Book Information: How to Drink
How to Drink
by Victoria Moore
Price: $16.99
ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-8574-0
ISBN-10: 0-7407-8574-5
Format: Hardcover
Size: 6 x 9 in.
Page Count: 352 pages
How to Drink Reviews
“Victoria Moore applies charm to what is often a rather boring subject (unless you partake at the same time you read) drinking. You won’t find an ounce of boring here as she takes you through the whole gamut. The focus, is of course, alcohol related drinks which she presents seasonally. As you read, you’ll be enticed to try drinks you may never heard of before (new ones for me included Kir and Eaux-de-vie) and view old stand-bys with new appeal.” ––Project Foodie http://www.projectfoodie.com/spotlights/cookbooks/reading-for-the-foodie.html
“Unlike your typical recipe book, “How to Drink” by Victoria Moore, offers readers a guide to make what we drink taste better - from choosing the rights foods to go with your drink to selecting the right drink for the occasion or season. It’s also unusual because it’s not laden with glossy photographs, each image perfect down to its exacting garnish. Instead you have to - gasp! - use your mind to imagine the loveliness of a cucumber martini on the first warm summer day (which we frankly think looks better than any picture in a book). Moore, who lives in London and writes for the Guardian about wine, ensures no drink lover commit a beverage faux pas.” ––The San Luis Obispo Tribune http://www.sanluisobispo.com/books/story/1014142.html
“Victoria Moore’s How to Drink is not a beginner’s bar book. She is a Brit with a continental flair for libation lore. She offers little treatises on Pimms’ Cups, fresh juice, and a how-to on tea, coffee, and cocktails. I enjoyed it immensely. Ms. Moore also offers recipes for snacks and dishes to accompanies her favourite beverages. This is a great book for bon vivants!” ––DolceDolce http://www.dolcedolce.com/?cat=211
How to Drink
Appetite is about more than food
A morning cup of tea. Homemade lemonade shared outside on a warm afternoon. The perfect gin & tonic after a long day. A good drink—the right drink poured at just the right moment—becomes more than just a thirst-quencher. Like food, drinking is a part of our social fabric, and it is the rituals of drinking that give us the most pleasure.
In How to Drink (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $18.99), Victoria Moore explores how and what to drink in the context of our everyday lives, throughout the seasons and at all times of day. Different from a “bartender’s bible” that promises a thousand drink recipes, she explains the fundamentals of drinking, from choosing wine to complement food to tips on making what we drink taste better.
Because the time of year is often crucial in determining the perfect drink, the book is arranged by season and occasion, but also contains “year-round show-stoppers.” Also included:
- Drink recipes of every type, from breakfast smoothies to after dinner drinks
- How to select the best drinks for each occasion, and the best spirits for each drink
- Advice on creating a drinks pantry and which glasses to choose
- Food suggestions and recipes to complement the drink, rather than vice versa
…and so much more.
Victoria Moore is a master of her subject, a true connoisseur of all things liquid. Her extensive knowledge of ingredients, flavors, cultures, and history make it clear that this book can only be a culmination of years of travel, research, and experimentation.
Charming, exceedingly well-written, and full of humor, How to Drink shows us that it doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive to drink well; it just requires a little care and some basic knowledge. The most accomplished of drinkers will find this authoritative text full of information and inspiration to explore new worlds of refreshment.
About Victoria Moore
Victoria Moore lives in London and is Britain’s brightest young wine critic. She has been writing professionally about drinking since 1998, when she landed a column in the New Statesman. She is now wine writer for the Guardian and writes a weekly column in the Saturday Weekend magazine. She also works as a feature writer for the Daily Mail.
Cheesy Wafers
From How to Drink by Victoria Moore/Andrews McMeel Publishing
Everyone has his or her own variation on the classic cheese-straws recipe. It goes so heavy on the cheese it almost feels as if the flour is there just for propriety’s sake, but you get away with it by using self-rising, which helps to puff the wafers out. How many it makes obviously depends on the size of the cutter you use, but it’s about right for four to six people. If you like, you can make the dough the day before and leave, tightly wrapped, in the fridge overnight.
