Drinking French: The Iconic Cocktail, Aperitifs, and Café Traditions of France

Lebovitz (My Paris Kitchen), a former Chez Panisse pastry chef, measures his passion for Paris in fluid ounces in this immersive look at France’s most beloved beverages. The first section explores café culture with classic coffee recipes, as well as hot chocolate enlivened by Armagnac marshmallows. The heart of the collection is its extensive chapter of aperitifs, some less known to American palates than others. Byrrh, for instance, a quinine and Spanish wine eye-opener, can be sipped over ice or stirred into a cocktail such as la découverte, made with rye and a dash of bitters. A fun and inviting section on homemade liqueurs and infusions features the Liqueur 44, a brandy-fueled concoction traditionally assembled with 44 coffee beans and 44 sugar cubes. Meanwhile, there are 43 cocktails in a chapter that shows off the author’s penchant for reinvention—for example, Lillet is added to a margarita and rosemary syrup to a gimlet. The final chapter serves up a variety of bar snacks, such as champagne truffles, which are dosed with Cognanc rather than bubbly. Francophiles and spirit lovers alike will find much joie de vivre amid these tempting pages. (Mar.)