your favorite cocktails, I suspect you also have a ton of room for experimentation there. Seek out a good craft cocktail bar if you live in a major metropolitan area, and pick up a good book on less well known cocktails (like this one).

Hey there. I'll give you a little summary of what I think most people on here will tell you in response to your questions.

Books: Blue Bottle ,Coffee Comprehensive and Uncommon Grounds are all good books to cover most of coffee and its processes.

This Capresso Infinity is considered a pretty decent burr grinder for the price. It will not do espresso but will be good enough for most other coffee brewing methods.

Getting a set up that is acceptable for "real" espresso is kind of expensive. A Gaggia classic is considered the bare minimum espresso machine for a "real" espresso. A Baratza Virtuoso is considered bare minimum for a decent espresso grinder. Now, you can (and many people do) find these items used, which obviously reduces the cost greatly. But depending on your area, finding these items up on craigslist or similar sites can be pretty rare.

I'm not from Rhode Island, but googling local roasters will provide some results. As for online ordering, tonx, blue bottle and stumptown are favorites around here for their price and quality. Beans are broken down on what region they came from, how they were processed and how dark they are roasted. Each region has different flavor profiles in their beans. African beans are known for being more fruity than other beans, for example. A little warning, most people on this subreddit believe Starbuck's espresso roast coffee to be too dark. However, many of Starbuck's light/Medium roast coffees have been reviewed as pretty decent. Most websites that sell the beans will list a flavor profile of the beans. The basic saying on this subreddit is that if you have crappy beans, no matter what, your coffee will be crappy. If you are going to overspend anywhere in the process, overspend on quality beans.

The espresso machines that you will be using at starbucks are machines that will basically produce espresso at the push of a button. They will grind, tamp and extract the espresso without any input from you. You should just know right off the bat that there is a whole other world to espresso making that is the exact opposite, with people grinding the beans to the right size, tamping by hand, and extracting shots with a lever that controls pressure. Neither way is right or wrong, you should just know that there are many different types of espresso machines and baristas.

I'll share a little bit of advise, take from it what you will. I was an ambitious college student coffee drinker just like you. I asked for a Breville espresso machine as my first real coffee making device (even before a grinder, how silly of me). I just wanted an espresso machine because that was all I was getting from these coffee shops. Since then I've gotten a nice grinder, a melitta pour over, french press, gooseneck kettle, aeropress, V60, moka pot, and chemex. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't turned on my espresso machine in over a year. There is so much more to coffee than espresso. There are so many methods to brew coffee that are cheaper, more complex and more interesting. If I had a chance to do it all over again, I'd buy the burr grinder I linked, and an Aeropress or any french press (Starbucks sells some pretty nice ones. You could get one with an employee discount) and just learn to love coffee on its own, without frothed milk and flavorings.

There is a ton of info on this subreddit if you stick around for awhile. Questions like yours are posted all the time and answered by very knowledgable people. Your enthusiasm for coffee is extremely exciting to see. Please don't let any of my advise subtract from your enthusiasm. Everyone takes a different path while exploring coffee. That's part of the excitement. You will learn a lot at Starbucks and you will learn a lot if you stay here. Enjoy your stay.

Maybe it's the taste, or your diet is poor. Maybe she hates the texture, or smell or something. Maybe she feels like it would make her slutty or dirty but not in sexy way. A lot of those behavioral response can be changed by slowly exposing the person to the act, or by pairing it with rewarding stimuli (and this goes for practically anything you guys want to try). So, going the slow route, get her to let your cum in her mouth, which she can immediately spit out on to you or wherever is easiest -- just provide quick escape. Then step it up to her keeping it in her mouth. Then try snowballing. Then once she's comfortable with all that, go up to full swallowing. If you choose to go the other route, you've got to turn her on while she's doing the act. Maybe even do something like make drinks from this book first before going full-on load down the throat. But in your creativity, be very rewarding. Compliment her, tell her how hot you find it all, etc. And once you're done, remember to post-sex decompose -- cuddle and reiterate how it made you feel, help her get clean and comfortable, etc. Until you talk with her, you don't know how she truly feels about it, and even then that may not be what it truly is, so expressing your love and attraction to her even after sex is done is almost more important than anything else.

My fiance started brewing with a 1 gallon kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. He liked their kits since they're all-grain and don't use extracts. The instructions are easy to follow, and there are some free videos available online as well. The beers he's made with the kits (I believe he's used four so far) have been pretty good, despite a few "user errors." (Trouble with filtration for one, accidental over-carbonation for another.) Mind you, the kit DOES NOT include bottles, caps, a capper, or the various pots/strainers/funnels you tend to need for brewing. You can purchase these items separately from Brooklyn Brew Shop's site, or poke around on Amazon.

http://brooklynbrewshop.com/beer-making-kits

Northern Brewer also sells a nice 1-gallon starter kit (it includes a capper, caps, and an auto-siphon for bottling, but doesn't have a thermometer like Brooklyn Brew Shop's kits). Their mixes use extracts, which some homebrewers aren't as fond of, but they are much higher quality than Mr. Beer. I've never used a Northern Brewer kit or tried a Northern Brewer beer, but I've heard good things. I've ordered supplies from the company twice before (big orders and bulky/awkward items) and they are an absolute pleasure to do business with. If nothing else, they're a great source for ordering additional supplies if you don't have a local homebrew shop.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/beer-equipment-starter-kits/1-gallon-small-batch-starter-kit.html

If your boyfriend is really interested in homebrewing, you might want to consider getting him the book How to Brew by John J. Palmer. It's generally considered to be the most comprehensive book for new homebrewers. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009DH2PP4?btkr=1)

If he is NOT interested in homebrewing (he hasn't expressed a specific interest in brewing his own beer, and you simply think a homebrew kit would be an awesome present for a beer lover), you might want to rethink your gift. Enjoying craft beer and enjoying brewing beer are two separate things. While one does sometimes bleed into the other (you'd best like craft beer if you plan to make it in your kitchen), not all craft lovers enjoy brewing.

1. Eat (and learn about) what you enjoy
   
   If you go searching for learn-how-to-cook tutorials and get stuck making some boring ass chicken recipe but don't even like chicken, you'll make the food correctly but have trouble enjoying the results. It's homework. You won't last making food you don't like.
   
   To stay interested, follow the foods you already love.
   
   For me, it was pasta. I went nuts. My first year or so learning, I was making an insane amount of pasta and was always stoked to eat the results, even if they sucked.
   
   
   
2. Learn from someone who actually cooks.
   
   Too many recipes have one-off ingredients you'll never use again. You want to learn how you can improve your food with what you already have (i.e. Don't worry about the imported, smoked, Himalayan pink salt yet).
   
   A person who understands food will give you so much more than a checklist and directions can. Understanding trumps a recipe every time. And you'd be surprised how little you need to make great food. A good cook knows how to do this.
   
   I was really fortunate to have a roommate who's Italian grandma was an amazing cook. He knew his shit. He would coach and correct everything I was doing with my horrible attempts to make pasta. It was fun and quickly showed me how to improve--all with no recipes. It showed me you can taste as you go.
   
   
   
3. Most cookbooks are shit for learning
   
   Today there a more books telling you what to do, and less telling you why you do it. The latter is the key.
   
   These two books really opened a lot for me regarding understanding food and how to make it better:
   
   I'm Just Here For The Food: Food + Heat = Cooking
   
   Cooking (James Peterson)
   
   Honorable mention:
   
   Ratios: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
   
   Cheers, and best of luck. Now go eat!
   
   
   Also Good Eats and Mind of A Chef are amazing shows to watch. We are so visual nowdays.

Do yourself a favor and buy these books, they've got some very good basic stuff.

The Craft of the Cocktail - Dale Degroff

The Joy of Mixology - Gary Reagan

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails - Ted Haigh

The Dale Degroff book isn't huge but it has some super solid information (and Degroff is just about the most down to earth but still crazy knowledgeable dudes that's around.)

The Gary Reagan book has a great section that breaks down a ton of different drinks by drink families and can really help you understand why things are constructed the way they are. IE - A sidecar and a margarita are both daisies, except a sidecar is cognac and lemon juice whereas a margarita uses tequila and lime. Or, basically how using the base of a spirit, a sweet, and a sour gives you a ton of different cocktails (Rum, lime, simple - Daiquiri. Whiskey, lemon, simple - whiskey sour. Gin, lime, simple - gimlet. Switch out the lime for lemon, put it in a tall glass and add soda water, and you get at tom collins. etc...) Basically its all super useful information and once you understand the whys and hows of construction it can allow you to either make shit on the fly, or more easily remember common proportions.

The Ted Haigh book is just kind of neat to have and has some weirder, not-so-standardized cocktails that some people may sometimes ask for. Think Singapore Sling, Blood and Sand, Vieux Carre, Fogcutter, French 75, etc. There's also a heap of neat old cocktails that NO ONE asks for anymore, and a couple of the recipes are out of date (The Aviation recipe is an old one, there was a period where creme de violette wasn't available and this book was published before it became available again BUT I DIGRESS that's more than you're probably looking for anyway.)

I could post some more if you really get down into nitty gritty neat stuff, but I'm a nerd for using historical knowledge to round out my skills, so I could actually go on for pages with recommendations.

Edit: All that said, if you just get one, get the Joy of Mixology. Its got a chart, it'll tell you what you need if anything weird comes up, but honestly, if its a pub you're probably not going to have that many issues.

It all depends on what you're looking for. If I had to go for one general book to start out with it'd probably be The Essential Bartender's Guide - great intro with some history, as well as discussion on what different types of drinks are, etc. Good Jack-of-all-trades book. As you get a little deeper, the standouts for me are Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, Bitters, Imbibe!, and Punch. Vintage is a great resource to get an idea of what's been done (and lost) over the years, and is a great place to learn about what types of flavors work well together, plus there's a great blurb about the history of the drink with each recipe. Bitters is pretty self explanatory, but it has a nice intro to cocktail history, and s ton of great recipes, both new and old. Really interesting to see how slight tweaks in the bitters used (Fourth Regiment vs a Manhattan, for example) makes a huge difference in the ultimate product. Imbibe and Punch are simply brilliant history lessons, with a few recipes thrown in for good measure. Cheers!

Huh!

That's really interesting!

A close friend's father introduced me to brewing when I was, like, 16 (after sneaking no small amount of his home brew) and we spent several afternoons brewing together and he told me a lot about how the different ingredients and brewing methods work to create different flavors and styles of beer, so I have an (admittedly basic and ineloquent) understanding of hops and grains and malts.

I also cook a lot, so flavors and ingredients are really important to me and I'm keenly aware of what a big difference something like fresh basil can make over a dried ground powder in a freshly prepared meal. That's not snobbery, it's just a fact. Good quality ingredients are important to crafting excellent food.

I got curious about wine a couple years back and read Drink This, which is an amazingly easy to read and unpretentious guide to learning what exactly the difference between Syrah and Merlot is. (And all the other varietals.) The book recommends a lot of tasting, and I can't drink 5 bottles in one go by myself so I decided to make a game out of it and gave a powerpoint lecture on each chapter to my friends and we did all the tastings together. Super educational and a great experience. Would definitely recommend.

For the record, I didn't know anything about anything regarding wine when I started out on that little adventure. No shame, full curiosity.

Anyway.

