Warm or chilled, fizzy or buzzy, we all have our favorite drinks. I am a zombie in the morning before my coffee, and I adore a ribeye steak with a glass of zinfandel. Many of our drinks have fascinating histories, from the growing of the ingredients and their journeys here, to the battles for ownership and copyrights of varieties and blends. I’ve listed some favorite beverages below, and given you a history, a recipe or cookbook, and a fiction book for each one. Cheers!
Tequila
- Tequila Wars: Jose Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico by Ted Genoways (2025)
- Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist by Tim Federle (2023) - also: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margarita and Gone with the Gin
- The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin (2020)
Scotch/Whiskey
- The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis by Brady Crytzer (2023)
- The Home Distiller’s Handbook: Make Your Own Whiskey & Bourbon Blends, Infused Spirits & Cordials by Matthew Teacher (2011)
- Whiskey Galore by Compton Mackenzie (1947)
Bourbon
- Bourbon: A History of the American Spirit by Dane Huckelbridge (2014)
- Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey by Edward Lee (2024)
- The Angels’ Share by James Markert (2017)
Absinthe
- S is for Southern: A Guide to the South, from Absinthe to Zydeco by David DeBenedetto (2017)
- Lost Recipes of Prohibition by Matthew B. Rowley (2015)
- The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher (2019)
Coffee
- Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug by Augustine Sedgewick (2020)
- The Home Cafe: Creative Recipes for Espresso, Matcha, Tea and Coffee Drinks by Asia Lui Chapa (2022)
- Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2019)
Tea
- The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide by Mary Lou Heiss (2007)
- Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties by Kevin Gascoyne et al, eds. (2018)
- The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (2017)
Soda
- Fizz: How Soda Shook Up the World by Tristan Donovan (2014)
- Make Your Own Soda: Syrup Recipes for All-Natural Pop, Floats, Cocktails, and More by Anton Nocito (2013)
- A Cherry Cola Christmas by Ashton Lee (2015)
New at the Library
Fiction
- Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
- Emma on Fire by James Patterson
- Gelato at the Villa by Robin Jones Gunn
Nonfiction
- One Pot Meals by Jessica Darakjian
- Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance by Jane Harrington
- Deadwood: Gold, Guns and Greed in the American West by Peter Cozzens
Children
- The Mushroom of Doom by Becky Davies
- Ocean: A Visual Encyclopedia by John Woodward
- The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall
