World's Best Drinks

Back from Taiwan, heavily jet-lagged with a pile of notes and recordings to be molded into two stories.

The first concerns the 48-hour endurance race around Taiwan, which was exhausting and awesome. The second, a lighthearted business piece about Taiwan's cycling export & tourism industries. Will post links to both when done.

Came home to, among other things, a box from Lonely Planet containing my author copies of a book I'd contributed to last year, Lonely Planet's World's Best Drinks.

"But Joshua..."

I hear my long time Snarky Tofu readers saying

"What could you, an avowed teetotaler, have to contribute to a book so clearly geared towards the drinking crowd?"

Good question. Whereas my contributions to previous year's Best In titles have been all over the culinary and global map, my work in this one sits squarely at the kiddies' table (so to speak), with three entries - Egg Creams, Horchata & the elusive Espresso Soda - in the book's non-alcoholic section.  

These (and a handful of other alcohol free items) aside, World's Best Drinks is basically 90-proof, with about 90% of its essays being about fermented beverages from around the world, including Cider, Wine & Beer, full on spirits like Gin, Rum & Whiskey and enough recipes for mixed drinks to make you wake up hungover and searching desperately for your passport.

And if that's not your thing, the booze-free section is pretty good as well.

And on that note, time for my own special non-alcoholic evening writing concoction: Equal parts Yerba Mate and Kava-Kava, drunk through a special straw known as a bombilla. I call it Josambro's Argen-Esian Speedball.

Write me for more details - some drink recipes are best left lightly circulated.

Click here to buy Lonely Planet's World's Best Drinks.