I don't know of any great books about beers off the top of my head but this is the book I was given to learn about brewing. It will give you a huge amount of insight into the process and ingredients (and history!) of brewing if you're interested.

I totally understand why you made the analogy you did now. Thanks for clearing that up!

And yeah, while I totally agree that people can use beer knowledge as a way to feel superior to those around them, and that habit is stupid and annoying, there really is a lot to learn about beer (and pretty much everything else in the world, duh) and a whole lot of great stuff out there to taste! So don't let those jerkbags ruin that experience for you. Go check it out!

Equipment, maybe $40 total, but lasts for years. Plus you can start with just a few cheap basics and slowly build your gear. Each batch of beer varies in cost. A beginer's batch from a kit so you can just learn the process, maybe $15. Mid range for good beer, about $25-30 (Malt, hops, yeast), then for bigger flavor beers, higher alcohol, exotic flavors you can spend as much as you want. $50 isn't unusual. But remember, it's making a bit more than 2 cases. $25 a case, that's 4x 6 packs, $6 a 6-pack. Can you buy top end beer for $6 a 6-pack? No you can't. You can barely buy the cheap swill for $6. Craft brew and import will run you $8-$11 a 6-pack. So the up front ingredient cost seems like a lot until you realize the per beer cost is very reasonable. Cheap even.

If your curiosity is piqued, before you jump in get this book.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Joy-Home-Brewing/dp/0380763664

It's one of the very best on the market that holds a wealth of information and starts out assuming you know nothing other than you love beer and think it'd be cool to make your own. It hand holds you all the way through the beginner process to your first beer, then ramps up to intermediate, and even after 17 years I come back to this book just because it's just a rock solid brewing bible. An exceptionally well written and organized "How to" book that is a fascinating read on the making of beer even if you never try doing it.

Edit: Also, look over at r/Homebrewing

They teach you the "easy way", and by easy way I mean using sour mix and taking shortcuts like that. There are plenty of good resources online and amazing cocktail books you can buy that have the original recipes for classic cocktails, as well as the proper way to do things behind the bar.

Learn from reputable sources and from good bartenders. If you're interested here's a couple good reads:

• [Jerry Thomas Bartender's Guide] (http://www.amazon.ca/Jerry-Thomas-Bartenders-Guide-Reprint/dp/1438241747/ref=pd_sim_b_13?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  
• [Dave Wondrich's Imbibe!] (http://www.amazon.ca/Imbibe-Professor-Featuringthe-Selection-Contributed/dp/0399532870)
  
  
• [Great book on Bitters] (http://www.amazon.ca/Bitters-Spirited-Cure-All-Cocktails-Formulas/dp/1580083595/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  
• [Harry Craddock's Savory Cocktail Book] (http://www.amazon.ca/Savoy-Cocktail-Book-Harry-Craddock/dp/1862057729/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  
• [Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Bar Book] (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Bar-Book-Elements-Technique/dp/145211384X/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  
• [Craft of the Cocktail] (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Craft-Cocktail-Everything-Bartender/dp/0609608754/ref=pd_sim_b_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  
• [Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails] (http://www.amazon.ca/Vintage-Spirits-Forgotten-Cocktails-Alamagoozlum/dp/1592535615/ref=pd_sim_b_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  
• [Boozehound] (http://www.amazon.ca/Boozehound-Trail-Obscure-Overrated-Spirits/dp/1580082882/ref=pd_sim_b_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  
• [Liquid Intelligence] (http://www.amazon.ca/Liquid-Intelligence-Dave-Arnold/dp/0393089037/ref=pd_sim_b_17?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A8ZRNN8WZB4R6P9GVGN)
  
  As far as knowledge goes, you can learn a lot from reading and studying. For me personally, I love this kind of stuff and I'm constantly trying to learn as much as I can so I could hardly say it feels like actual studying. As for technical skills, learn from people better than you. No matter how good you get, there is always someone out there you can learn from. A lot of how I work I've picked up from watching great bartenders, everything from small stuff like the way I carry a bottle to the way I move behind the bar has come from watching, learning and implementing it into how I bartend.

Naturally, of course, you could pick up any red from Burgundy, as that's Pinot Noir's homeland. It's actually pretty enlightening to compare the European and American styles of the same type of wine. Still, for true varietal variety, you've got a few choices.

Probably the easiest to find alternatives would be a wine from either a Beaujolais (made from gamay)or a Rioja (made from tempranillo). The former gets a bad rap because of Beaujolais Nouveau being a generally cheap fruit-bomb, but the better quality and more aged wines are a fantastic PN alternative. Look for anything labelled Beaujolais Villages ("Villages" is basically the mid-range rank in the screwy French system). There are also the high level Cru wines, but they drop Beaujolais from their label in exchange for the name of the Cru. Brouilly cru wines seem pretty easy to find, but you can google up the rest; there's less than a dozen.

For a Rioja, you'll want to keep in mind the aging system: crianza, reserva, gran reserva. It measures how long the wine spends in oak before bottling. A crianza might be a bit too sharp to stand in for a PN and a gran reserva maybe a bit too oaky and stout, but a reserva would be a good choice. You could also investigate wines from the next region over, Ribera del Duero, which makes a similar style of wines (though they call their tempranillo "tinto fino" and claim it's different).

For harder to find choices you could stay in Spain and try wines from Bierzo. The wines are made mostly from a grape called mencia, which yields a lot of PN qualities, if a bit more mineral/earthy than your average pinot. There are some truly amazing (if sadly not well known) PN alternatives in Austria.

Several of the key red varietals from Austria (blaufrankisch, st. laurent, and their hybrid, zweigelt) could do a good job replacing pinot noir. The first time I tasted a zweigelt, I actually thought I had stumbled onto some strange and deeply-satisfying blend of pinot and syrah. The downside is that Austrian wine isn't exactly taking the American market by storm. You can sometimes find German blaufrankisches, but they call the grape Lemberger. You could also cheat at subbing out pinot noir by grabbing a blauburgunder or spatburgunder, which are simply the Austrian and German terms for Pinot Noir. Good luck finding them though.

If you want to learn more about European wines, I'd recommend Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible. It is an incredibly comprehensive source for the major wine styles and regions. Technically it covers the entire world of wine, but it has a definite focus on the Big 3 (France, Italy, and Spain).

It really depends on the brand of roaster and how much you want to invest to automate it. Automation will mean a loss of control and due to that loss of adjustable variables, you will be shoehorned into whatever roast it wants to give you (within certain limitations). This could be a good thing for beginners, shops who want repeatability, and operations where you want to be able to do other things (sales, etc) while the machine is roasting, or have an employee with little to no roasting background operate the machine.

If you buy a roaster with all of the automation already implemented, your training could be rather simplistic and you could turn out reasonable coffee quickly. To make extraordinary coffee, you need that minute control over every possible variable. We have found that a difference of one degree at a critical changing point in our profile is tasteable in the cup. I have an engineering background and immediately wanted greater control over the basic homeroaster because I understood things about profile roasting which I could not implement on the basic system.

Your other option is to find a used commercial drum and implement your own control/automation system. If you have any electrical or systems engineering background (or know anyone who does) this is not really complicated, just time consuming. There is a lot of software available for roast monitoring & control. If you don't have some sort of automation (PID gas valve control, computer monitoring and profile control) you won't have the precise repeatability to produce a similar product every time. Sure, you don't have one hand on a damper and the other on a gas valve, but there is still plenty of 'artisan' factor in crafting a great roast on any system which isn't fully automated!

If you want to get started on a smaller homeroasting level, [Kenneth Davids book] (http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Roasting-Revised-Updated-Edition/dp/0312312199) gives a broad overview of coffee and has homeroasting techniques and insights. [Blue Bottle] (http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bottle-Craft-Coffee-Roasting/dp/1607741180/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409583577&sr=1-1&keywords=blue+bottle+craft+of+coffee+by+james+freeman) is an entertaining read about James Freeman starting into roasting, his travels, a little bit about roasting, and a lot about prep methods. Definitely use the Sweet Marias web library! Also you might check out: homeroasters.org home-barista.com greencoffee.coop coffeegeek.com and I'm sure there are some I've missed. If you get the chance to attend a CoffeeFest, they are pretty inexpensive and there are roasting courses (basic, but nice intros to professional machines), you can meet plenty of green bean importers, and you can drink all the free coffees you can handle!

Hope my rambling answered your questions and I didn't bore you to death!

Here's a list of some good General Books on beer.

I'm fond of Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher. It does a great job of introducing the history of beer, the different styles, and other great info. I recommend it to everybody who wants to learn about beer. http://www.amazon.com/Tasting-Beer-Insiders-Worlds-Greatest/dp/1603420894

If you're interested in the history of American beer, Ambitious Brew is a great read. It's limited in scope to just the history of American beer, but that proves to be a rich subject. http://www.amazon.com/Ambitious-Brew-Story-American-Beer/dp/0156033593

Beer is Proof That God Loves Us, It's not the greatest book, but for free on Kindle, it's worth checking out. The guy knows his beer, he just is a big time Macro brewing apologist, and his constant praise for the big brewers, and his disdain for hops make it not my favorite book. There are some good anecdotes, and history of beer. http://www.amazon.com/Beer-Is-Proof-God-Loves/dp/0137065078

And I've heard good things about the Oxford Companion to Beer, though I haven't read it myself. http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Beer-Garrett-Oliver/dp/0195367138/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_z

This post came at a perfect time for me: last week my friend and I had a cocktail taste test. We decided to focus on the Aviation.

The point was to make the same cocktail using two different recipes. I have tons of books, but I decided to pit the recipe from from the reference book Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide. It is the recipe I've been using to "impress" friends for the last two months. That recipe goes like this:

2 oz. gin

1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur

1/4 oz. lemon juice

1/4 oz. creme de violette

It was good. Refreshing. Unique tart bite. A floral cooling sensation. But it was missing something, it tasted more bitter than I was used to at the bars I went to.

But then I got the Death and Co. book for Christmas, and man is it great. So I decided to use their recipe to go against the one I was using, and it goes like this:

2 oz. Plymouth gin

1/2 oz. Luxardo maraschino liqueur

1/2 teaspoon creme yvette

3/4 oz. lemon juice

1/4 oz simple syrup


This recipe seems very different. And guess what? The Death and Co. recipe was MILES better than the one I was using before. Everything blended together so well! It tasted fantastic. It just goes to show how different measurements and the simple addition of simple syrup go a long way.

I hope to try this test out with different cocktails soon. OP, where did you get your recipe?

Also, I checked the Savoy Cocktail book, and here is there recipe:

1/3 lemon juice

2/3 dry gin

2 dashes maraschino

!!

That's it! No violette anything! Even Esquire doesn't use any creme de violette.

I found a very interesting blog post (from a post in /r/cocktails actually) of the history of the Aviation that is worth a read.

Here are some pics of our lab:
http://imgur.com/a/cvMUV

The point is to play around with the same recipe until you really feel it is outstanding.

EDIT: Shameless plug: https://obedientingredients.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/cocktail-measurements-matter-the-aviation/

Vodka: Svedka 14 dollars or Reyka 20 dollars

Gin: New Amsterdam 12-15 dollars

Rum: Don Q 13 dollars

Tequila: Piedra Azul is super cheap (15 dollars) 100% blue agave choice of blanco or reposado for the same price. Esplon is really good too and only 6 more dollars

Bourbon: Buffalo Trace or Jim Beam are both solid choices around 20 dollars

Rye: Old Overholt 20 dollars

Vermouth: Martini makes solid super cheap affordable for both sweet and dry together your looking at maybe 15 dollars

Triple sec is key eventually you'll want a better orange liqueur.

