"Craft Spirit World" presents over 100 of the finest drinks produced by distillers around the world—from Japanese Whiskey and Californian Tequila to English Brandy and Australian Gin. Distillation is as close as mankind has come to alchemy: turning everything from the humble potato to run-of-the-mill corn into glorious liquor. But there's nothing like industrialisation to suck the soul out of a process % and, with their vast column stills and bulk-buy mentality, that is exactly what the spirit-industry behemoths have managed to do. Cue the micro-distiller—a new breed of artisan producer reigniting our love of spirits and making drinks of quality rather than quantity. Artisan spirits can not only taste better, but each microdistiller has a tale to tell about the ingredients or the dream that led them to lovingly coax each drop of spirit from still to bottle. And we all love a good story. In "Craft Spirit World," over 100 of the best examples on the market of gin, vodka, rum, whisky, bourbon, cognac, and more are revealed, , coming from producers dotted across the globe—from New Zealand and South Africa to Scotland, Italy, Canada, and the United States. Each entry then covers the history behind the drink, where to get it, and, most importantly, what it tastes like.

Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards Drink Book of the Year 2015. Spirited Awards Nominee for Best New Spirits Book 2015. This book uncovers the best spirits the world has to offer. These are not necessarily the best-known examples on the planet - though if they are good, they have a place here - but the best crafted and most interesting. Spirit by spirit Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley explain what you need to know to appreciate a spirit - its ingredients, its classic forms, the choices a distiller makes in creating it - and offer their picks to 'Drink Before You Expire' - the world's best examples of their type, from gin and rum to shochu and tequila. There are plenty of suggestions for how to drink too, with innovative and classic cocktails and their insider tips on getting the best out of your spirits.

NOMINATED FOR THE 2018 JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD IN BEVERAGES! Emma Janzen is your guide to the bartender's best kept secret, the spirit everyone has been missing out on and it's called Mezcal. See what sets this cousin of tequila apart from the rest of the pack. Produced in Mexico for centuries but little known elsewhere until recent years, mezcal has captured the imagination of spirits enthusiasts with its astonishing complexities. And while big liquor is beginning to jump aboard the bandwagon, most mezcal is still artisanal in nature, produced using small-batch techniques handed down for generations, often with agave plants harvested in the wild. â??Join author Emma Janzen through Mezcal as she presents an engaging primer on all things related to the spirit; its long history, the craft of distilling it, and a thorough guide to many of the most common agaves used in production and how they shape the resulting spirit. In addition, top mezcal bars across the United States and Mexico contribute a selection of nearly fifty cocktails that accentuate its distinguishing qualities. Beautifully produced and authoritatively written, Mezcal is the definitive guide to exploring and unraveling the mysteries of this extraordinary handcrafted spirit. An Editors’ Pick for Amazon Best Books of the month of July 2017.

Nobody knows how the universe works, but that's what intrigues John Roncz. He's a medium. But he's also an aeronautical engineer. While communicating with someone who no longer has a physical body, he's analyzing how he's getting the information. With every reading, he learns more about the spirit world. In this book, he shares what he learned.

Join folklorist and historian Ronald L. Murphy, Jr. as he leads a fascinating tour of the spirit world throughout history. Investigate various cultures and religions and examine their attitudes toward death and what awaits beyond life's boundaries. Are ghosts the spiritual essence of the deceased, or are they elemental forces of the natural world? Come along and take a survey of the paranormal as we study the subject of ghosts.

“This fascinating, well-written book explores how tequila has come to symbolize what it means to be Mexican . . . A must read.” —Choice ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico traces how and why tequila became Mexico’s national drink and symbol. Starting in Mexico’s colonial era and tracing the drink’s rise through the present day, Marie Sarita Gaytán reveals the formative roles played by some unlikely characters—such as the revolutionary Pancho Villa, who was himself a teetotaler. She also shows how tequila’s cultural status was shaped by US-Mexican relations, the tourism industry, shifting gender roles, technology, regulation, film, music, and literature. Like all stories about national symbols, the rise of tequila forms a complicated, unexpected, and poignant tale. By unraveling its inner workings, Gaytán encourages us to think critically about national symbols more generally—especially the ways they both reveal and conceal—to tell a story about a place, a culture, and a people. In many ways, the story of tequila is the story of Mexico.