On My Bookshelf – How To Drink
The act of drinking involves so much more than simply sipping on a glass of wine. Deciding between freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice in the morning, preparing your first cup of coffee for the day, wondering which spirit to add to an evening cocktail. Questioning do you opt for red wine or white for a summertime sangria? Decisions, decisions. When I first got my hands on a copy of Victoria Moore’s fabulously practical book
, I found myself totally changing the way I thought about drinking.
Whilst my bookshelf is (literally) drowning in cookbooks and foodie magazines, I don't have all that many books about drinking. So Victoria's tale of tipple and all sorts of refreshments was a welcome addition to my little Paris library. In the culinary world, a huge emphasis is placed solely on food (fine dining, Michelin stars, television programs – you name it). But how much of an emphasis do we place on the importance of drinking? Not enough, Victoria says.
In
, Victoria talks about the importance of pairing drinks with food (not just focusing on wines and main meals, but also discussing drinks for midday barbecues, iced coffee for sweltering days, and wintry drinks like vodka or sake).
The book is full of handy hints on how to pour, store and make all kinds of drinks
One of Victoria’s insights that I found most helpful was her tip to start the day with a cup of hot water. She advises to sip a cup of hot water (to hydrate) before you move onto tea, coffee, juice or whatever usually takes your fancy first thing in the morning…(hopefully nothing stronger than coffee!).
I guess the thing that first captured my attention was the book's approach to seasonal beverages. I hadn't really thought about drinks belonging to certain seasons – maybe apart from mulled wine during winter! I love cooking with seasonal ingredients, so it only makes sense to try and direct my drinking habits in a similar manner. I love that 'How To Drink' is divided into chapters devoted to each season.
Refreshing drops like Campari soda and ginger infusions make an appearance in the chapter devoted to Spring
My copy of 'How To Drink' (much like many of the books laden on my bookshelf) is covered with my handwriting and dotted with post-it notes. Flipping through my copy several months after initially reading 'How To Drink', it doesn’t surprise me that the majority of my colourful sticky notes are centred towards the chapter that focuses on tea.
As some of the regular readers here on my blog may know, anything
– I’m your girl. As someone who constantly has the kettle boiled and tea pot on standby, I was eager to learn what Victoria had to say about tea and how to drink it. Did you know that when making the perfect cup of tea, it's important to always start with freshly drawn water? So try not to re-boil the kettle if there's leftover water in it. And I guess it goes without saying that a cup of tea from a teapot is always going to taste better than teabags. (But any type of tea is better than no tea at all, in my opinion!)
How To Drink
GIVEAWAY: I’ve got a copy of Victoria Moore's 'How To Drink' to giveaway. Leave a comment here on my blog telling me what's your all-time favourite drink (and bonus points for sharing this giveaway on your own blog, twitter and facebook!) for your chance to win
I’ll be randomly drawing the winner on Wednesday May 1. Bonne chance!
