Thursday, January 27, 2011

Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition Top Quality


Wild beers are the most unusual and elusive of all styles. They're difficult to brew and even difficult to buy. Their whole world is shrouded in mysteries of microorganisms and organic chemistry. Wild Brews spells it all out in an understandable way. It's easily the best source I've found on wild beers.

For brewers, such as myself, who don't care for wild beer, it's still enlightening. Wild Brews catalogs all sorts of microbes which may find their way into our brews and how to increase or reduce their impacts. It's also interesting to see the same critters floating in beer that make vinegar, cheese, and several other products.Get more detail about Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Geography of Wine: How Landscapes, Cultures, Terroir, and the Weather Make a Good Drop This instant


Terroir is the all-purpose French term for the land, the weather, the climate, the environment in which the wine grapes grow. It's what makes Bordeaux (the region) produce Bordeaux (the wine), Burgundy, Champagne, and Alsace likewise. American wines are labeled by the variety of grape in argument that that is the most important aspect, though Napa, Sonoma, and Russian River Valley also appear on the labels. But Pinot Noir does well in Oregon (as well as in Burgundy), as does Riesling (which does well in Germany too), but not so well other places. This book looks at how the land, the weather, and the choices of the people doing the wine making affect the wines.

It's a decent book which covers a lot of territory (literal and figurative) in a readable, non-technical manner. I've deducted a star only because this book could have been better, many times I was left with questions leading directly from the text, and the author had moved on. The coverage is thin in spots, and seems to have variations in what level of wine knowledge the reader is expected to have (in most places there's little or no assumed knowledge, but then suddenly one is expected to know quite a bit more).Get more detail about The Geography of Wine: How Landscapes, Cultures, Terroir, and the Weather Make a Good Drop.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire Immediately


The title "The King of Vodka - The Story of Pyotr Smirnoff and the upheaval of an Empire" captures only a fraction of a truly panoramic picture skillfully painted by Himelstein. She starts with a story about a serf who, without any formal education, builds the most popular brand of an alcoholic beverage and becomes one of the most successful businessmen in the 19th century Russia. She shows how this self-taught entrepreneur overcomes all odds that would have prevented any modern MBA from entering the business, let alone becoming its leader, including

1. tremendous competition (300 existing brands of vodka),
2. under-funding (he started from the proverbial scratch),
3. negative image (continuous anti-alcoholism campaigns at all levels),
4. inferior social standing, and
5. government hostility (which heavily depended on the taxes from vodka sales and periodically monopolized the entire industry).

Based on years of meticulous research, Himelstein turns a tale about an extraordinary man into a sweeping story about a dynasty, including several generations of his entire family, and stretching across almost two hundred years, starting with the inequities and the far reaching reforms of the Russian monarchy, the horrors of the Bolshevik revolution and socialism, and the first couple of decades of freedom and democracy in modern Russia. Her book is also a history of a brand, spanning two continents, from its creation and perfection in czarist Russia, to its choking but surviving in spite of mismanagement and internal feuds, to its complete vanishing under the communist destruction, to its awesome rebuilding in the United States. If starting a business that had to compete with 300 existing brands was not hard enough, think of starting it anew across the ocean in a country with centuries-old change-resistant culture of whiskey- and beer-drinking, and then driving the newly introduced beverage business to a multi-billion dollar operation!

A delightful reading for anybody interested in business development, large-scale change management, Russian history, or extraordinary biography.

Yuval Lirov, Medical Billing Networks and Processes - Profitable and Compliant Revenue Cycle Management in the Internet AgeGet more detail about The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Murray's Cheese Handbook: A Guide to More Than 300 of the World's Best Cheeses Get it now!


I make cheese, run a website and forum at CheeseForum org, and got this book to broaden my knowledge of different cheeses. "The Murray's Cheese Handbook" is a long thin ½ in/1 cm thick format good for putting in a pocket. It was written by the current owner of the famous Murray's Cheese Store in New York City, USA. It has the normal intro and FAQ and pairing with wine sections but the bulk of the book is a listing and summary of 300+ of the author's favorite US and international cheeses, roughly ½ a page per cheese, no pictures. Nice quality paper, binding and cover that would stand up to many trips in pocket while visiting cheese stores. But, if you want more details and pictures there are better albeit bigger encyclopedia type books out there.Get more detail about The Murray's Cheese Handbook: A Guide to More Than 300 of the World's Best Cheeses.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Tequila: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails, and Bites Decide Now


Joanne really knows her stuff and is able to connect all of the dots between Tequila, cocktails, and food. Of course she's a great chef, but the fact that she has been to visit distilleries and also gets top bartenders to contribute cocktail recipes really speaks to how much she loves Tequila. She has truly become immersed in Tequila culture both in Jalisco and the United States.

Kudos to Joanne for writing a book that I use both in my kitchen and bar!Get more detail about Tequila: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails, and Bites.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Beer Captured Right now


This book has a large amount of beer recipes and some info about general sparge water amounts and temps, hops varieties, grain varieties, and it even tells you what kind of beer to serve with certain foods and the recipes for the food! Excellent book for all levels of brewers!Get more detail about Beer Captured.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Low Price The Foods and Wines of Spain


I first came across this book at my brother's home in Valencia, Spain. He had grown up in the US but met his Spanish wife in Spain and made his home there. Both he and his wife use this cookbook to prepare many of the traditional dishes.

I had owned a couple of other Spanish cookbooks and never seemed to find anything exciting in them. I purchased this book in about 2002 and learned many of the traditional dishes that I've had in Spain with incredible authenticity. My cooking of the dishes was never disappointing and truly were as delicious as I remembered them. I've since bought this book for a few friends and everyone has been amazed at the results from these recipes. I highly recommend you buy it and enjoy it as we all have.Get more detail about The Foods and Wines of Spain.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Discount Wine Journal: A Companion for Wine Lovers


I got this journal for my brother and he loves it. It arrived in perfect condition with no problems. The leather cover is a plain textured brown leather and there is a paper "banner" across it with the Wine Journal title etc. The inside is color coded for each "type" of entry - white wine, red wine, food/wine pairings, winery tastings etc. The color photos of the pages are accurate in the amazon listing and show two different entry types (another reviewer says they're not right, but they look identical to me). Very straight forward and easy to use. There is a pocket in the back cover to save any bottle labels. The journal also talks a bit about the types, locations, and what tastes the reviewer should be looking for. Overall, very pleased!Get more detail about Wine Journal: A Companion for Wine Lovers.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Cheapest Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint


My son is a long-time Guiness drinker and is enjoying the book on the Guiness Family and history of the brew. I added guiness logo glasses and a 6-pack of the brew itself and it was a perfect gift for one of the most difficult men on my list. I noticed the book almost too late to order but Amazon came through and it was on my doorstep on time. Thank you Amazon, you always come through and make it look so easy

Joyce Hall [..]Get more detail about Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Buying The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet


Garrett Peck's enjoyable and entertaining account takes the reader through the changing mores surrounding the consumption of alcohol in America. The book's broad account takes the reader on tours of whiskey country in Kentucky, California's wine regions, and the history of American beer brewing. The title refers to the continuing effects of Prohibition, in particular the patchwork of federal, state and local laws that still limit the production, sale and consumption of alcohol. Peck also shows that we're drinking less in quantity, but enjoying higher quality, as seen in the decline of the big national beer brands. Peck is probably at his best describing the furious lobbying efforts and the perennial marketing battles as the distillers, brewers and vintners jostle for market share. If you're looking for the reasons behind what and why we drink--and how, when, and where we do it-- you'll probably find the answers here.Get more detail about The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet.