A Good Drink: In Pursuit of Sustainable Spirits

Pre-order here, out September 16, 2021.

Praise for A GOOD DRINK:

"Spirit enthusiasts are long overdue for this thoughtful exploration of what really goes into the bottles of our favorite liquors. Shanna Farrell's empathetic inquiry in her search for a good drink pushes us to reconsider how what we imbibe impacts our ecosystem, the cultural narratives we choose to preserve, and who gets to participate in the industry's innovation. Farrell's outlook is frank, yet hopeful; her effort here is sure to propel systemic transformation and thankfully, better drinks."

—Osayi Endolyn, James Beard Award-winning writer and co-author of The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food

"For those of us who imbibe, what is better than a learned guide - bartender or otherwise - who can lead us to the right bottle? With agriculture, ecology, and the future of our planet in mind, Shanna Farrell has gone out in a spirited search for A Good Drink. Drinkers and distillers should follow."

—Wyatt Williams, author of Springer Mountain

“Responsible drinking takes on new meaning in this insightful tour de force from journalist Farrell (Bay Area Cocktails). A former bartender from San Francisco, Farrell combines her knowledge of cocktail culture with an expertise in oral history to survey the intersection of hard liquor and environmental well-being. As she travels across the country and into Mexico—eventually migrating to Zoom when Covid-19 strikes—she profiles small-batch distilleries; provides unvarnished histories of various spirits; and chronicles the financial ruin of several bars in the face of the pandemic. Sustainability, social consciousness, and all-natural ingredients are common themes throughout. In the opening section, Farrell focuses on bourbon, tracing its roots in slave labor and profiling a South Carolina distillery that eschews the ubiquitous yellow dent corn in favor of a red heirloom variety. Then she’s off to Guadalajara to study the complex regulations that affect the distilling and exporting of mezcal and tequila. A chapter on gin and vodka spotlights Denver’s spirits distillery Leopold Bros., ‘who treat drinking as an agricultural act’ by supporting local farmers and using solar power to reduce waste, while another chapter pivots to matters of scale, measuring the financial and environmental risks that come with competing against the international conglomerates that ‘rule the industry.’ Farrell’s writing is as informative as it is intoxicating.”

—Publishers Weekly