Take a taste of these vintage cocktail books
For that lazy afternoon when you’re sitting under a shade tree or at the beach, here are some vintage readings.
“Food & Wine Cocktails 2009″ (American Express, $14.95), edited by Kate Krader, is the dependable new volume in the series, with more than 150 appealing recipes from bars and lounges across the country. They include mixologists’ adventures as well as classics.
Focused and refreshing: “Wine Cocktails” (Harvard Common Press, $12.95), by A.J. Rathbun, heady with recipes, information and some humor, from sangria to the kir royale – a thirst-quencher between covers.
“99 Drams of Whiskey” (St. Martin’s, $24.95), by Kate Hopkins, reports the blogger’s entertaining search for the “perfect shot” in Scotland and Ireland, Canada and the United States. Enjoy the high-octane ride.
“When the Rivers Ran Red” (Palgrave Macmillan, $26.95), by Vivienne Sosnowski, chronicles the impact of Prohibition in California wine country, a world away from big-city speakeasies. Intelligent, engaging, sympathetic and sharp.
“Passion on the Vine” (Broadway, $14.95), by wine merchant Sergio Esposito, offers a colorful, sentimental, affecting and appetizing memoir about the author’s life in Italy and America, and about adaptation and heritage.
For some New York touring: “Long Island Wine Country” (Three Forks/Globe Pequot, $24.95), by Jane Taylor Starwood. It’s an upbeat, illustrated guide, with profiles, recipes and an easygoing narrative. The foreword is by Louisa Thomas Hargrave, Long Island’s first vintner; photos by Bruce Curtis.