Thinking Drinkers: The Enlightened Imbiber’s Guide to Alcohol - Tapa dura

The Thinking Drinkers are Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham, two alcohol experts who have embarked on a selfless mission to improve your liquid life.

Their mantra? Drink less, drink better'

Professional journalists with over 30 years of academic elbow-bending combined, the award-winning duo distil their drinks knowledge into this intoxicating armchair read, a cerebral sip through the culture of drink in its most fabulous fermented forms.

The illuminating and amusing journey careers through the colourful agave fields of tequila and Wild West saloons of the USA, to the whisky wilderness of the Outer Hebrides, Gin's degenerate London lanes and the anarchic absinthe-addled avenues of France. 

Among the distinguished drinkers you'll meet along the way are Humphrey Bogart, Peter the Great, Mayahuel the Aztec Goddess, Jesus Christ, Hunter S Thompson and Vincent Van Gogh. 

Dedicated to more than 15 different kinds of drink, each chapter is steeped in extraordinary anecdotes, quirky historical facts, expert reccommendations and eye-catching illustrations, bringing together the people, the places and the past behind each illustrious beverage. 

Through this hugley entertaining and highly convivial companion for the enlightened imbiber, the Thinking Drinkers prove that, contrary to common perception, some of life's answers can, in fact, be located at the bottom of a glass. 

BEN MCFARLAND and TOM SANDHAM are leading drinks experts, writers and performers. Together they co-founded www.thethinkingdrinkers.com, and they regularly perform, talk and write as The Thinking Drinkers. Ben McFarland has been named the British Guild of Beer Writers’ Beer Writer of the Year on three occasions, the first time in 2004 as the youngest ever recipient. He is the author of three books, including World’s Best Beers and Boutique Beer for Jacqui Small. Tom Sandham is the successful author of World’s Best Cocktails and an expert on all kinds of spirit drinks. Both authors write regularly for a wide range of consumer and specialist magazines, including Jamie Oliver Magazine, The Guardian, Independent on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph, Imbibe, Draft Magazine and Time Out. 2014 will be the third year that the duo have taken their sell-out show to both the Edinburgh Fringe and the Soho Theatre, London.