Drinks: A User's Guide

by Adam McDowell, Kagan McLeod (Illustrator)

Expert Drinking Made Easy
 
This engaging guide demystifies the art of ordering, preparing, and serving wine, beer and cocktails so you can drink like a boss every time. 

You’ll learn how

Equip and stock a home bar
Make a flawless martini
Order wine without dying a little inside
Choose a delicious sparkling wine instead of springing for Champagne
Buy Scotch for the boss, and for yourself

Whether you’re hosting a cocktail party, attending a business lunch, or relaxing with friends at the local brewery pub, you’ll gain the confidence to know exactly what you love to drink and serve. And if you want to know how to mix an Old Fashioned on an airplane, that’s in there too.
 
Bottoms up!

Genres: Nonfiction, Booze, Beverages, Food, Cooking

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2016

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to knowledgeable drinking, and exactly the kind of reference book that I didn't even know I'd been craving.

[Ilya Inozemtsev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Простой, можно даже сказать «простецкий», обзор. Главная мысль – в употреблении алкоголя нет никаких жёстких правил, а если они навязываются «знатоками», то это от небольшого ума

[Mr. BAD Aka BG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book about alcohol drinks 🥂 and to be not drunk as well. And about how to do cocktails and how to be with persons who came to drink about that I'll rate 4 star

[Kristina Moses · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt it was a pretty informative book, especially the section on beer, as I don't usually drink beer, thinking it all tastes bad. Turns out I've just been trying the wrong things. It's nice to gain an understanding of what exactly all these liquors are. It wasn't too helpful in learning to make cocktails (though I suppose there are plenty of other books for that). The result of this was just that when my friends heard I was reading a book about alcohol, they automatically assumed I could make random cocktails from just the things I had at home xD

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really well-written book about drinking. Some good info on how to choose something to drink from all major categories (wine, beer, whisky, etc.) and also some well-curated recipes. The author writes (wrote?) a column for the National Post, and this experience shows in how enjoyable this book it to just pick up and read. Would definitely recommend!

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has a very distinct voice, and this is an opinionated book, on the art of alchohol. I enjoyed it.

I imagine I would love to hear him pontificate on whiskey at a bar, while I drank my vodka-laden Cosmo, and laugh along with him, but not want to chat with him too long!

Includes how to enjoy different spirits, as well as some cocktail recipes.

[Scott Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of all manner of drinks with recipes and examples of decent brands to watch for.

[Bg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad to read this book and that helped to know some basic things

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read!

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh...dubious advice-lack luster format...

[Martin Doudoroff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good-humored, mildly opinionated 240-ish page book that strives to provide a broad general education in alcoholic beverages for the epicure. The writing style hopes to evoke Kingsley Amis, but the book is neither as funny as Amis (at Amis’ best) nor as boring as Amis (at Amis’ worst). In essence, this work is a vastly-expanded take on the front matter of many a drink book, and collects a lot of basic information that many of us have seen before and is already widely available. Unfortunately, a ton of bullshit is also “widely available”. While I could quibble about this or that, McDowell has somehow managed filter out the bullshit, and that’s probably his prime achievement here. What he writes is up-to-date and seems to mostly be accurate, at least at the pragmatic (non-nerdy) level. There’s a mild Canadian bias, but far less than in, say, Mark Kingwell’s book.