The Drunken Botanist

The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks

The Essential, New York Times-Bestselling Guide to Botany and Booze

Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet? In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.

Of all the extraordinary and obscure plants that have been fermented and distilled, a few are dangerous, some are downright bizarre, and one is as ancient as dinosaurs - but each represents a unique cultural contribution to our global drinking traditions and our history.

This fascinating concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology - with more than fifty drink recipes and a new section on how to grow your very own cocktail garden - will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party.

The New York Times-bestselling guide to everything botanical and alcoholic celebrates its 10th anniversary with new material added to the fascinating, authoritative go-to book about the plants that make our drinks. With drawings and recipes - a gift for every cocktail aficionado; a drinks book for every plant-lover.