Little Book of Cocktails or Making Sense of Wine

Little Book of Cocktails

Author: Hamlyn

What a perfect party companion for cocktail lovers: three colorful and elegantly photographed books, filled with recipes for delicious drinks, and beautifully packaged together in a slipcase. One volume focuses entirely on gin, another on tequila, and a third on vodka, for a total of 150 tasty concoctions. To add to the fun, they all include bartending tips, delightful anecdotes, and background on the drink names.
Gin Cocktails has everything from the famous dry martini to the exotic cherry julep, and luscious exotic combinations too, like the sapphire-colored blue Coracao and the cooling Sea Breeze. Of course, Tequila features the classic Margarita and Sunrise, but also contains such temptations as South of the Border, with Kahlua and lime juice. Vodka begins with the Moscow Mule—the first true vodka cocktail—and serves up such favorites as the Bloody Mary, Black Russian, Screwdriver, and fruity Caribbean Cruise.
It’s a great package for any would-be bartender or party-giver!

See also: Essentials of Business Law and The Legal Environment or Business Government and Society

Making Sense of Wine

Author: Matt Kramer

This new edition of Matt Kramer's classic guide to wine features a new preface and an all-new chapter that covers changes and advances in winemaking since first publication in 1989. The superbly written text explains everything an oenophile needs to know, including the creation and naming of wines, wine cellars, presentation and glassware, pairing wine with food, and much more. Kramer explores connoisseurship through the practical devices of "thinking wine" and "drinking wine," making for a most enjoyable and engrossing journey through one of life's most dependable pleasures.

Sacramento Bee

...Kramer remains as pleasurable to read as ever.

Publishers Weekly

Recommend Kramer's book to cherished adult ``children'' who refuse to be weaned from the beer bottle--this book may do the trick of transforming wine drinking into a familiar pleasure. While much wine writing verges on pedantry, columnist Kramer brings a disciplined reporter's ear to his job, along with wit and intelligence to spare. A relatively recent convert to wine, the author remembers how intimidating the drink can be, and seeks to tame it by solving the mysteries of its history, customs and manners. Why, for example, are many corks branded with their vineyard's name and year? As a precaution and tool for identification, lest the bottle label deteriorate in a damp cellar, and the cook or host need to verify the contents. Kramer is also not afraid to say, in his blunt style, that the overly technical language often used to explain how champagne comes by its bubbles is ``gobbledegook.'' And because he asserts that wine is meant to be imbibed with food--``without the context of food, wine is a eunuch''--his final chapter includes recipes for such delicacies as blanc-manger and butternut squash soup. (Sept.)

Library Journal

The author, a widely published food and wine writer, discusses the fundamentals of wine, as well as its fine points, from a perspective that combines common sense with scientific fact. Topics such as wine storage, service, and matching wine with food are dealt with in a no-nonsense fashion. Perhaps more interesting is the opening discussion of connoisseurship and the social dimension of wine. Some recipes are offered in the section on wine with food. The point of view taken is refreshingly free of dogma. This is recommended reading for those interested in wine and is a useful supplement to such standards as Andre Simon's Wines of the World , edited by Serena Sutcliffe (McGraw-Hill, 1981. 2d. ed.).-- Bruce Hulse, Vanguard Technologies Corp., Washington, D.C.