Awesome book review

Foseti reviews Kingsley Amis' "Everyday Drinking".

Amis, of course, was the hard-drinking father of Martin Amis, the hard-drinking lifelong friend of the hard-drinking Christopher Hitchens.  The combination of alcohol in excess with intellectual* wit in excess has, I must confess, rather a gravitational pull on me.

And Foseti is quite right about the virtues of a simple syrup.  About the only place that won't work better than sugar is in a mint julep where the sugar crystals are required to shred the mint leaves during muddling.

Here's a flavor of the book:

First, a simply ploy with gin . . . Asked what you’d like to drink, say simply, “Gin, please.” Wave away any tonic, lemon, even ice, and accept only a little water – bottled naturally. Someone’s sure to ask you if that’s all you really want, etc. Answer, “Yes, I must say I like to be able to taste the botanicals, which just means I like the taste of gin, I suppose. Of course, a lot of people only like the effect.” Any gin-and-tonic drinkers in earshot will long to hit you with a meat axe, which after all is the whole object.

Awesome, simply awesome.  And timely for New Year's Eve, I might point out.  Foseti, a grateful Intarwebz thanks you.