Peach Schnapps is another staple

get yourself some bitters, angostura, orange, and peychauds first then get the more obscure stuff later

get a couple juices: cran, orange, pine
get a few sodas: coke, sprite, tonic, soda

Keep adding stuff here and there. Eventually, you'll have a solid collection... Unless you drink your product faster than you add product.

Also highly recommend getting yourself some books. http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Mixology-Consummate-Guide-Bartenders/dp/0609608843
The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan has some solid advice for getting started as a professional bartender and is full of recipes.

Good luck my friend!

drmischief links below - but you REALLY ought to buy and read How to Brew by John Palmer.

It's pretty much indispensable for the noob brewer. It's a great blend of easy to understand process, as well as a good helping of science if you really want to understand what's going on.

Make it through that book, and complement it with Brewing Classic Styles and Brewing Better Beer.

You may not be a book learner, but those books have great references that you can look up mid-brew.

Other than that - find someone to mentor you through a local homebrew club if at all possible. I started with a mentor, and have since passed the torch to other all grain noobs.

A great book for info on aging beer, best practices and what to expect at different stages of in the aging process, is "Vintage Beer" (Amazon) by Patrick Dawson. He has a section on classic beers to age and when it's best to open them. There's not specific info on DFH 120 but there is a section on Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine, which is a pretty intensely hoppy interpretation of the style, similar to 120. The tasting panel in the book says bottles as old as 4-5 years are optimal while bottles up to 8-10 years are good but less complex. So, I'd expect good things with your 5-year old 120.

I agree with u/TheyCallMeJDR, chill for 24 hours and set it out for a bit before you serve.

Cheers

I have some knowledge, my old man brews all the time, and I have done my fair share as well.
PissinChicken isnt exactly right. Once your set up, you get 5 gallons of beer for 20 or so bucks. I got all my gear, as well as ingredients at
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/
Got the basic kit for 60 bucks, and off you go. The other thing you will need is bottles. You can get 22 oz bottles in 12 bottle cases at the same site. Also check craigslist frequently. I came up with grolsh style bottles from there, and now I dont use the cap-type anymore(actually, im on to Kegging now, so i dont use any bottles). I would suggest bottling you first handful of brews to make sure you like it before even thinking about kegging. This is where the cost heads up. Also, stick to prepackaged malt for your wort for your first few. Once you get the hang of it, try partial mashing grains. This is where I am now, and Im making very good beer IMO. But the cans or packages of malt work just fine. I still buy them to mix with my wort even after i partial mash.
If you have any specific questions, I may be able to help further. It is a rewarding hobby, I think. Especially if you like 5 gallons of fresh homebrews! Enjoy...

PS-I have lots of bottles Im willing to part with, depending on where you are, just FYI.
PPS- Also, get a book. I like this:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Joy-Home-Brewing/dp/0380763664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265210375&sr=8-1

Drink This - Wine Made Simple - Great book for beginners

The Wine Bible

The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert - Seems like it's a joke, and it sooort of is, but there's some good information there, and the scratch and sniff thing is actually quite useful.

The World Atlas of Wine - Pretty much the ultimate wine book. If you don't want to spend that much on it, consider buying a used copy of the older edition. You can get it for just a few bucks. Obviously it won't be as up to date, but it's still extremely useful.

Pairing Food and Wine for Dummies - John Szabo is legit

Great Wine Made Simple

Up until recently I worked at a book store, these were the books I recommended most frequently to people. If you want ones about specific regions, there are some good ones out there too. These are all more general.

Je te conseil ste livre la : https://www.amazon.ca/How-Brew-Everything-Right-First/dp/0937381888 sinon, son site web gratuit : http://www.howtobrew.com/ Je sais pas si il est a jour comparer au livre. Ya eu plusieurs découverte de brassage depuis quelques années. C'est un super de bon livre avec la grande majorité des choses que t'as besoin de savoir concernant le brassage de la bière et c'est super bien expliqué.

r/homebrewing peux t'aider aussi. Super belle communauté consacrer au brassage de biere et plein de gens qui veulent t'aider. Incluant John Palmer lui même (auteur de How to Brew).

Ya aussi ste gars la qui fais des cherches sur des bieres historique anglaise : http://barclayperkins.blogspot.ca/ Super de bon stock qui t'apprend les ancien type biere avant la révolution industriel et les guerres qui a eux qui a tout changer.

Je recommande aussi http://brulosophy.com/. Super de bon blog qui teste des mythes de brassage de façon scientifique et les prouve correcte ou non.

Tout ca c'est le brassage de biere de type Anglais. Si tu veux du stuff de biere belge (ce qu'on a beaucoup au Quebec) je te recommande la serie - Brewing Farmhouse Ales, Brew like a Monk et Brewing with Wheat. https://www.amazon.ca/Farmhouse-Ales-Craftsmanship-European-Tradition/dp/0937381845/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519234800&sr=1-1&keywords=brewing+farmhouse+ale&dpID=51oI7VkdTwL&preST=_SY264_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

Si tu cherche du stuff des biere Allemande/Czech je te conseil ste livre la : Brewing Lager Beer : https://www.amazon.ca/New-Brewing-Lager-Beer-Comprehensive/dp/0937381829/ref=pd_sim_14_18?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YJKTZ5QSPD8KH7MZQ48Z

ET Si tu cherche plus des recettes qui fonctionne que son selon les styles BJCP, je te conseil ste livre la : https://www.amazon.ca/Designing-Great-Beers-Ultimate-Brewing/dp/0937381500/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=S5CFF5PGSYQN6YW5HNZH

Si tu cherche du stuff concernant les biere surrette (Lambic, Brett, Lacto etc) regarde ste livre la : https://www.amazon.ca/American-Sour-Beer-Michael-Tonsmeire/dp/1938469119/ref=pd_sim_14_9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DF5N9XVQ8FWQCNK6NKS3

Je connais malheureusement pas de literature en francais.


Sur ce bonne chance et lache pas! C'est super interessant!

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/03/17/the-first-wort-hop-beer-brewing-techniques/

> Sources vary, but most testing indicates that first wort hopping will increase the number of International Bitterness Units (IBUs) by as much as 10%. Given the hop shortage I wrote about earlier, increased utilization is an added bonus. However, taste perception is different. In blind taste testing across a number of articles, the overall flavor of first wort hops is perceived as smoother, less sharp, and had a more pleasing aroma. Hop bitterness was perceived as harmonic and uniformly bitter. In blind taste tests, the FWH were preferred by 11 of 12 test subjects.

Which then links to http://www.brewery.org/library/1stwort.html

>Tasting panel results: the FWH beers were overwhelmingly preferred over the reference beers in triangular taste tests (i.e., each taster was given three beers, two of either the reference beer or the FWH beer, and one of the other, and had to correctly identify which two were alike before their preference results were incorporated in the database). 11 of 12 tasters of each beer preferred the FWH beer. The main reasons given for the preference: "a fine, unobtrusive hop aroma; a more harmonic beer; a more uniform bitterness."

> Analytical results -- bitterness: The FWH beers had more IBUs than did the reference beers. Brew A: Ref beer was 37.9 IBU, FWH beer was 39.6 IBU. Brew B: Ref beer was 27.2 IBU, FWH beer was 32.8 IBU. This should come as no surprise, since more hops were in the kettle for the boil in the FWH beers than in the Reference beers. Prior to fermentation, the worts from both breweries showed the following features: the FWH wort had substantially more isomerized alpha acids, but less non-isomerized alphas. This was particularly true of Brew B, which had a higher proportion of first-wort hops. Nevertheless, the bitterness of the FWH beers was described as more pleasing than the (slightly weaker) bitterness of the reference beers.

> Analytical results -- aroma: For the aroma compounds, very distinct differences were measured (gas chromatography) in both the identities and concentrations of the various aromatic compounds between the FWH beers and the reference beers. Because the precise nature of the effects of aromatic compounds on beer flavor are very complicated, it cannot be said with certainty just why the various measurements resulted in the overwhelming tasting preference, but clearly something is going on here. Even though the reference beers had higher absolute amounts of most of the aroma compounds, again the FWH beers got higher ratings for overall pleasure.

And I believe Gordon Strong covers it in Brewing Better Beer. I haven't read it, but he came to a LHBC meeting and spoke about it.

We have a couple great cocktail bars and high-profile bartenders (Jeffrey Morgenthaler and Jacob Grier come to mind), and a lot more underrated ones, but PDT is world-class; Meehan's PDT cocktail book is a best-seller in the genre and highly regarded among cocktail makers.

Notably, Meehan may not even be the highest-profile east-to-west cocktail bartender move this month. John Gertsen of Boston's Drink, which won so many Tales of the Cocktail awards that it got retired out of the awards process, is moving to San Francisco.

I'm curious whether the PDT/east coast-style cocktail bar will work on the west coast, though, and especially in Portland, because there's too much competition from things like beers and ciders and straight spirits (and coffee!) that the east coast doesn't have. Even places like Clyde Common and Teardrop and Metrovino, which all have cocktail programs that would work well on the east coast, do presentation, service, and hospitality a little (and sometimes a lot) differently.

And people here get wonky over other food and drink things here--we have green coffee bean shops and tons of homebrew shops, while the east coast has more dedicated boutiques for home bars and high-end liquor stores with hand-picked selections. The culture isn't there; you don't have as many cocktail snobs in Portland because everyone's put all their snob points in coffee and beer and scotch and hiking boots or whatever.

> Semen is not only nutritious, but it also has a wonderful texture and amazing cooking properties.
> Like fine wine and cheeses, the taste of semen is complex and dynamic.
> Semen is inexpensive to produce and is commonly available in many, if not most, homes and restaurants.

Edit: Now Amazon is recommending this and this to me. Lovely.

So I'd like to plug David Wondrich's Punch as good place to start if you want to do something creative that really involves the craft of punchmaking, which, at least according to Wondrich, is antithetical to how we make cocktails. If you just want a great recipe, I have to recommend his iced tea rum punch, it's in the book and also outlined in this promo article. It's quite tasty, easy to modify (Bourbon works great) and very easy to scale. Try it out on a weekend and then repeat the recipe for the wedding at a grander scale. Be warned though, it's easy to drink and includes a fair punch of caffeine. I've had a rough night or two due to this one.

Like most subreddits, take r/coffee with a shaker full of salt. There are coffee companies leading the charge in understanding coffee, creating and implementing sustainable strategies, and making the most delicious product possible. All of that is changing fast. So on r/coffee, I frequently see cutting edge information from 2005, or 2000 or 1990. And it's upvoted and encouraged with great enthusiasm.

If you are interested in learning about good coffee, I highly recommend this book. It's probably 100% accurate to what we know about making coffee so far, it's highly accessible to someone new to coffee, and it's beautiful. Linking back in to the thread, I feel absolutely no buyers remorse about buying this book, and totally leave it on my coffee table at all times to cheer me up.

This is my full list of books from /r/homebrewing but it includes pro level books:

New Brewers:

• How to Brew - John Palmer
  
• Brewing classic styles- Jamil Zainasheff
  
• Designing Great Beers - Ray Daniels
  
• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing - Charlie Papazian
  
  Continued Learning:
  
  
• Water - Palmer and Kaminsky
  
• Yeast - Zainicheff and White
  
• Malt - Mallet
  
• Hops - Hieronymous
  
• Experimental Brewing - Drew Beechum and Denny Conn
  
• Radical Brewing - Randy Mosher
  
• Brewing Better Beer - Gordon Strong
  
  Specialty/Advanced/Other:
  
  
• American Sour Beers - Michael Tonsmeire (/u/oldsock)
  
• Brewing with Wheat - Stan Hieronymus
  
• IPA: Brewing Techniques - Mitch Steele
  
• Farmhouse Ales - Phil Markowski
  
• Brew Like a Monk - Stan Hieronymus
  
• New Brewing Lager Beers - Gregory J. Noonan
  
• Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers- Stephen Harrod Buhner
  
• Drink: a cultural history of alcohol - Iain gately
  
• Principals of Brewing Science - George Fix
  
  Business Books:
  
  
• Brewing Up a Business - Sam Calagione
  
• Brewers association Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery - Cantwell, among others
  
• SO you want to start a brewery - Tony magee
  
• Beyond the Pale: The Story of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co - Ken Grossman
  
• Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery Paperback –Steve Hindy & Tom Potter
  
  Technical Readings (Textbooks might be expensive):
  
  
• Brewery Operations Manual - Tom Hennessy
  
• Beer Packaging - Master Brewers Association
  
• Technology Brewing and Malting - W. Kunze, 5th Edition
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 1 - Many Authors
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 2 - Many Authors
  
• Brewing yeast and fermentation - Boulton and Quain

Here's a few things I think most Coffee lovers would enjoy.



Gear

• Aeropress
  
  
• Able Aeropress disk filter
  
  
• Able Kone filter
  
  
• a Hand Coffee Grinder
  
  
• Hario Range Server
  
  
• Toddy Cold Brew Coffee Maker
  
  For home espresso enthusiasts
  
  
• a Quality Tamper
  
  
• Grindenstein Knock Box
  
  
  
  Mugs
  
  
• Mazama Hand thrown stoneware
  
  
• Not Nuetral LINO Mugs
  
  
• Stumptown City Mug Set
  
  
  
• Intelligentsia Mug Lover's Gift Box
  
  
• KeepCup Brew
  
  Books
  
  
• The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee
  
  
• The World Atlas of Coffee
  
  
• A film About Coffee Book
  
  
• Anything written by Scott Rao
  
  
• God in a Cup
  
  Misc.
  
  
• A Film About Coffee digital download
  
  
  
• Soma Glass Water Filter
  
  
• The Department of Brewology prints
  
  
• The Compendious Coffee Chart
  
  
• Fresh Kaufee Espresso Yourself shirt
  
  
• Sweet Maria's gift certificate
  
  
• Subscription to a Coffee Service
  
  
• Support A local coffee shop by buying a gift card!
  
  edit: continually adding things as I think of them

By that I mean the non-pulsing method e.g. 12g coffee in, 24g off boil (~205F) water, 30s bloom, then add the rest of the water slowly in one pour, stir the top and let in drain. It is the method in James Hoffman's book but I will admit I haven't actually tried it...

If you struggle to fit all the water in over the course of a single pour you could always use an 02 size v60, and tighten the grind up a tiny bit to allow for the increased flow rate.

If you want to use v60 at work try a method you could replicate at work and compare it with your normal go-to method, you may find that the results are perfectly acceptable. For example, blooming is usually encouraged but you could probably get away with a more basic method (eg: add all coffee, add all water, stir at the top, drain), just might need to play around with grind size to get a ~3min drawdown

James Peterson's Cooking is a great place to start. I've given it as a gift to several friends and family members and they have loved it. At $26 it's a steal for all of the content that the book covers. Peterson's What's A Cook To Do? ($6.46) is a great little reference-tips & tricks book to have on hand as well. As is his Essentials Of Cooking. You can't go wrong with any of James Peterson's books. Last but not least The Food Lovers Companion ($11) is a must have culinary dictionary/encyclopedia. I don't know if any of these are used in classes, but they are great educational books to get started with and they won't break the bank.

If you're nervous about getting him a beer he might not like, you can always spring for something like glasswear or an experience. For example:


Glasswear - very few beer drinkers have a good set of tasting glasses or a nice Teku glass. They tend to spend their money more on the beer than the proper glasswear. Here are some to consider:


Teku Glasses
Tasting Glasses

Experience - This is completely scalable based on budget. Need to do something cheaper? Check out Yelp reviews and Beer Advocate reviews to find the best local brewery near you and take him there, followed by dinner at a great tap room or gastropub. Have more budget? Take him on a beer roadtrip or brewery tour around some of the local breweries in your area.


Beer books and merch - There are a lot of great books about the history of beer, tasting beer, etc. Here are a few to check out:


Tasting Beer
Oxford Companion

You can also get merch from his favorite brewery's online store or taproom. They'll have shirts, branded glasses, etc. All of those things should score points with any beer drinker.

Here are a few must haves-

• A good shaker (I like this one.)
  
• Lots of ice. Plan a day ahead. Nothing will kill your mixing session like running out if ice.
  
• Fresh lemons and limes. No exceptions. Ever.
  
• A good jigger. You can't eyeball everything. Some recipes call for as little as 1/4 oz.
  
• Some simple syrup. You can make it in your microwave. Heat equal parts sugar and water to a simmer. When the mix turns clear, your good to go. Cool it in the fridge, stick it in a bottle and serve.
  
• Good, fresh vermouth. If your vermouth has been out on a shelf for a year, pitch it. Go buy fresh bottles and store them in the fridge.
  
• Cointreau. Don't skimp on this one. Shitty triple sec makes shitty cocktails. This is crucial for Sidecars, Margaritas, and countless other classics.
  
  The two books should help you get started:
  
  
• Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails
  
• The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks
  
  Bang for your buck bottles:
  
  
• Cruzan Estate Light Rum
  
• Appleton Estates Gold Jamaican Rum
  
• Myers Dark Jamaican Rum
  
• Beefeater Gin
  
• Old Grandad Bourbon
  
• Elijah Craig 12 year Bourbon
  
• Famous Grouse Blended Scotch
  
• Sauza Hornitos Tequila
  
• Lairds Applejack (Apple Brandy- substitute for Calvados)
  
• Boyd and Blair Vodka (about $30 bucks a bottle, but its the best vodka on earth.)
  
  One Recipe for you to try:
  
  The Scofflaw
  
  
• 1 1/2 oz Rye or Bourbon
  
• 1 oz dry vermouth
  
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
  
• 3/4 oz real pomegranate grenadine. (DO NOT USE ROSE'S!!!)
  
  Shake over ice and strain. Garnish with lemon peel.

Tempurature preferences in drinks tend to be based on culture. In the United States, we prefer to drink our beverages cold. This has to do with lot of different things; For example, we have access to municipal water supplies that are almost always perfectly good sources of clean water, access to electricity and refrigeration (things that are still luxuries in many parts of the world), and the fact that cold Coke and beer just plain taste better to us.

Many other parts of the world prefer their drinks hot. This stems from the origninal need to boil water to prevent disease, and has been ingrained in multitudes of cultures through traditional drinks like tea and coffee. Many cultures that prefer hot beverages hold the belief that cold drinks are not good for you.

Something that we all have in common is that we don't tend to like tepid drinks that have been left out. The exceptions to this rule are most alcoholic beverages which, notably, do not need to be heated to kill bacteria, or chilled to prevent spoiling, since the alcohol takes care of preservation.

If you're very interested in seeing the ways different cultures have been influenced by drinks, or how drinks have been influenced by cultures, you might enjoy A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. It's a very good read.

The Story of Tea is, from my readings, one of the most thorough and well-researched books on the subject. While it places a heavy emphasis on history and cultivation, it delves deep into specific growing regions, the teas they produce, and the tea cultures of those regions. My only gripe is that they didn't mention samovars in their brief section on Russian tea culture, but a) it's forgivable, and b) now you know.

For similar breadth but (slightly) less thoroughness, Tea is an excellent choice. In fact, this is the book that I would recommend to anyone starting their tea journey. Of course, you can always read both. ;)

Happy reading!

that book while amazing and is really cool to have on hand, won't help you with what alot of people are making and drinking today.

I agree with kimuran here. its probably best to get a new book the [PDT Cocktail book] (http://www.amazon.com/The-PDT-Cocktail-Book-Bartenders/dp/1402779232) is a really good book for you to get to know what the current cocktail "style" is like.

Learn about brewing. Even if you can't pick up the hobby right now, nothing will help you to improve your understanding of beer more than learning how the product and the flavors you end up with are created. Even on a homebrewing scale, the science is the same, so as an introduction, "How to Brew" by John Palmer is a good star for this, and "New Brewing Lager Beer" by Gregory Noonan is an appropriate next step. This kind of background knowledge is a critical foundation to understanding what you are tasting.

It is important to try to cultivate your palate as well. "Evaluating Beer" by Brewers Publications is a great starting point for understanding the basic philosophy and techniques of judging. I'd also recommend looking at the BJCP website and going through their resources, particularly the study guide. And of course, taste lots of beer! A good way to work through this terrible burden is to look at the BJCP Style Guidelines and see what is listed as classic examples. Pick out the styles that you are not as familiar with and try to find some of them. Grab a few examples of one of your weak styles all at once and organize a flight, using a score sheet (warning: PDF) to organize your thoughts on each. If you can find other judges or people interested in judging to do this with you and discuss, even better.

Yeah James Freeman the founder of blue bottle has a unique opinion of how to describe flavors that come from coffee. From my understanding James likes to tell a story about the state the coffee puts him in or how it feels to drink that coffee (Source). If you've never read it it I highly suggest reading The Blue bottle craft of Coffee by James Freeman. It is a great read and really shows his philosophy on coffee and how it should be prepared. Plus its great eye candy for your bookshelf.

There are two pretty much bibles of home brewing: The Joy of Home brewing is the first, I have never read it but I hear good things. The author is pretty famous in home brewing circles and this book is credited with jump starting home brewing.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Joy-Home-Brewing/dp/0380763664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259699032&sr=8-1

The second (and the one I own because of the vast amounts of knowledge) is How to Brew. It has information on the ingredients, basic process for beginners and advanced techniques.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Brew-Everything-Right-First/dp/0937381888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259699116&sr=1-1

Here are the ones I really like and recommend (in order of importance to me):

Absolute must buy (this is my go-to for most occasions): PDT

Great for groups of cocktail enthusists and people who just want something delicious: Craft Cocktail Party

Foundational book from the man, the myth, the legend (Dale Degroff): Craft of the Cocktail

Great summer drinking with bitter aperitifs as the base: Spirtz

Wow! V pleased at the interest! I've got plans this weekend, but might be able to set something up initially around the 16th. I am not a homebrewer (yet) but my husband just built us a canning/homebrewing station in our basement that I hope to get started with sometime later this summer.

I can totally recommend reading the Complete Beer Course by Joshua Bernstein as a way to get familiar with beer styles. It's pretty accessible in terms of talking about beer.

https://www.amazon.ca/Complete-Beer-Course-Tasting-Classes/dp/1402797672

First of all, what you want to learn to make are Classic Cocktails - drinks that you can make from ingredients you can just go out and buy. I highly recommend this: https://www.amazon.ca/Death-Co-Classic-Cocktails-Recipes/dp/1607745259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503960451&sr=8-1&keywords=death+%26+co

Also, if you are a regular you can sometimes ask your favourite bartender for the recipe of ONE of your most loved drinks. For this I owe much to David Wolowidnyk https://twitter.com/drinkfixer?lang=en for keeping me in Mai Tai heaven all summer long!

