Books & Booze: 12/20/20
By: Cait Mack
Tags: Review, Life, Alcohol, Books, Reading

Your antidote to a week of chaos.

Let’s get this pressing question out of the way. Why should you pay any mind to my tastes?

I have excellent taste. In books and booze. I read 100–125 books per year. For the past decade. I’m slightly smarter than average. Not exceedingly so mind you, but like a tad bit. And that’s enough.

Anyway, moving on to the important things.

Here are the books I’m reading:

An especially great week for books! The first one about the making of the Patriots Dynasty was really well written. Since the dynasty is done, this book and my memories are all I have. And then a surprise banger…a book about how fast the future is coming (spoiler, a lot of the future is here, the rest is coming REALLY fast) and what we can do to capitalize on it.

The Dynasty by Jeff Benedict

“From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots — the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century.”

Many people have their opinion about the Patriots. Typically it’s not a good one. I myself have been a Brady fan for a long time and remain one today. I’m also a fan of Robert Kraft. He’s a good person and he, Coach Belichick and Tom Brady built something really special up in Foxboro. Something that lasted for twenty years. This is the story of that and it’s a fascinating read whether you like football or not. Though admittedly you’ll enjoy it more if you’re a football fan. And it probably helps if you’re a New England fan. But anyone can steal some antidotes to building a winning culture from this 500 page part tale/part manifesto.

The Future is Faster Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis

“From the New York Times bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold comes a practical playbook for technological convergence in our modern era.”

Did you know you (well probably not you, or me, but anyway) can 3-D print an 800 square foot house in under 24 hours?? I didn’t. Now I do. This book is broken into 3 parts: The Power of Convergence, The Rebirth of Everything and The Faster Future. Part 2 (Rebirth) is probably the most interesting since it covers the future of shopping, healthcare, education and more. I’m not super tech-savvy so this was a great read for me. But even for people with their finger on the pulse of our advancements, this is a fun book. I almost want to say it’s a must read…

And the drinks I’m having:

This was the rare no beer, double cocktail week! My 9–5 sent us a holiday party in a box, which included 4 simple syrups from Root 23.Cucumber habanero, grapefruit basil, maple cinnamon and pear rosemary. Root 23 also has a cherry almond on their website which I want to get my hands on. So obviously when this box came I had to cast beer aside, temporarily, to make room for the harder stuff.

Kickin 2020 Buh-Bye Cocktail

So, tequila isn’t for everyone. Hell, it isn’t even for me 99.9% of the time. BUT, when I saw the recipe card in the holiday party box and it had me mixing up some cucumber habanero syrup with orange liqueur and then tossing some tequila in…I said, eh why not, it’s 2020 after all. Man, I’m glad I mixed it up and took the first sip. This drink was FUN. A hint of heat and a good buzz later, I’m ready for whatever nonsense 2021 has in store.

Ingredients:

3oz tequila of your choice (I used Jose, duh)

1oz cucumber habanero syrup (https://www.root23.com/)

2oz lime juice (I fresh squeezed mine because I’m an overachiever)

1tsp orange liqueur

Cucumber slice (use the rest in a big salad to offset your drinking habit)

Habanero pepper (don’t feel pressured)

Directions:

Pour tequila, syrup and juice into a shaker with ice. Shake with some sass in your wrist. Strain into a highball glass (or any old glass, we’re not fancy here). Garnish (an admittedly fancy term) with the cucumber and habanero. Sip, adult style. Do not chug. That’s fair warning.

Are You Al-Ryete Cocktail

A modern twist on the familiar whiskey sour. This is a maple whiskey sour! Now I love whiskey and I can like sour, though I’ve never chased after whiskey sours when it was still smiled upon to go out and about to bars and what not. But, one of the simple syrups was maple cinnamon and the picture was pretty so I thought shiiiit, let’s do it! This turns into a sweet and sour with that whiskey bite. Tasty.

Ingredients:

2oz rye whiskey (I used Rittenhouse Rye, sounds fancy but sells under 30 bucks)

2oz apple juice (organic, pairs nicely with the rye’s liver abuse)

3/4oz maple cinnamon syrup

3/4oz lemon juice (yes, you already know I fresh squeezed it because I’m annoying)

Lemon slice

Cinnamon stick

Directions:

Pour whiskey, juices and syrup into shaker with ice. Shake, with cigar in mouth (lit or unlit, your choice). Strain into a martini glass, pinky out(who are you??). Toss the lemon slice and cinnamon stick on there for good measure (sex appeal).

Enjoy and see you next Sunday for more books and booze!