Cask Strength
The Story of the Barrel, the Secret Ingredient in Your Drink
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Cask Strength
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Narrated by:
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Mike Cooper
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By:
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Mike Gerrard
About this listen
From its first use by the Ancient Egyptians, the barrel has left an unmistakable imprint on human history. The Romans used the barrel in all corners of their vast empire, and explorers could not have charted the globe or opened up trade routes without barrels to store their food and water. And in all its thousands of years of use, the barrel's basic design has barely changed at all—a testament to its sheer and simple perfection.
Cask Strength is more than a history book. In it, Mike Gerrard, an award-winning travel and drinks writer, investigates the making, buying, and selling of barrels and details how drinks like wine, tequila, rum, cognac, and others are enhanced by specific kinds of barrel production.
Today, modern distillers, brewers, and wine-makers continue to use barrels in new, creative ways—with the barrel providing up to 60-70% of their flavors. Without the barrel, we would have no bourbon, no oak-aged chardonnay, no barrel-aged stouts . . . and no tabasco sauce, either.
Gerrard's expertise and palpable passion for good beverages interestingly made will ignite the curiosities of booze fans and history buffs alike as Cask Strength traces the simple splendor of the barrel.
©2023 Mike Gerrard (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
This is a fun but respectful (and very comprehensive) guide to everything you ever wanted to know about wine from the creator and host of the popular podcast Wine for Normal People, described by Imbibe magazine as "a wine podcast for the people". More than 60,000 listeners tune in every month to learn a not-snobby wine vocabulary, how and where to buy wine, how to read a wine label, how to smell, swirl, and taste wine, and so much more!
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5 out of 5 stars
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When they want 5 star wine knowledge but ur 22 y/o
- By Alexia L. on 05-06-21
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A Guide to Wine
- By: Julian Curry
- Narrated by: Julian Curry
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 411
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 284
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Story4 out of 5 stars 282
Actor and wine expert Julian Curry has devised a unique audiobook guide to wine. The whole subject is introduced and explained how wine is made, the different grapes, the different blends, vintages, wine-growing areas and types. In an entertaining and informal style, he also teaches how to taste wine, and how to choose and store it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Comprehensive overview
- By Laurence on 09-26-03
By: Julian Curry
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Proof
- The Science of Booze
- By: Adam Rogers
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,568
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,385
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,378
In Proof, Adam Rogers reveals alcohol as a miracle of science, going deep into the pleasures of making and drinking booze—and the effects of the latter. The people who make and sell alcohol may talk about history and tradition, but alcohol production is really powered by physics, molecular biology, organic chemistry, and a bit of metallurgy—and our taste for those products is a melding of psychology and neurobiology.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great listening to all about booze
- By Atila on 08-02-14
By: Adam Rogers
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The New Wine Rules
- A Genuinely Helpful Guide to Everything You Need to Know
- By: Jon Bonné
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4 out of 5 stars 58
There are few greater pleasures in life than enjoying a wonderful glass of wine. So why does finding and choosing one you like seem so stressful? Now, becoming a happier, more confident wine drinker is easy. The first step is to forget all the useless, needlessly complicated stuff the "experts" have been telling you. Acclaimed wine writer Jon Bonné explains everything you need to know in simple, easy-to-digest tidbits. And the news is good! For example: A wine's price rarely reflects its quality. And you can drink rosé any time of year.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Nothing “new”
- By Peter Marks on 11-30-17
By: Jon Bonné
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The United States of Beer
- A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink
- By: Dane Huckelbridge
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
Huckelbridge shows how beer has evolved along with the country - from a local and regional product (once upon a time, every American city had its own brewery and iconic beer brand) to the rise of global megabrands, like Budweiser and Miller, that are synonymous with US capitalism. We learn of George Washington's failed attempt to brew beer at Mount Vernon with molasses instead of barley and of the 19th-century "beer barons", like Captain Frederick Pabst, Adolphus Busch, and Joseph Schlitz.