Good Luck!

The complete joy of home brewing is a good book.

Start simple. Buy an extract based kit. Tell your friends to collect bottles (preferably pry-offs). I usually give one bottle of beer for every 3 bottles they give me.

Make sure you have a 10 or so liter stainless steel pot (you'd never want to cook with aluminum anyways.)

I think when I first started, I had the advantage of taking biology lab where aseptic and sterile techniques were key. This is very important for brewing beer. You must be careful not to introduce bacteria into your ferment. Also temperature is important. 72 degrees should be fine.

Dude, that's fantastic news. This comment immediately got me subscribed for updates.

Some other source recommendations off the top of my head...

Tiki drinks:

• Just about anything Jeff Berry has put together for tiki drinks. I would argue that Mr. Berry is as responsible for the modern resurgence of tiki cocktails (and their re-elevation to being carefully crafted, quality drinks) as anyone in the industry.
  
• Martin Cate's Smuggler's Cove
  
  General cocktails:
  
  
• Dave Wondrich's Punch and Imbibe - note that you may have to do a bit of reading to arrive at the recipes, as these (and several of the other books I'm about to mention) spend a good bit of time on history and/or technique in addition to "just" containing recipes.
  
• Dale Degroff's Craft of the Cocktail
  
• Jeffrey Morgenthaler's The Bar Book
  
• Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology
  
• Kevin Liu's Craft Cocktails at Home
  
• The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual
  
• Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence
  
• Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails
  
  
  ...that's... not a bad list to get started. Good luck! I'll be interested to follow along with development.

Yes, this was commonplace for 10,000+ years before coffee in the 17 century. Beer/wine was safer to drink than water due to its fermentation. It's laid out pretty nicely in A History of the World in Six Glasses which I am currently reading. I highly recommend it, it is a very easy read.

Your first read should be Imbibe! by David Wondrich. This will set you up perfectly for everything else you read.

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh is worth the read.

All the classic cocktail books, from 1862 - 1940s are definitely worth the reads for glimpses into the cultures when they were written. If you have a tablet, two sites offer practically every cocktail/bar book every written, now in public domain, for free, in digital formats. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/ and https://www.collectif1806.com/library/

~Have fun!

> Is anyone out there up to giving me a consolidated and complete guide on how to get this from the start all the way into the keg?

Yes, John Palmer already did. Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/How-Brew-Everything-Right-First-ebook/dp/B009DH2PP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394766726&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+brew. Yes, It costs money, but it will be more than worth it. This will answer all questions you have, and questions you never thought of. There's a free edition at howtobrew.com, but it's out of date and seriously you've spent how much on your kegs? just buy the book.

> What do I boil and for how long?

It's hard to say for this recipe. You might benefit from doing a packaged kit first. Generally assume a 60m boil, which means getting to a boil, adding your extract, and then adding hop additions at n minutes before turning off the heat. A 15m hop addition(as specified here), means you boil for 45 minutes, add hops, boil for 15 more minutes, then turn the heat off.

This recipe is a bad first one for leaving certain things assumed. I guess the people on that forum have a well-enough established dialogue that they can trust each other, but it makes the recipe less accessible to outsiders, and especially new brewers.

> How do I get it from the kettle into the fermenter?

After you chill your wort, a funnel, if it's a carboy, or straight into a bucket. Later you might use a siphon and tube, but for now, pouring into the fermentor will do.

> Do I rack to a secondary?

No. There's a sidebar post, but the answer is still no.

> How do I get the beer into the keg?

A siphon. google auto-siphon, or, if you're strapped for cash, auto-siphon alternatives.

> How long should I leave it in each stage (primary, secondary, carbing, any other time before drinking)?

primary: until your hydrometer has stayed the same for 3 days. Don't bother measuring in the first 2 weeks. Anything else you hear is a guess.
Carbing, IDK. Once it's carbed, start drinking.


> Should I use a hop ball or hop sock or add straight to the wort both for boiling and dry hopping?

Optional. It'll mean less to clean up later. If it's convenient, go for it. Keep in mind that you should sanitize it for the dry hop. A spray bottle of star-san is the way to go here.

> brewing 5 gallons or less isn't worth it

Take that as a matter of opinion. Remember, this is a hobby. I do 5 gallon batches because I can and because it will be drank. For a 1 gallon, either extract or BIAB for size and space are great places to start and learn and require minimum investment.

I would pick up the book How to Brew, or first edition is free online but highly recommend the latest as it has updates to process.

Sidebar has a wealth of knowledge. I highly recommend starting there and visit the Daily Q&A for more information and to glean from others. Much might be over your head but give it time.

I can't recommend Radical Brewing enough. This was the book that really kickstarted me into not only designing my own recipes but getting adventurous with them as well.

Brewing Better Beer is also awesome.

Dear Refined Chef,
The drinks on your site are disgusting. Please read some David Embury or Gary Regan and then get back to us. We want to like you, and we applaud you for your efforts, but you are trying to get us to drink equal parts of grenadine, peppermint schnapps, and vodka. Your instructions for making a Pimm's Cup neglects to mention the cucumber and lemon wheels, (though they are pictured) and the addition of soda. Your fourth of July drink was just a disaster.

Your other drinks range from the cloying [blackberry martini] (http://www.refinedchef.com/recipes/drinks-and-cocktails/a-blackberry-martini.php) to the surreal wild blueberry daquiri, in which you suggest rimming a glass with egg white and fine table salt before filling it with blended soda water, blueberries, and coconut cream, rum optional.

I will admit, it's not all bad, as I was able to find the classic Mary Pickford, though I found your instructions to be lacking. You list "house-made grenadine" among the ingredients, but you don't bother to specify how one would go about making grenadine. You could at least link to Morgenthaler or something. It is obvious that you copied the ingredient list from a bar menu without even bothering to consider its nuances.

In short, please strive to become more refined before you go cheffin' around here.

Love,
Joe

XD. You should read about people who put all of their semen into a 2 liter bottle and cultivate it. It's a 1 and a half year process, they mix like sugar and stuff and add yeast and let it ferment and then drink it as alcohol or add it to vodka. By the way.
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Harvest-collection-semen-based-recipes/dp/1481227041
The best part is that there are used books. :D. Happy cooking.
P.S More treats from the same author.
http://www.amazon.com/Semenology-The-Semen-Bartenders-Handbook/dp/1482605228/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

I second Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible as a great place to start. At 900+ pages for the cost of an inexpensive bottle of wine, it's a bargain no aspiring cork dork shoild be without. I'd suggest getting stick-on thumb tabs and labeling each country chapter for fast reference. You don't have to attempt to tackle the whole thing like a novel. Just pick a region that interests you and really concentrate on learning that region by tasting along with reading. That, inevitably will lead to more specialized books and inquiries about specific regions and time periods. Even though it's only a dozen years old, the Wine Bible could already use an update, but IMO, it's still one of the best intro to wine books out there.

If you find yourself hooked on the regions and terrior and want lots more, another one for mapoholics that I'm really keen on is [The World Atlas of Wine]( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1845333012/ref=mp_s_a_1?
pi=SL75&qid=1348009527&sr=8-1). You could think of it as a second year course, or a lifetime reference.

I've been there on a few occasions and liked it so much, I ordered their book. Great stuff. I highly recommend both the the bar and the book. Thanks for sharing.

If you're interested in starting to cellar beer there is a great book out called the Vintage Beer Taster's Guide. I've been cellaring for a year or so now, since reading it and everything I read has been helpful. I've also got a bottle of Epiphany that I'm going to save for a year or so, although I may be tempted to bring it out before if I get impatient as the bottle I've had already was wonderful.
http://www.amazon.ca/Vintage-Beer-Tasters-Guide-Improve/dp/161212156X

The history of beer and most alcohol is quite amazing and mostly accidental. If anyone is interested there is a great book http://www.amazon.com/History-The-World-Six-Glasses/dp/0802714471 that is really fun to read. And that is coming from someone who doesnt read much

Best books you can get are Complete Joy of Homebrewing or How To Brew. There is also an online (albeit slightly outdated) version of How To Brew here.

I would also recommend picking up Brewing Classic Recipes, although all of those recipes can be found online one place or another.

As for next steps... it depends on what you want to do. You can move up to bigger batches, you can try hopping into all-grain, do a combination of both, stick with 1G kits... whatever you want to do, it's all good.

I was a history major in college, but I'm not going to recommend you anything too heavy or even all that long. This a great little book that makes for a fun and interesting read: A History of the World in Six Glasses.

• Bitters, in this order: Angostura, Peychaud's, Orange (I like Regan's).
  
• A great cocktail book. I like these two a lot. There are many others. Pick one that piques your interest.
  
• A bottle each of sweet and dry vermouth, kept refrigerated and sealed with a vacuum cork. I like Dolin, if you can find it. You can get into other aperitif wines later -- Cocchi, Dubonnet, Punt e Mes, etc. -- but start here.
  
  With these elements in place, plus some groceries like fresh fruit (limes, lemons, orange, etc), sugar (remember simple syrup is 1 part water 1 part sugar), and soda water, you'll be able to make old fashioneds, rickeys, collinses, manhattans, and dozens of other cocktails.

I've read Designing Great Beers and it's a great resource as a style guide, but it leans much more towards the empirical side when it comes to explaining things. If you're looking for something a little more scientific and data-driven there are some other really good options.

Suggestions:

• The Brewing Elements series: Water
  / Yeast
  / Malt
  / Hops - Very specific and science driven focus on each element.
  
• American Sour Beers - Mostly focused on sour beers, but gets really deep into the scientific aspects of it all (bonus: written by /u/oldsock).
  
• Vintage Beer - Data-driven resource on the science behind long-term aging.

I figure you guys and gals should be reading more than the ABV content on your beer labels and your latest ticket for public intoxication, so I am sharing three downloadable and free ebooks about beer.

I have linked Amazon's page for each of the shared books.

Beer Tasting Quick Reference Guide

Beerology: Everything You Need to Enjoy Beer...Even More

Vintage Beer: A Taster's Guide to Brews That Improve over Time

If you are unable to download from Dropbox folder, please let me know, so I can fix it.

These books, because Amazon is that one up-and-coming online bookseller, right? ;)

Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties

Tea Wisdom: Inspirational Quotes and Quips About the World's Most Celebrated Beverage

Eu começava por conviver um bocado com o pessoal da cerveja para conhecer mais sobre cerveja, trocar impressões e umas dicas em pessoa.

No Porto:

• Catraio - Craft Beer Shop
  
  
• Letraria - Craft Beer Garden
  
  
• Armazém da Cerveja
  
  
  Em Lisboa:
  
  
• Zymology
  
  
• Cerveteca Lisboa
  
  
  Aposto que há mais locais no resto do país mas, assim de cabeça, vieram-me estes... Outra boa opção é visitar festivais onde podes conhecer os cervejeiros, aficionados, ouvir musica, beber cerveja e conviver!
  
