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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

* DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH! : Infuse (Clarkson Potter)

 
1.INFUSE (Clarkson Potter, 2015, 176 pages, ISBN 978-0-8041-8676-6, $25 US soft covers) is by Eric Prum and Josh Williams, both founders of W & P Design which works with the food and beverage industry to create environments. They have a whole series of Mason Jar products, including a shaker and a tap. And, of course, they are experts in mixology. This book concentrates on oils, spirits, and waters – and how to infuse (steep in liquid) to extract outside flavours. They have more than 50 recipes, with instructions, tips and ideas. I used to use EverClear which I brought back from the US and Saint Pierre/Miquelon. It provided maximum infusion capability (at 96% ABV) at low cost. After the infusion (for me, mostly herbs or lemons), I cut it with distilled water and syrup if needed. Here though, the authors grapple with peach bourbon (Southern Comfort anyone?), cucumber mint water, basil-infused olive oil, roasted pineapple mezcal, spiced pear liqueur, salted lime syrup, garlic confit oil, and cranberry-infused rum (among others). Each of oil, spirit and water gets about 40 pages, and apart from the oil, everything can be used at a bar. So this is also a barman's book. It's for millennials (the typeface is small and grey) with arrows directing eye traffic. And the photos are mainly of people under 30. Yet the book's recipes work very well and certainly will add to the delights of the kitchen pantry, especially the oils. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: bartenders, cooks, those looking for flavours
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: see above
The downside to this book: it is a very pretty book, appeals to the younger crowd, but the grey typeface made me rush to the magnifying glass.
The upside to this book: a good, useful collection.
Quality/Price Rating: 92.
 
Chimo! www.deantudor.com

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