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5 out of 5 stars
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History Humanized
- By Dave on 06-25-16
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And a Bottle of Rum
- A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails
- By: Wayne Curtis
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 329
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 288
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 284
And a Bottle of Rum tells the raucously entertaining story of America as seen through the bottom of a drinking glass. With a chapter for each of 10 cocktails, Wayne Curtis reveals that the homely spirit once distilled from the industrial waste of the exploding sugar trade has managed to infiltrate every stratum of New World society. Curtis takes us from the taverns of the American colonies, to the plundering pirate ships off the coast of Central America, to the watering holes of pre-Castro Cuba, and to the kitsch-laden tiki bars of 1950s America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A nice intersection of history and rum
- By Garshom L. Arkoff on 05-10-23
By: Wayne Curtis
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Beer
- Tap into the Art and Science of Brewing
- By: Charles Bamforth
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Beer offers an amusing and informative account of the art and science of brewing, examining the history of brewing, and how the brewing process has evolved through the ages. The third edition features more information concerning the history of beer, especially in the United States; British, Japanese, and Egyptian beer; beer in the context of health and nutrition; and the various styles of beer. Author Charles Bamforth has also added detailed information on prohibition, Sierra Nevada, and life as a maltster.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Commercial Brewing
- By taylor brackeen on 03-15-18
By: Charles Bamforth
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Uncultivated
- Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living
- By: Andy Brennan
- Narrated by: Brett Barry
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
Long before the advent of conventional farming methods - which have focused on constant growth, human intervention, and genetic homogeneity - the apple had already grown to become the ubiquitous all-American symbol it is today. Known for their hardiness, ability to adapt to new environments, natural diversity, and plentiful bounty, wildly grown apples were once known as “America’s fruit” throughout the trading world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hardship of small business
- By Montie E. Milner on 12-19-24
By: Andy Brennan
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Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
- An American Heritage
- By: Michael R. Veach
- Narrated by: Travis
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 135
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 115
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Story4 out of 5 stars 116
Its history stretches back almost to the founding of the nation and includes many colorful characters, both well known and obscure, from the hatchet-wielding prohibitionist Carry Nation to George Garvin Brown, who in 1872 created Old Forester, the first bourbon to be sold only by the bottle.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nice review
- By Joseph C Wood on 04-28-23
By: Michael R. Veach
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Judgment of Paris
- California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine
- By: George M. Taber
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 402
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 370
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 372
The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History houses, amid its illustrious artifacts, two bottles of wine: a 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay. These are the wines that won at the now-famous Paris Tasting in 1976, where a panel of top French wine experts compared some of France's most famous wines with a new generation of California wines. Little did they know the wine industry would be completely transformed as a result....
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3 out of 5 stars
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Only for the wine-obsessed
- By History on 12-01-11
By: George M. Taber
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The Brewer's Tale
- A History of the World According to Beer
- By: William Bostwick
- Narrated by: Christopher Sutton
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 337
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 295
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 295
The Brewer's Tale is a beer-filled journey into the past: the story of brewers gone by and one brave writer's quest to bring them - and their ancient, forgotten beers - back to life, one taste at a time. This is the story of the world according to beer, a toast to flavors born of necessity and place - in Belgian monasteries, rundown farmhouses, and the basement nanobrewery next door. So pull up a barstool and raise a glass to 5,000 years of fermented magic.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good insights!
- By Michael on 03-08-16
By: William Bostwick
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Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition
- From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar
- By: David Wondrich
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
The first edition, published in 2007, won a James Beard Award. Now updated with newly discovered recipes and historical information, this updated edition includes the origins of the first American drink, the mint julep (which Wondrich places before the American Revolution) and those of the cocktail itself. It also provides more detail about 19th-century spirits, many new and colorful anecdotes and details about Thomas' life, and a number of particularly notable, delicious, and influential cocktails not covered in the original edition.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting history, but needs recipies
- By E. Atkinson on 03-02-20
By: David Wondrich
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Bourbon Empire
- The Past and Future of America's Whiskey
- By: Reid Mitenbuler
- Narrated by: Brian O'Neill
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 544
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 492
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 491
Unraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America's most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America's political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great whiskey history great American history
- By Larry G. on 06-16-15
By: Reid Mitenbuler
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Audacity of Hops
- The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution
- By: Tom Acitelli, Tony Magee - foreword
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 19 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Based on extensive archival research as well as interviews with the movement's key players going back to the 1960s, this acclaimed book is the most comprehensive chronicle yet of one of the most interesting and lucrative culinary trends in the US since World War II. Acitelli weaves the story of the rise of American craft beer into the tales of trends like Slow Food and the rebirth of America's urban areas, and paints an unforgettable portrait of plucky entrepreneurial triumph.
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5 out of 5 stars
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learned a lot of information
- By Derek b. on 05-19-24
By: Tom Acitelli, and others
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Wine Wars
- The Curse of the Blue Nun, the Miracle of Two Buck Chuck, and the Revenge of the Terroirists
- By: Mike Veseth
- Narrated by: Clinton Wade
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 93
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
Writing with wit and verve, Mike Veseth (a.k.a. the Wine Economist) tells the compelling story of the war between the market trends that are redrawing the world wine map and the terroirists who resist them. Wine and the wine business are at a critical crossroad today, transformed by three powerful forces. Veseth begins with the first force, globalization, which is shifting the center of the wine world as global wine markets provide enthusiasts with a rich but overwhelming array of choices.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narration Tanks an Otherwise-Interesting Book
- By Gian on 02-21-14
By: Mike Veseth
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The Drunken Botanist
- The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 943
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 823
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Story4 out of 5 stars 814
Every great drink starts with a plant. Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley. Gin was born from a conifer shrub when medieval physicians boiled juniper berries with wine to treat stomach pain. The Drunken Botanist uncovers the surprising botanical history and fascinating science and chemistry of over 150 plants, flowers, trees, and fruits (and even a few fungi).
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4 out of 5 stars
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No more cheap tequila!
- By Cynthia on 03-23-13
By: Amy Stewart