  
• Caminha - Art Beer Fest (13 a 16 de Julho)
  
  
• Porto - Porto Beer Fest (14 a 18 de Junho)
  
  
• Faro - Alameda Beer Fest (7 a 9 de Julho)
  
  
• Sertã - PROVART (25 a 25 de Junho)
  
  
• Évora - Um Festival do Caneco (14 a 16 de Julho)
  
  
  Depois disso é simples. Começa por fazer cerveja de kit de extrato. Com jeitinho gastas uns €50 em equipamento (que vai servir-te anos) e €15 em ingredientes. Estes kits são mesmo simples de usar e servem bem para aprender algumas das bases da cerveja sem teres que te preocupar com os aspetos mais delicados (como a brassagem). À medida que lhe vais ganhando o gosto vais podendo investir mais ou menos dinheiro até comprares um moinho, algumas panelas e fazeres a cerveja mesmo a partir do cereal.
  
  
  
• Porto - Loja da Cerveja Artesanal (Sovina)
  
  
• Gondomar - Loja do Cervejeiro
  
  
• Lisboa - Oficina da Cerveja
  
  
  
  A partir daí o google e o youtube são amigos dependendo de quanto queres ou não gastar. Tens aqui alguns vídeos que te recomendo:
  
  
• Craft Beer - A Hopumentary
  
  
• Beer Culture - The movie
  
  Estes dois são bons para "entrar no espírito" da coisa.
  
  
  Para aprender a fazer cerveja a partir de Kit podes ver estes vídeos da BrewUk (boa loja) que mostram tudo direitinho. Lembra-te que o mais importante é a higiene e lavar bem todo o equipamento!!
  
  
  No youtube recomendo-te muito o canal Brewing TV e o The Craft Beer Channel.
  
  
  Se te começares a envolver e a gostar a sério da coisa recomendo-te que leias estes livros:
  
  
• How to Brew do John Palmer
  
  
• Tasting Beer do Randy Mosher
  
  
• Mastering Home Brew também do Randy Mosher
  
  
• Designing Great Beers do Ray Daniels
  
  
  Um livro que a mim me ajudou também imenso foi o Extreme Brewing e o Brewing Up a Business do Sam Calagione (dono da Dogfish Head) se bem que estes dois livros são menos "informativos" e de leitura mais leve. Ainda assim eu acho que o estilo mais relaxado torna-os de leitura mais fácil que os outros (que são considerados bíblias da cerveja) sobretudo para quem está a começar.
  
  
  Fora isso acredita, o importante é comer e beber cerveja! Conversa com o pessoal e divertir-te com isto tudo! Aprendes mais às vezes numa tarde a beber uns finos com o pessoal num bar de cerveja artesanal do que num dia a ler em casa!
  
  
  Espero que isto te ajude a ti ou alguém que esteja com a "pulga" atrás da orelha! Mas se tiveres perguntas ou dúvidas estás à vontade. :)
  
  
  Se alguém quiser acrescentar alguma coisa por favor que o faça! Cerveja artesanal é sobre troca de ideias! :)

First step, get some books!

The Craft of the Cocktail

This is a great beginning book. It's got the right advice, and all of the recipes are spot on. This book will keep you busy for a very long time, as well as teach you the proper way to make each drink.

If you start to get really serious about drink-making, check out:

Imbibe! by David Wondrich. It is remarkable in its authenticity and attention to detail. As interesting as it is, it is more of a history book than a recipe book, so it may be hard to swallow for those less passionate about where the classics really came from.

Aside from that, things to keep in mind:

• There is NO substitute for fresh citrus juice.
  
• The classics are classics for a reason. Try a recipe out before you decide to tweak it (sweeter, more booze, ect.)
  
• Get a jigger! Measure stuff out! You'll be glad you did.
  
• Have simple syrup on hand. Sugar dissolved in water, equal parts.
  
  And, if nothing else, try this.
  
  
• 2 oz Sazerac Rye Whiskey
  
• 3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
  
• 3/4 oz Simple Syrup
  
• 1 Fresh Egg White (just trust me)
  
  Put it all into a shaking tin, and shake without ice. Add ice, shake, and strain into whatever. A mason jar is preferred. A lot of people get turned off by the egg white thing, but it will change your life.

Someone else has posted a link to it already but here you go. I'm happy to make you a drink or cook dinner for you any time you like- my friends don't let me anymore.

Semenology - The Semen Bartender's Handbook

When I was learning (in a similar environment that OP described), I had a mentor teach me. I believe that is by far the best way to learn in any industry whether it be in the kitchen, behind the bar, on a construction site, etc.

In lieu of a mentor, there are several books worth picking up to bring up your knowledge, with the combination of internet research:

-Craft of the Cocktail

-Death & Co.

-Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails

-Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique

-Imbibe!

-The Drunken Botanist

-The Curious Bartender

-The Joy of Mixology

Some helpful links:

-Kindred Cocktails

-The Spirits Business

-Good Spirit News

-Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Blog

-Jamie Boudreau's Blog: not updated but still has good info.

The other books that were listed are both very good (I have read both) but my favorite book that I have was The Complete Beer Course. It may be similar to what you just read but I loved it. Goes through more styles than most other books I've seen and gives plenty of examples of beer to try for each style. It is still my go to book when I want a refresher about styles/breweries.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Beer-Course-Tasting/dp/1402797672/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

Experimenting is great, but doing a bit of reading along the way wouldn't hurt and might spare you some disasters.

On the cheap, Pam Anderson's How to Cook Without a Book was a good starting place for me when I had similar questions / concerns in college. It focuses on a few basics and then builds upon them with variations. Moreover, this text is a quicker read than many of the other tomes out there. You can get it used for $12 including shipping. Used cookbooks are seriously the sh*t.

If you wanna drop a bit more money (~$26), James Peterson's Cooking has far more visuals and recipes than Anderson's. Beautiful text, mouth-watering recipes.

Lastly, I think it makes sense to focus on a certain style of food for a while so you get it dialed in before moving on. That way, you build momentum and better retain the lessons you learn. With Anderson's book, for instance, you could riff on a homemade pasta sauce for a week or two, or mess with sauteing chicken and vegetables a few different ways. Keep a list of what you make so you get a sense of where you've been in the kitchen, what you've accomplished, and what you might want to try next.

Oh, and keep coming back to cookit to discuss. Hooray community!

TLDR: Yes, I can tell a huge difference between Darjeeling and Assam, even between different grades of tea from the same garden- but I've been drinking quality tea for 12+ years now, and I especially like good Indian tea.


What are the specific teas in the sample box, what is the vendor, and how long have you been drinking loose-leaf tea?

Palate is like a muscle. I'd fail at telling a Burgundy from a Bordeaux (without some practice), because I don't have much wine experience. But science shows that, to use a term I really dislike, becoming a connoisseur of something (or say learning an instrument) even physically changes specific regions of one's brain.

I'd wager I could distinguish between any decent orthodox single-estate Assam and an equivalent grade Darjeeling, blindfolded, 999 times out of 1,000. I've had many thousands of cups, of hundreds of different examples of these over the years.

The two regions produce quite different product. Assam uses plants that are primarily C sinensis var assamica genetics, and Darjeeling mainly C sinensis var sinensis genetics, although this is an oversimplification. In any case, genetics, terroir (soil and climate), cultivation, and processing cause different regions to produce very different teas, esp to trained senses. The book Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties, by Kevin Gascoyne is a beautiful introduction to the topic.

For gin, there was a post recently about gin here. I personally, I think that Beefeater is a good starting out gin.

For books, I recommend The Bar Book and [Death & Co] (https://www.amazon.com/Death-Co-Modern-Classic-Cocktails/dp/1607745259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498140137&sr=8-1&keywords=death+and+co) they both are great books.

A good way to learn more is to find a cocktail bar near you, go during slow time, which is usually an hour or two after they open and talk with the bartenders.

http://tv.winelibrary.com/ is always a good start.

Books that come to mind include From vines to wines and The Wine Bible. Check out Oz ans James' Wine Adventure, too. It's a British TV series following around James May (Captain slow of Top Gear fame) and Oz Clark (super cork dork) ad they taste through France and CA. It is hilarious and introduces some beginner knowledge brilliantly, along with slipping in some serious cork-dorky facts.

Also keep in mind that /r/wine is full of oenophiles and more than a few of us work in the industry and are happy to drop some knowledge.

I have some problems with this book, but it's certainly the best thing I've found if you're interested in the subject of aging beer: http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Beer-Tasters-Guide-Improve/dp/161212156X

For anyone looking to up their brewing game, I always recommend Brewing Better Beer. It's all about fine tuning your process and simplifying your recipes to only include what you need. It's a sort of zen approach that seems applicable to abbey ales.

Although it's getting a bit out into the weeds, if you're more interested in the farmhouse/wild side of brewing, you might want to have a look at The Drunken Botanist and Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. It gets into using things that aren't hops in your fermentations. Even though Belgian brewing only grazes herbs and spices, you might find some value there.

I've found the Corpse Reviver #2 to be a fantastic drink to introduce people to the wonderful world of cocktails. Something else to consider is picking up the PDT cocktail book and letting her browse for something that catches her interest. It potentially would open up your own horizons as well.

I own a copy of The Craft of the Cocktail and it is thoroughly amazing. I also have Bartending for Dummies and it is pretty good as well.

Brewing Better Beer, by Gordon Strong. It's a GREAT book.

http://www.amazon.com/Brewing-Better-Beer-Advanced-Homebrewers/dp/0937381985/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317938269&sr=8-1

Congrats! I'm guessing since the restaurant is "fine dinning" your going to be doing a lot of cocktails. You should read a good book that covers technique as well as recipes more in depth than a basic recipe site. I'll recommend "The Craft of the Cocktail" by Dale DeGroff, unless someone here has a recommendation that they think is more practical since cocktails are only a hobby for me, work is all wine.

i was first served this in a restaurant in washington, DC, about 5 years ago. in order for it not to be insanely expensive, they used budget versions of both spirits, and it turned out good enough that i immediately started making them for myself at home.

the restaurant used el silencio espadin as the mezcal: https://drizly.com/el-silencio-espadin-black-mezcal/p29777

and olmeca altos tequila (i believe reposado or anejo, not sure.)

both are about the cheapest passable options. if a liquor store near you doesn't carry el silecio espadin, there is a good chance they'll order it for you. there aren't many mezcals in that price range that i would buy. the other mixing mezcal you'll see is del maguey vida, but vida is a little harsher and a little less pleasant than el silencio in my experience.

on extra special occasions, i'll make this cocktail with chichicapa or san luis del rio mezcal ($80+) and el tesoro ($60+) or another highland tequila.

the guy who invented that cocktail works/worked at death and co. in new york city. their cocktail book is well done, i've given it as a gift to two friends: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607745259/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UtVPBb6FBEMQB

What's the rush? Do you have a job lined up already? You could memorize a bunch of recipes but every bar has a recipe book and existing bartenders to teach drinks (unless you're looking to open a place). Additionally, different countries/regions have different names or variations of drinks.
What you'll lack in knowledge about beer, wine, terms and techniques, liquor compatibility and food pairing as well as working restaurant knowledge will make you a poor bartender.

If you're actually interested in tending, follow u/belowthisisalie's advice about skipping the recipes and just get to know your target bar's menu and how it the bar functions. Pick up a few books on cocktails (Dale DeGroff would be a good start) as you progress so you can start branching out and getting creative.

