New cocktail book-The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World’s Great Drinks

This will probably be of interest to mixologists and gardeners. It comes out in March.

http://drunkenbotanist.com/
Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet? In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol.

Of all the extraordinary and obscure plants that have been fermented and distilled, a few are dangerous, some are downright bizarre, and one is as ancient as dinosaurs–but each represents a unique cultural contribution to our global drinking traditions and our history.

This fascinating concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology–with more than fifty drink recipes and growing tips for gardeners–will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party.

On this website you can buy the plants for a cocktail garden. http://www.territorialseed.com/drunken_botanist_index

-Lori

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-02-14 19:44 ]

Fungi?

On 2013-02-20 18:03, MadDogMike wrote:
Fungi?

To copy and paste...Yeasts are eukaryotic microorganisms classified in the kingdom Fungi. Yeast + Glucose -> Alcohol (Ethanol) + CO2

On 2013-02-20 18:03, MadDogMike wrote:
Fungi?

You always want at least one or two at a party.

kevin

Thanks for the head's up, tikilongbeach!

kevin

Article in Sunset Magazine by the author.

http://westphoria.sunset.com/2013/03/01/zone-envy-cocktail-plants-id-grow-if-i-lived-in-socal/

Zone Envy: Cocktail Plants I’d Grow if I Lived in SoCal
March 1, 2013 | By Sunset | Comments (0)
By Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist, out in March ’13.

Like most gardeners, I spend all my time thinking about the plants I wish I could grow, and very little time thinking about the ones I actually do grow. Lately I’ve become convinced that I need a tropical garden so that I can cultivate all of my favorite cocktail ingredients. The problem is that I’d have to move to Southern California to do it. A few of these would tolerate my coastal Pacific Northwest backyard, but they certainly wouldn’t thrive here.

Sugarcane

At the very top of my list is sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum). On a recent trip to Miami I ordered a mojito and it came with a swizzle stick-sized piece of sugarcane. I was entranced. Sugarcane is the one and only ingredient in rum and cachaça, but they are made differently: cachaça comes from freshly pressed, fermented sugarcane juice, while rum is made from molasses, the byproduct of heating sugarcane juice to crystallize the sugar.
I know I’ll never make my own rum or cachaça, but it turns out that heirloom sugarcane varieties are incredibly colorful and interesting. If I could grow it, I’d be haunting tropical plant nurseries in search of the burgundy ‘Pele’s Smoke,’ as well as a number of yellow and red-striped varieties. Farmer’s markets and Asian markets sometimes sell cut lengths of fresh cane—as long as you have a couple of nodes intact, you can bury them under a couple inches of soil and they’ll probably sprout.

Chinotto sour orange

Next up would have to be chinotto sour orange, a citrus tree with tiny, beautiful dark leaves and fruit that tastes just like Campari. Ever had San Pellegrino’s Chinotto Soda? That’s the flavor.
If only I had enough fruit, I’d be making chinotto sidecars. You can buy a chinotto from Four Winds Growers.

Chinotto Sidecar

1.5 oz brandy
.75 oz fresh chinotto juice
.5 oz Combier or Cointreau (orange liqueur)
Angostura bitters
Shake the first three ingredients over ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and add a dash of bitters.

Next Friday: Three more picks from Amy, and how to use them (including a recipe for homemade grenadine).

The author, Amy Stewart, is going to be at Vroman's in Pasadena, CA March 25th at 7pm.

http://www.vromansbookstore.com/amy-stewart-2013

Start: 03/25/2013 7:00 pm
Street: 695 E. Colorado Blvd
City: Pasadena, California
Postal Code: 91101

I got mine last week. Nicely printed book, can't wait to crack it open.