Left Coast Libations. The tip of the iceberg.
Recently, because of my work and this blog, most of my reading has been “reduced” to rum-related, mixology and cocktails and cooking and baking books. Almost monthly, I order a new book shipment from Amazon or go to the cooking section at Barnes & Noble to treat me… Some of my new acquisitions are just waiting for me to read them, while others have already been devoured.
This is the case of Left Coast Libations, by Ted Munat with Michael Lazar. Introduced by Paul Clarke and illustrated with the so inviting pictures of Jenn Farrington, this book reveals to the neophyte, the life of 50 of the most amazing bartenders of the West Coast these days. It also includes 100 cutting edge cocktail recipes, plus all kinds of formulas to create foams, syrups, tinctures, purees, bitters…
This is a compendium of the culinary cocktail-making movement in the West Coast, going from Los Angeles, were bartenders are “re-discovering the golden era of cocktails”, to “the bursting creativity and spirited exuberance” of San Francisco mixologists. From the considerably expanding cocktail scene in Oregon, to that cocktail Mecca that Seattle has become, and then to those bartending in that elegant metropolis called Vancouver.
If cocktails are your thing, this book is for you. I can post any of the 100 recipes. So far I tried Solera, by Dominic Venegas, St. Astor, by Christine D’Abrosca and I’m ready for the other 98. If you’re not in the mixing and shaking world, then you will enjoy this joyful reading and the evocative pictures. As a bonus, you will meet 50 fascinating mixologists and will be tempted by their best concoctions (and secrets.)
Cheers!