I like "how to brew" by John Palmer for a more textbook oriented reference, although I'm sure there are better options out there. If you're looking for a really in depth guide to specific styles, "Designing Great Beers" can't be beat.

And Finally: http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Beer-Garrett-Oliver/dp/0195367138

So I'm guessing by the hot tub, and the isolated cabin in the woods, that you want some intermingling and socializing to happen. I would say pick up an assortment of booze, but make a punch!!

This is exactly what a punch is for ! Taking a group of people and focusing them around a focal point in the room (the punch bowl) to open up conversation.

http://www.amazon.com/Punch-Delights-Dangers-Flowing-Bowl/dp/0399536167

Since its in April, I would definitely recommend getting this book, texting everybody to see what kind of booze they like, and whipping up one of the recipes in this book.

Cheers!

I'm a bit late to the party, but I love Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. Maybe as a Christmas gift? : )

The Complete Beer Course is a fantastic read. Bernstein provides a great overview, history, and examples of tons of styles. He writes pretty conversationally, so despite lots of history and beer jargon, it never felt like a beer textbook if that makes sense.

I would recommend beer books:

• Vintage Beer Taster's Guide
  
• Tasting Beer
  
• The Brewmaster's Table
  
• Pretty much anything by Ronald Patterson or Michael Jackson
  
• Tim Webb's Good Beer Guide Belgium (7th ed)
  
  I know there are several good homebrewing focused ones as well if you think he'll be into that, but I don't remember those off hand and would have to dig some more.

If you want to get deep into the world of Punch, I highly recommend David Wondrich's Punch! book. It gives the history of the "flowing bowl" along with a ton of historical punch recipes.

Here are Wondrich's Proportions for a proper Punch:

• 1 part Sour
  
  
• 1 part Sweet
  
  
• 4 parts Strong
  
  
• 6 parts Weak
  
  Have fun!

I can't do fancy links, but have fun. Enjoy having managers put new wines on the menu, and you show up and are just expected to know about them, when they could come from anywhere in the world (and what about a nose and palette for wine, liquor, beer and food, and how to pair them all together) If you don't think what I need to learn is complicated, why should I think what you need to learn is complicated?:
http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Bible-Karen-MacNeil/dp/1563054345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372030268&sr=1-1&keywords=the+wine+bible

http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Grapes-Complete-Varieties-Including/dp/0062206362/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372030321&sr=1-8&keywords=wine+books

Great point. Here are a few solid book recommendations.
https://smile.amazon.com/Complete-Joy-Homebrewing-Revised-Updated-ebook/dp/B00BATINQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524309067&sr=8-1&keywords=charlie+papazian
https://smile.amazon.com/How-Brew-Everything-right-first-ebook/dp/B009DH2PP4/ref=pd_sim_351_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7JX2YC33Q853691TBKWV

These got me started. Brewing is a lot of fun, and ultimately really simple. As the author of the first book says "Relax, don't worry and have a homebrew."

Honestly, most of what I know about Ethiopia has been picked up from digging into Wikipedia after being confused by some of the sourcing information from roasters and various green coffee importer websites. The trading of goods provides a window into human history and the world we live in now.

Tracing lots of coffee back to their specific origin helps one learn more about each step of production in between the final product and the producer. It is humbling to me to realize the amount of labor and human effort that went into making my cup of coffee possible.

Resources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Ethiopia
  
  
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_zones_of_Ethiopia
  
  
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Districts_of_Ethiopia
  
  
  This podcast episode was super interesting:
  
  
• https://www.podcastchart.com/podcasts/containers/episodes/episode-4-the-hidden-side-of-coffee
  
  Green coffee importers with informative sites:
  
  
• http://legacy.sweetmarias.com/library/
  
  
• https://www.youtube.com/user/sweetmarias/videos
  
  
• https://www.sweetmarias.com/category/green-coffee/
  
  
• https://www.sweetmarias.com/category/green-coffee/others/out-of-stock-coffee
  
  
• https://legacy.sweetmarias.com/library/content/origins-gesha-coffee-i-mean-gecha-i-mean-gorei
  
  
• https://legacy.sweetmarias.com/library/content/why-should-you-know-giling-basah
  
  
• http://www.cafeimports.com/education
  
  
• http://www.cafeimports.com/origins
  
  
• https://www.royalcoffee.com/category/crown-analysis/
  
  
• https://www.royalcoffee.com/category/education-resources/
  
  
• https://www.royalcoffee.com/category/coffee-report/
  
  Roaster with an informative site:
  
  
• http://www.georgehowellcoffee.com/farming-chapter/the-farm-overview/
  
  
• https://georgehowellcoffee.smugmug.com/
  
  Video about the history of coffee and its varietals by Peter Giuliano, President of the Specialty Coffee Association of America:
  
  
• https://vimeo.com/41428743
  
  As far as books go, I am dying to read James Hoffmann's World Atlas of Coffee.

I picked up this book about 2 months ago. Nice little read that explains what 'fresh' flavors and flavor profiles can be expected to change into over time. Excellent read if this article didn't have enough detail for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Beer-Tasters-Guide-Improve/dp/161212156X

Cheers!

Go pick up The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian. I started brewing in college with my roommate, and this was our starting point, along with extended conversations and advice from the local brew-shop.

Some others have suggested those "beer kits" you can get with everything in one box. In my opinion, those kits make shitty beer, give you very little control over the product, and they only make two gallons. With about 10% more investment, you can get a set-up that is totally re-usable, gives you more control over ingredients, and, better yet, yields 5-6 gallons of brew.

Good luck. And remember: "Relax. Don't worry. Have a home-brew."

The Blue Bottle book is good. Not espresso-specific (and half of it is recipes for food), but there's some good info in there. Looks nice on a coffee table too.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bottle-Craft-Coffee-Roasting/dp/1607741180

1- Light roast has the most flavour but most acidity as well,
medium roast has a balance and dark roast has lowest acidity but almost same flavour for any origin coffee you try

2- i cant comment exactly on this but what i have seem is anyone who uses whirley pot use it directly on stovetop.. you can add cast iron if you like.. its logically that it can even out the heat..

3- for online knowlegde, reddit is good but ill suggest join roasting forums, they can help you out and can anwser your queries alot better.. as for books you can buy/download pdf files like World Atlas of coffee and bluebottle ebook

4- im not from LA so cant help.. sorry.. but you can go to any local roaster and talk to them and as your questions they are helpfull.. maybe search on yelp for nearby roasts..

I have this book, and while there are great recipes in it, I find that I hardly ever use it.

The pages are laid out in a weird, confusing manner; the book is really big and won't stay open while I'm working, and honestly I didn't think it was very well-edited; there are a lot of "space-filler" drinks in there.

To me, the ultimate bible is Gary (Gaz now) Regan's The Joy of Mixology.

I was a fan of the Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee.

Fun, anecdotal, and very informative. Plus the hard cover looks great on a coffee table. I often have guests flip through it when they come by.

How deep do you want to go? On one end you have text books on tea production:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0412338505/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1397106420&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

On the other you have good survey style, coffee table books like:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1770853197/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1397106527&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40

This is another standard book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/9789578962?pc_redir=1396503919&robot_redir=1

"The Classic of Tea" is an ancient Chinese book often cited. I'm not sure what translations are available:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Classic_of_Tea

Wikipedia also has a good list of classic tea literature:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_classics

This question has come up before so make side to search the sub so you can get all our previous discussions.

Mmm, a good old-fashioned is a wonderful thing indeed...

I would also recommend Dale Degroff's book: The Craft of the Cocktail ( http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Cocktail-Everything-Bartender-Recipes/dp/0609608754 ). You learn everything from the glass and ice selection to recipes and their histories.

Yeah, this is a Gordon Strong technique. (http://www.amazon.com/Brewing-Better-Beer-Advanced-Homebrewers/dp/0937381985). Basically, his rationale is that since there is little diastatic power in dark grains, there is little point in mashing them since all you're trying to get from them is flavor and color.
Why let that sit at heat like a pot of coffee for an hour or 90 mins when it's probably going to be close to the flavor you want as soon as you get it wet, or like when you were just steeping grains in your extract days.

Same thought goes into hopping (or not hopping in this case.) Why boil a flower for an hour when you're trying to avoid vegetal flavors and you can get the same effects with more hop (or herb) by first wort hopping and additions with only 20 minutes left in the total boil? And it's a more rounded, delicate bitterness.

I've had fairly good results this way so far.

I like "Brewing Lager Beers" by Noonan. If your friend is the technical/engineering type they might enjoy it.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Brewing-Lager-Beer-Comprehensive/dp/0937381829

Buy The Wine Bible

It's a cross between an Encyclopedia and a Novel. It's a great read, and its extremely thorough and informative. After reading cover to cover, you're ready to take your Level One Sommelier exam.

Might want to check out Brewing Better Beer by Gordon Strong.
http://www.amazon.com/Brewing-Better-Beer-Advanced-Homebrewers/dp/0937381985
It's been a big help to me. Won't teach you how to brew, but goes into evaluating and improving.

I get asked this question a lot, and if you're looking for something to go from start to finish, answer a lot of beginner questions and yet also give enough info to leave you wanting more, I always recommend [The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffmann.] (http://www.amazon.com/The-World-Atlas-Coffee-Explained/dp/1770854703)

It also doesn't hurt that it's a beautiful ahem coffee table book - excuse the pun!

It's fermenting. Did you check the specific gravity before adding more sugar and sealing it up?

I would encourage you to pick up a copy of The New Complete Joy of Hombrewing by Charlie Papazian and/or a copy of The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm

If you're going to back sweeten your mead you need to add potassium sorbate to prevent the yeast from starting back up.

Great list. I would only add that if you have 10 people that can be a lot of downtime if you are waiting on cocktails.

In the joy of mixology Gary Regan has a few suggestions for bottled cocktails that you can make beforehand and have available so people aren't waiting for their cocktails to be made. I had the bottled Manhattan and it was quite nice. I would also consider making some sort of punch, having beer and or other drinks so that people who don't like bitters or prohibition style cocktails (they exist!) aren't forced to partake. It also means that they don't have to wait to get themselves a drink.

Best to read a bunch.

Learn from the best:
Brewing Better Beer

Tasting Beer

Spending copius amounts of time on the BJCP website

Specifically I would look at how to complete a score sheet, and read the "how to study" portion of the website, as well as volunteer to steward or judge a local competition! If you do that please ask EVERY question you can think of.


There might be more technical readings but those work to start.

I've read this one and it's really good. Read the whole description to see if its what you are looking for. The author is a barista champ and one of the "thinkers" in the coffee industry and writes really well.

http://www.amazon.com/World-Atlas-Coffee-Explored-Explained/dp/1770854703

As long as you charge per drink on your tasting menu you should be fine. You can just advertize it as talking about drinks x, y, z. Then people just order their drinks as you go.
This is a great book if you're interested in the history of cocktails.
https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Spirits-Forgotten-Cocktails-Alamagoozlum/dp/1592535615

I always highly suggest The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil. It's a great book that is fascinating and contains just the right amount of detail for an intermediate book.

I also find myself referencing The PDT Cocktail Book and Bitters often when trying to come up with custom, original cocktails or modified versions.

I've also found trial and error to be a great friend in crafting a new cocktail. Sometimes a specific flavor from a bitters, specific spirit or fruit juice combination can knock a recipe up (or down)

I heard a guy speak about cellaring beer, and he even wrote a book on it (http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Beer-Tasters-Guide-Improve/dp/161212156X).

