Slippery Tipples: A Guide to Weird and Wonderful Spirits & Liqueurs

by Joseph Piercy

A funny and fascinating guide to liqueurs and spirits, featuring more than 60 drinks from 40 countries and easy-to-follow guides to making liqueurs at home
 
From the Eastern European favorite Becherovka whose recipe is known to only two people; to classic cocktail ingredients like Midori, the bright green Japanese melon drink that was launched at the Studio 54 wrap party for Saturday Night Fever, Goldwasser, the gold-flecked German drink that has been brewed since the 16th century and is supposed to have alchemical effects—this collection tells the stories behind the word's most extraordinary drinks. Alongside the A–Z is a series of easy-to-follow recipes for liqueurs and spirits, for readers eager to concoct their own fruit brandies or make a traditional summer cup like PIMMS. The more than 100 cocktail and shooter recipes include, of course, the classic 1980s cocktail the Slippery Nipple.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful little book on various alcoholic concoctions throughout the globe and how to drink them, what makes this a worthwhile read is the little tit bits of knowledge and the humorous anecdotes that go with it, my favourite one is that Jägermeister used to be known as Göring-Schnapps and was a great favourite with Nazi hunting parties!

[Kyle Youngblood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part history, part cocktail book. Mildly entertaining book that explored a world I was not familiar with.

[Bria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Wonderfully researched with intriguing stories and inspiring recipes, it also contains a thoughtful layout with tasting notes, background, trivia and lovely vintage style illustrations. I’ll use this as a reference for years to come and have already rushed out to expand my liquor cabinet.

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever been in a very well stocked liquor store and seen the weird bottles with foreign names, this book tells you what a lot of them are. The writing is clear although occasionally snarky (with good reason).

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the wide range of liqueurs, digestifs, aperitifs, & a few random alcoholic beverages around the world.

I am a total geek about this stuff so I enjoyed reading it, but YMMV.

[AskNezka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful little history on spirits and bitters from around the world. Wish there were some citations, but otherwise very interesting collection of stories.

[Ietrio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not very complete, yet amusing and as far as I can tell rather accurate story of spirits.

[Dani]

The book is well-written but not what I was looking for. I thought this was just a recipe book, but it was more academic than I expected.