1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, cold from the fridge
1/3 cup self-rising flour
2 ½ ounces Gruyère or Cheddar, grated (a generous ½ cup)
1 ¾ ounces fresh Parmesan, grated (about ¼ cup)
½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 to 2 teaspoons cold water, if you need it
Preheat the oven to 400º F. Cut the butter into cubes with a knife and rub into the flour and grated cheese with your fingers, as you would to make pastry, until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
Sprinkle the hot pepper flakes and thyme over the mixture and stir. Once they are thoroughly distributed, use your hands to squeeze and then knead the ingredients into a dough. If necessary, you can add a tiny amount of water, but you shouldn’t need it. When you’ve got it pressed into a ball, wrap the dough tightly in a plastic bag or plastic wrap and leave to rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out the wafers and spread on greased baking sheets lined with wax or parchment paper. Cook for 10 minutes or so, until golden, transfer to cooling racks, and serve just as soon as you can touch them—they are delicious hot.
Sloe Gin and Vodka - Drink Recipe for Autumn
From How to Drink by Victoria Moore/Andrews McMeel Publishing
Perhaps because of its medicinal taste, sloe gin is one of the few alcoholic drinks it seems not just acceptable but even obligatory to have on one’s own in the middle of the afternoon. This is how my mother makes sloe gin. She uses Gordon’s.
1 pound sloes
3 cups gin (or vodka)
1 1/3 cups sugar
First you need to break the skin of the berries so their flavors can infuse the gin. Spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze overnight. The skins will then burst. Then immerse the sloes in the spirit, add the sugar, and stir to combine. Distribute this mixture evenly between sterilized glass jars with an airtight seal and leave to macerate for—well, ages. The sloe spirit will be drinkable after about three months.
“Sloe gin is at its best drunk out of small dessert-wine glasses, secretly in the kitchen or lounging on a rug with the Sunday papers by the fire.”
Mulled Wine - Drink Recipe for Winter
From How to Drink by Victoria Moore/Andrews McMeel Publishing
There seems to be a snooty anti–mulled wine movement gathering pace, which is a shame because this is a drink that says to me the holiday season has arrived. There’s no point in using anything other than cheap wine, but it should still be something you would be happy to drink cold. Serves six.
1 bottle red wine
1 glass brandy or port
5 cloves
1 orange, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 pinch apple pie spice
sugar to taste (optional)
In a saucepan, gently heat the wine and spirit. Stick the cloves into the orange slices. Add the cinnamon, clove-spiked orange slices, mixed spice, and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes, and then serve.
“Tempranillo from Spain is one good option, and Chilean merlot works well too, because it’s sturdy and fruity but not so distinctive that it can’t make a good canvas for the spices.”
My Favorite Drink - Drink Recipe of Spring
From How to Drink by Victoria Moore/Andrews McMeel Publishing
This doesn’t have a name—in my family we call it “the Campari and blood-orange thing”—but it’s one of those discoveries that makes you wonder why you ever bother with anything else. Get the ingredients very cold—twenty minutes in the freezer if necessary—before you mix them, because the drink is already quite diluted and the fizziness can’t afford to be stretched any further. This makes a good eight glassfuls.
1 bottle sparkling white wine
2 cups blood-orange juice
5 to 6 ounces Campari
Pour the ingredients into a jug. Serve in small champagne flutes or wineglasses.
Rum and Soda - Drink Recipe for Summer
From How to Drink by Victoria Moore/Andrews McMeel Publishing
I like this on a summer weekend, when it’s balmy enough to have the doors and windows open and friends are coming over for a barbecue or an early dinner. It’s casual, it’s relaxing, and it couldn’t be simpler to put together. Just take one bottle of golden rum, one bottle of sparkling water, slosh a bit of each into a large tumbler with plenty of ice, then proceed to sip, while thinking of sun and the melting relief of unfailing tropical heat.
Pomegranate Fizz
From How to Drink by Victoria Moore/Andrews McMeel Publishing
This isn’t too potent, which makes it useful for larger parties. The liquid equivalent of a red party frock, it’s not sophisticated, but it’s fun and has a sense of festivity. You can use the cheapest sparkling wine—its taste will more or less be drowned out by the pomegranate. This makes enough for about ten glassfuls.
1 bottle sparkling white wine
3 cups fresh pomegranate juice
8 ounces vodka
Mix all the ingredients in a jug, pouring the sparkling wine in first because it will go crazy when it hits the sugar of the pomegranate juice. Then serve in either large wineglasses or tumblers filled with ice.
