Dryads: Spirits of the Trees - Publication and preorder package!
It is an incredible feeling, after several years of work, to announce that my fourth book Dryads: Spirits of the Trees is scheduled for release at the end of July. I have now held an advance copy in my hands; the rest are crossing the Atlantic as we speak, en route to New York and then to a bookstore near you.
If you haven’t read the blog post immediately preceding this one, it will provide a lot of context about this book and what dryads are, but here’s the short version: just as we use the word “whiskey” for spirits made from cereal grains, or “brandy” for spirits made from fruit, I am proposing that we establish “dryad” as the general term for spirits distilled from tree sap. This book is a survey of current and historical products from around the world, together with tasting notes, distillery profiles, cocktail recipes, more than a few anecdotes from my research travel, and quite a lot of supporting photos.
There are a lot more of these than you might think: they’re currently produced on five continents, and they have a documented history going back at least six hundred years. That makes them older than most spirits categories you or I could name. In fact, the palm dryads of the Indian Ocean have been major articles of international trade for four of the last five centuries – the century we live in, when their availability in the West is limited, is the weird outlier. My hope is that Dryads will help to correct this problem, by introducing readers to this ancient but underappreciated category and reestablishing it in its rightful place among the spirits of the world.
Here is the final cover design, based on the well-liked placeholder I posted here two summers ago:
To celebrate the impending release of Dryads, Abbeville Press and I have assembled a special preorder package! This exclusive offer is only available through drinkdryads.com and includes:
A signed, personalized copy of Dryads: Spirits of the Trees
Three (3!) recipe cards featuring dryad cocktails not included in the book – one each for palm, maple, and birch dryads, individually selected by yours truly
A hand-cut coaster made from the wood of a dryad-producing tree
A VIP invitation to the closest Dryads launch event to you!
To order, head to drinkdryads.com! And keep your eyes on that page, which will become the book's companion website once it hits store shelves. U.S. consumers in particular will be able to go there to stay up to date on the availability of dryads near them!