He spoke about how the best beers to age have one of the three S's - Smoked, Sour, or Strong. I typically go for Barleywine's or anything Barrel-Aged to cellar, and I always get two so I can drink one now and "compare" the other one later.

If is just a hobby, get a recipe book like the PDT or The Craft of the Cocktail. They are both pretty easy to read.

Also chech out /r/cocktails. They are a bit tough with the newbies but be patient, if you ask politely they (we) will help you.

Cooking by James Peterson is a good resource. Very readable with plenty of illustrations, recipes, and techniques shown step by step.

Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques is on my Christmas list.

The greatest cooking encyclopaedia though has to be the Larousse Gastronomique. One of my very favourite possessions and something that I refer to more than any other book I own.

If you really want to try something different, and don't mind buying a few obscure ingredients, this book on old cocktails would be a great one to try to do cover to cover. I really like it, even though I pick and choose which recipes I can do or will buy the ingredients for.

How to Brew by Palmer
http://amzn.com/B009DH2PP4

or the free 1st edition:
http://www.howtobrew.com/

Great read for new and experienced brewers. And you can never learn enough at http://homebrewtalk.com

This craft beer book is pretty awesome to have around too
http://smile.amazon.com/Complete-Beer-Course-Tasting-Classes/dp/1402797672/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422250472&sr=8-2&keywords=craft+beer+book

In addition to the books mentioned here, there are plenty of style and ingredient specific books out there.

Two of my favorite books are the style books by Terry Foster. His Pale Ale and Brewing Porters and Stouts are really great.

Heck, the second brewing book I ever bought was Heironymous' Brewing with Wheat, awesome book that I keep referring back to.

Right now, I'm working my way through New Brewing Lager Beer by Greg Noonan. It's very dense and technical, but I see it as a must read for where I'm at in my brewing.

I highly recommend James Hoffmann's The World Atlas Of Coffee. It covers in great detail all of the topics you mentioned plus just about anything else you would want to know about coffee.

I recommend A History of the World in Six Glasses. It's generally interesting and entertaining, and also talks about the history of both beer and bread (which are quite similar).

Cooking by James Peterson is one of my favorite cookbooks because it goes over a ton of stuff and has great pictorial instructions for more involved tasks.

I didn't get any gear but I got this book.

Haven't gone through it all yet but so far it's awesome.

Invest it in coffee knowledge! Your Aeropress (or any coffee!) will taste better and be more fun after reading James Hoffman's Coffee Atlas.

Hmmm this one is one of the better general topic books. This one looks like it might be ok. Haven't read that one yet though. I tend to look at the more terroir specific books lately if I'm looking for info on tea.

Blue Bottle's coffee table book about coffee is a nice introduction. It's a great prop to give to guests while you labor over serving them coffee. http://www.amazon.com/The-Blue-Bottle-Craft-Coffee/dp/1607741180

If anyone is interested in the science behind decoctions, the best resource that I have come across so far is this thirty year old book.

Really great book that I wholeheartedly recommend. Only $26 on Amazon.

Instructions perfectly clear, you just got them mixed up with instructions from this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Semenology-Bartenders-Paul-Fotie-Photenhauer/dp/1482605228

A book called "A History of the World in Six Glasses" explores the roles that beer, wine, distilled spirits, tea, coffee, and water played throughout history.

In the chapter on coffee, the author describes a period when Muslims were debating whether or not coffee should be outlawed due to the mind-altering effect of caffeine (as with alcohol). They literally had a trial in which they placed a vessel of coffee on the "stand" to be judged. Eventually, it was decided that coffee was innocent as its effect on the body could be comparable to that of spicy food.

Side note: From an interview on NPR with another author, apparently it has been common throughout history for animals and inanimate objects to be tried for crimes. For instance, a man was being tried for bestiality with a pig. They judged whether or not the pig should be punished for immorality but ultimately decided that it was innocent and let it go.

The author's book is "The Trial: A History, from Socrates to O.J. Simpson". I haven't read it, but it sounded interesting from the interview.

For the food this week, I went with Bobby Flay's Red Beef Chili (Texas style). I've always been a fan of chili with pasta so that's what I went with. I wasn't able to get my hands on every single kind of chili pepper from the recipe but found reasonable substitutions.

For the cocktail, I finally got to use the Death & Co. cocktail book that I got for Christmas. I made a Spicy Paloma with jalapeno infused tequila. It was surprisingly tasty, like a spicy margarita.

Automod: activate!

Some websites/articles I've also found useful are World of Tea, articles by Max Falkowitz (the same guy who wrote The Non-Judgmental Guide to Tea, linked in the sidebar), and a bunch of tea blogs (there are other r/tea threads about those). I've also heard Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties is a good book to read, if you want something in your hands!

Great start, I'd also recommend 'New Brewing Lager Beer' for a very in-depth look at brewing and it's associated sciences. (The book discusses more than just lagers)

Maybe you're looking for something more exhaustive, but I really appreciated The Wine Bible, by Karen MacNeil. If I recall correctly, she was a travel writer before discovering wine, so her approach to the book was to go region-by-region and describe the place, the people, the food, the local grapes and then the local wine itself. So, she provides a lot of great context.

I actually read the book cover to cover and it made me want to try every varietal and style in the book. Didn't succeed but had a damn good time trying.

Edit: I gave too many damns.

Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties, I found it to be a great book. A little bit pricey but well worth it.

Don't hate, OP is just "Driven by a commitment and passion for the freshly harvested ingredient".

I definitely recommend 1 and 2. I haven't read Yeast yet.

My buddy picked up http://www.amazon.ca/Brewing-Better-Beer-Advanced-Homebrewers/dp/0937381985 and he highly recommends it.

You don't know what's bad until your friends make you something from the Natural Harvest cookbook

Edit: There’s a version for bartenders as well

I love Randy Mosher's book as well. That might be the big yellow book. However, Garett Oliver's newest book The Oxford Companion to Beer is THE book to own. But it is 900 pages long

Two books to recommend.

Death & Company - at the beginning of this book, it gives a really solid explanation of all the different liquors and how they're made and the staple drinks people use them in. The book also talks in detail about cocktails and the bar the book is named after.

The Drunken Botanist - Mainly about all the different natural products that make alcoholic beverages, and how it occurs, etc.

If you need some unusual/exotic drink ideas this would be a great source as well.

The three books I found most helpful that aren't super expensive:

For General Knowledge:

Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine

For Tasting:

How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine

For More Detailed Knowledge of Regions:

The Wine Bible

You can get those three for $50 total and if you read through them and do some of the things they say, and try some of what is mentioned, you will notice yourself getting really informed really quickly.

After a few months with these books, you can branch out to the more expensive and more specific books of which there are many.

If you're looking to build out your home bar a bit, pick up a bottle of absinthe. If you can get your hands on Benedictine too, and your dry vermouth is fresh, make Chrysanthemums.

Negronis are a classic choice - you really can't screw them up. With what you have, squeeze a bit of fresh lime and make Pegu Clubs

All that said, punches are great - you can make them in advance and enjoy socializing with your friends instead of furiously manufacturing cocktails. Here's a recipe to get started, but if you pick up David Wondrich's book on punch, there's plenty more ideas there.

Gordon Strong's book helped me a lot with improving beer, especially my English styles. I (for the most part) used his Pride of Warwick recipe and then won the English Bitter category of a brewing competition. The key was doing a no-sparge mash, I think.

A bunch of guys in my homebrew club swear by Brewing Better Beer by Gordon Strong. I haven't read it myself though. http://www.amazon.com/Brewing-Better-Beer-Advanced-Homebrewers/dp/0937381985

Great, now I have to delete my Amazon browsing history before I start receiving "suggestions".

Oh, it seems I already got one.

A few that I love are --

Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher http://www.amazon.com/Tasting-Beer-Insiders-Worlds-Greatest-ebook/dp/B003PGQK7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414411337&sr=8-1&keywords=tasting+beer

The Complete Beer Course by Josh Bernstein http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Beer-Course-Tasting/dp/1402797672/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414411352&sr=8-1&keywords=beer+camp

The Oxford Companion to Beer by Garret Oliver http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Beer-Course-Tasting/dp/1402797672/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414411352&sr=8-1&keywords=beer+camp

I recently picked up The Craft of the Cocktail which is fantastic, it's got 500 recipes, all well thought out and organized.

Thanks for the cocktail list pic.

Is that the Pennsylvania Dutch/Getaway?

If you liked the cocktails, pick up the PDT book by the menu’s creator, Jim Meehan.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402779232/

I tried it once after lots of reading in Greg Noonan's book. It's really, really hard without the right conditions and decent equipment. A combination of these things made it a total nightmare for me:

• finicky burner that couldn't do medium to low flame
  
• thermometer that takes just a bit too long to get an accurate reading
  
• high wind
  
  I would say that unless you have a REALLY good thermometer, a well-behaved burner that is wind tolerant and can go down to a "simmer" level (i.e. if it's heating up too fast), and have the patience to measure things out accurately, it's too easy to screw it all up and overshoot or undershoot the target temperature for the rest mash (also, to burn/overcook the decoctions).

Principles Of Brewing Science

Yeast and also Water, Malt and Hops, a very informative series.

Also Oxford Companion to Beer is a great reference to look up general questions or terms.

Eller den her

Jeg er især vild med "Driven by a commitment and passion for the freshly harvested ingredient, Semenology pushes the limits of classic bartending. Semen is often freshly available behind most bar counters and adds a personal touch to any cocktail."

A) Tanken om at bestille en drink, og så går bartenderen lige ud i baglokalet i 5 minutter for at "skaffe ingredienser"...

B) Hvad gør de hvis der virkelig er run på, og alle bare gerne vil have en Semen Sour?

Also - Blue Bottle wrote a pretty freaking cool book. Lots of good photos and very specific brew methods included.

bracing for the Blue Bottle haters

My sister bought me this book for Christmas. I've been taking it in slowly, as there is a ton of information in it, but anyways it is very good.

We have this book in our brewery. We refer to it as "The Bible"

Sorry for Amazon link, it was the first thing to pop-up on google and I'm lazy: http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Beer-Garrett-Oliver/dp/0195367138
Edit: I didn't read this well. If you're looking to learn how to brew, I recommend the Joy of Homebrewing. It's what I used.

• wall-mounted bottle opener
  
• Rabbit corkscrew
  
• cocktail jiggers and measuring cup [here]
  (http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/06/cocktail-101-measuring-utensils-jiggers-cups.html)
  
• Oxford Companion to Beer looks awesome
  
• Very Many Varieties of Beer poster

A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a great read on how beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and Coca-Cola change the world...

Check out A History of the World in Six Glasses for a great overview of coffee & its influence on European society. I believe (though am not 100% sure) that this ad is referenced in the book.

This book is a great resource for brewing lager: https://www.amazon.com/New-Brewing-Lager-Beer-Comprehensive/dp/0937381829

This book is a great start. It will teach you close to everything you need to know.

Agree with the Professional Chef

If you want something a little lighter I'd recommend Essentials of Cooking or Cooking by James Petersen
http://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Cooking-James-Peterson/dp/B000I2J1ZU
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-James-Peterson/dp/1580087892

Agreed. How To Brew, as mentioned above, and then when you've got all that down and have done a half-dozen batches or so, check out Brewing Better Beer.