I place the blame on the worm in the bottle

These days, I have a mixed drink about once a quarter. If I am going to drink, I'd much rather have a beer or a glass of wine. It doesn't take much to give me a hangover, and with the kids getting up early whether I am hating it or not, I really can't take a hangover.

Still, I am always interested in learning about booze, so when I saw Straight Up or On the Rocks at the library, I picked it up. The book is a history of the development of the cocktail, from the colonial times to the modern world. There are some good stories in here, but the book is pretty slight with only 100 or so pages of story. The rest is a best-of cocktail recipes. Read this one for anecdotes, but don't expect depth.

One of the more interesting stories concerns the Mint Julep, a tasty southern beverage. Apparently newspaper editors in Virginia and Kentucky used to debate which state owned the beverage and bourbon itself. The VA argument was that when bourbon was created, what is now KY was still Virginian territory hence it is Virginian! Tricky, that. Anyway, Mint Juleps are delightful, and if you like Mojitos you will like a Julep. Unfortunately, they are both a pain to make, and if you screw it up, it won't taste great.