Best Sellers Rank: #213,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #234 in Alcoholic Spirits #298 in Cocktails & Mixed Drinks #479 in Herbal Remedies (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.8 out of 5 stars 107Reviews
Product Information
From the Publisher
A fascinating cocktail guidebook that reveals the botanical properties of each refreshing concoction
The authors of this book are three ethnobotanists who have always been captivated by the scents, sights, and tastes of the plants and landscapes where they do their fieldwork. United by a shared passion to communicate what they have learned, they founded Shoots & Roots Bitters. In Botany at the Bar, they will teach you to create science-based craft bitters that draw from ecology, practices, and flavors from around the world.
75 recipes so you can make your own science-based drinks at home
This illustrated handbook includes complete instructions on how to craft unique botanical drinks to support health and well-being, bring out flavors, and stimulate the senses. Anyone can learn to make bitters, shrubs, syrups, and herbal infusions at home with ingredients like saffron, grapefruit, hibiscus, and lemongrass.
Be your own alchemist and mixologist
Discover unique flavor combinations
Learn the science behind spices, roots, fruits, and flowers to infuse into your drinks
See the world of cocktails and bitters through the eyes of three scientists
A perfect gift for the science nerd or cocktail lover in your life!
Wu Wei Mei
This cocktail is smoky, it's sour, it's bitter, it's sweet, it's salty, it's warm, and it's earthy. Chinese five-spice powder (Wu Wei) is actually made of up to eight spices. Mume plums (Wu Mei) are a popular traditional medicine. They are genetically closer to apricots than plums.
Bodhi Tree
As the first Buddha Siddhartha wandered through India looking for a place to meditate, it was said he considered a grove of mango trees before settling under the shade provided by the large leaves of the Bodhi tree. If Siddhartha went wandering through Florida today, he would find a suitable spot at the USDA Subtropical Horticultural Research Station, which protects a genetic treasure-house of global importance: nearly three hundred accessions of mango, and twenty-three species of figs, including towering Bodhi trees. Whether this cocktail causes you to contemplate enlightenment or the value of safeguarding biodiversity for food and agriculture, we are sure you will find it refreshing.
Sour and Blue
This is a variation on the classic "Aviation" cocktail recipe using blueberries While the Wright brothers developed their flying machine in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Elizabeth Coleman White collected wild blueberries from the Pine Barrens in New Jersey to first domesticate the highbush blueberry. Make sure the berries are edible if you are venturing into noncommercially harvested Vaccinium-first consult a plant key.
Bettysbaai
Cyclopia (honeybushes) and Pelargonium (geraniums) are native to the Fynbos biome of South Africa. This is an area of high biodiversity, containing more than six thousand endemic species that are under serious threat due to climate change,. Honeybush is a culturally important tea in the Fynbos, used to perfume houses as it steeps. Combine fragrance with the relaxing effect of the skullcap in the bitters and you have a perfect cocktail for sitting back and gazing out at the sea.