The Drunken Botanist cover art

The Drunken Botanist

The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks

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The Drunken Botanist

By: Amy Stewart
Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
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About this listen

Every great drink starts with a plant. Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley. Gin was born from a conifer shrub when medieval physicians boiled juniper berries with wine to treat stomach pain. The Drunken Botanist uncovers the surprising botanical history and fascinating science and chemistry of over 150 plants, flowers, trees, and fruits (and even a few fungi).

Some of the most extraordinary and obscure plants have been fermented and distilled, and they each represent a unique cultural contribution to global drinking traditions and our history. Molasses was an essential ingredient of American independence when outrage over a mandate to buy British rather than French molasses for New World rum-making helped kindle the American Revolution. Captain James Cook harvested the young, green tips of spruce trees to make a vitamin C-rich beer that cured his crew of scurvy - a recipe that Jane Austen enjoyed so much that she used it as a plot point in Emma.

With over 50 drink recipes, growing tips for gardeners, and advice that carries Stewart's trademark wit, this is the perfect listen for gardeners and cocktail aficionados alike.

©2013 Amy Stewart. Recorded by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc. (P)2013 HighBridge Company Biological Sciences Botany & Plants Food & Wine Gardening & Horticulture Gastronomy Outdoors & Nature Science Wine & Beverages World Gardening Wine Alcohol Imperialism

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Critic reviews

"A rich compendium of botanical lore for cocktail lovers." ( Kirkus)
All stars
Most relevant  
if you love gardening and cocktails, this is the listen for you. I learnt so much about the plants that we use day to day listening to this book and it has inspired me to grow some more useful plants and herbs in my garden.

great listen

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This is quite a nerdy book. Although I agree a paper copy would be easier to navigate as a reference copy afterwards, I found the American narration delightful, the narrator has similar accent to Andi Macdowell, her voice is lively, educated and doesn’t grate. I had a feeling of a stumbling into bars around the world to partake in local liquor alongside an expert explanation of how the regional terroir and flora prompted its locals to brew booze in that way and why. So yes a hard copy is a good idea as well but this is a title that also benefits from being read aloud.

Detailed and informative

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I didn’t realise that this is a mix of a book
- lots of fascinating information about the different sources of drinks, going family by family. However it also contains a lot of recipes - it’s almost impossible to find these recipes again in the audio version. This is the kind of thing you need to open, find the recipe you want then turn to the page. I would recommend you purchase as a book not audio. Plus I found the narrator voice quite harsh and robotic - her pronunciation of the word “liquor” (li-core) drive me mad.

Better as a book

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The antidotes and information was incredibly interesting and I enjoyed. However, it would best to get this in book form, as it is difficult to find any of recipes after the fact. Alternatively, a pdf with all of recipes would be great.

An interesting listen, but would be better in book form

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