Lonely Planet Food - World’s Best Drinks

Smell is the most evocative sense we have. One sniff of a glass filled with thick yoghurt mixed with luscious Alphonso mango can be enough to conjure up the chaotic hum of an Indian street the flashes of colours, jangle of horns, wood smoke, drains, the beggars, the dirt, the cries and the calls. In the same way, the sugar-drenched sourness of a caipirinha can saturate your mind with Brazilian sun and a glass of spicy glgi transport you to the pine forests of a Nordic midwinter.

The part of the brain responsible for this potent effect is called the olfactory cortex. Its here that associations are made between the input coming from the flavour receptors in our nose and the memory traces from earlier experiences of that drink. The olfactory cortex possesses an almost magical ability to reconstruct a whole from a small fragment. In the same way that when we hear the timbre of a loved ones voice, their whole being seems to enter the room, the tiniest sip of a drink can connect us to a vast tapestry of remembered emotions, vistas and sensations.

The more we travel, the richer this experience becomes, of course, and perhaps thats one reason why our appetite for different drinks has become more adventurous. We dont always need to have been to a place to have a sense of it, either. Memories can also be built from films, photographs and snatches of music played on a sunny afternoon.

This Lonely Planet book of the worlds best drinks is not, then, a mere drink guide, offering a brief guide to wine, charting the rise of artisan tonic water; steering you through the different styles of beer, from blonde ale to witbier to dunkel and providing a pithy history of the planets most famous spirits. It is also a travelogue that will take you to the sophisticated and chic gallerias of Milan where you can sip negronis made with carmine-coloured Campari as well as venturing into less well-trammelled territories. In these pages you might make new discoveries such as the terremoto a Chilean cocktail made using pineapple ice cream, white wine and grenadine and apparently created in 1985 shortly after the earthquake that shook Valparaiso. And did you know that the Paloma made with tequila, grapefruit juice and soda is more widely drunk in Mexico than the Margarita? I didnt.

Sophisticated favourites like the Martini sit alongside the tongba - Himalayan millet beer quite possibly known only to trekkers who will associate it with the smell of a yak-dung fire and the relief of resting aching legs.

This book isnt only about booze either it promises to expand your non-alcoholic repertoire with horchata from Mexico and East African cardamom tea, as well as reminding you of that old favourite, the fiery-sweet root beer float.

It only remains for me to say cheers and, of course, happy travelling.

TIM E. WHITE

Gone are the days when the only choice you faced when ordering a beer was whether you wanted a pint or a half. Today you can get your beer aged in barrels or fermented with cherries, blended with wine, flavoured with herbs, or unadulterated, with the beverages four core ingredients speaking for themselves. With just malt, hops, water and yeast, brewers can conjure up natural flavours of caramel and toast, chocolate and coffee, citrus, banana, pine trees and cloves. Whether you opt for a bottle of rose petal-infused stout or a more traditional pint of pale ale, theres nothing quite like settling down in an unpretentious pub with a froth-topped pint in hand.

The origins of beer are as murky as those early pints would have been. Long-attributed to the Egyptians, it is now thought that the first beers were drunk in Mesopotamia modern-day Iraq almost 4000 years ago. One thing that is agreed on is that the recipe for beer happened by accident, perhaps when a failed batch of bread fermented, providing its eaters with a buzz that their sandwiches didnt normally deliver. Those thick, opaque brews gradually evolved into the clear beers we drink today, although beers akin to the first brews are still sipped in some parts, like umqombothi in South Africa or the Nepalese tongba.

Beer tends to be overlooked by gourmands considered a drink to swill, rather than sniff. But beer can, and should, be tasted in just the same way as wine. Look first for hop aromas, which can range from Europes earthy, spiced notes to the in-your-face pine needles and passion fruit that American hops offer up. On second sniffing, seek out the malt think toast, toffee, biscuit and chocolate. Taste-wise, beers range from dessert-sweet to mouth-dryingly bitter, depending on the alcohol content and amount of hops added. No need to swirl before you sip you dont want to kill the carbonation. Oh, and beer tasting never involves spitting!

Although the sub-styles are plentiful, there are just two main branches of the beer family lager and ale. The difference boils down to the yeast used ales ferment at warmer temperatures, while the yeast used to create lager prefers things a little cooler. The many sub-strains of yeast all come with their own flavour profiles but, broadly speaking, ales tend to be fruitier, a little more complex and arent served so cold (814C). Lagers are generally crisper and served cooler, though ice-cold fridges should be reserved for beer whose flavours you want to mask anything below 4C is simply too cold to taste.

ANDREW MONTGOMERY/LP MAGAZINE

A pint of standard lager has more calories than a pint of dry stout.

If the head (foam) on your beer disappears without trace, there might be soap remnants on the glass.

In Belgium every single beer has its own dedicated glass, designed to best show off the aromas and flavours of each brew.

When picturing an ale, most people think of something copper-coloured and roasty, but the gamut covers everything from light, easy-drinking blonde ales and refreshing wheat beers to hoppy IPAs, chocolatey stouts and rich Belgian styles boasting toffee-like tones. The American Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) recognises over 120 styles of beer, though you wont find all of them on the average pub chalkboard. Try these common ones, listed in recommended tasting order.

A light, malty style providing a nice leap from lager to ale. Try it with fried fish or a light chicken dish.