Book Review: Booze and Vinyl
A bar without music is a little like a martini without an olive — doable, but just not the same.
In Booze and Vinyl, Andre and Tenaya Darlington don’t just make the case for combining music and drinking, they suggest firing up a listening party that pairs particular cocktails with classic vinyl albums. The idea of the book — which is bound on square paper as if it’s an album itself — only smaller — is to pair two cocktails to dozens of albums ranging from Led Zeppilin IV to Joni Mitchell’s Blue (and plenty more). Several of the drinks are very simple — including Jack & Coke (Rolling Stones) and the Sidecar (A Tribe Called Quest), but the Darlingtons do venture into more avant garde territory quite often.
I do like the pairing ideas here. While some are obvious (pina colada with the Beach Boys, of course), others feel inspired. A Chartreuse-laden drink called the bijou with The Doors? A pu-erh tea old fashioned with Radiohead? Cool ideas.
Booze and Vinyl is easily flippable and built perfectly for the coffee table or the record shelf. Music and cocktail fans should pick it up.
A- / $21 [BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON]