How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well - Tapa dura

In these desperate times of apple-tinis, Red Bull and vodka, and low-carb beer, Hows Your Drink? is a welcome and bracing tonic, a triumphant manifesto on cocktailing with style packed with more yarns and lore than a battalion of bartenders. Salut!Ted Allen from Top Chef, Iron Chef America, and Uncorked: Wine Made Simple "It is a cultural study rather than a technical one, packed with great trivia and hilarious observations..."--Camper English"San Francisco Chronicle" (11/09/2007) "This brand new book is fun, engaging read and a must-have for any cocktail fan." --Jimmy Patrick"mixographer.com" (12/03/2007) "Not only does it supply a wonderful palette of cocktail recipes, but great stories to go with them and clues for research after it - be it the book or a party, is all over."--Chris Carlsson"Spirits Review" (11/01/2007) "The book is a fascinating profile of a few select drinks and a great read for anyone interested in the Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well (a most appropriate subtitle)."--Colleen Graham"About.com: Cocktails" (10/01/2007) "Felten is like those legendary barflies who always have a good story on hand: He has a casual yet authoritative voice, a relaxing lilt to his sentences, and he always knows where to put the punch line." --David Tamarkin"TimeOut Chicago" (11/29/2007)

Based on the popular feature in the "Saturday Wall Street Journal, " "How's Your Drink" illuminates the culture of the cocktail. Cocktails are back after decades of decline, but the literature and lore of the classics has been missing. John F. Kennedy played nuclear brinksmanship with a gin and tonic in his hand. Teddy Roosevelt took the witness stand to testify that six mint juleps over the course of his presidency did not make him a drunk. Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Chandler both did their part to promote the gimlet. Fighting men mixed drinks with whatever liquor could be scavenged between barrages, raising glasses to celebrate victory and to ease the pain of defeat. Eric Felten tells all of these stories and many more, and also offers exhaustively researched cocktail recipes. "How s Your Drink" is an essential addition to the literature of spirits and a fantastic holiday gift for husbands and fathers."