VIRTUAL Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 discussion

Last year, 12 drinks accompanied my reading and made the way up the virtual Mt. TBR even more fun.
Things haven't changed: The virtual TBR is still enormous (heck, it grows a lot faster than I can read) and I still occasionaly get in the mood for a fancy beverage, alcoholic or non-alcoholic.
So join me for another trip up the mountain, mobile mini bar included. Drinks as always on the house!

(Again, this is not to advertise drinking. Be responsible about it, folks.)

1. The Three-Body Problem: Tschunk
2. Das Werk der Teufelin: Viez
3. Krokodilstränen: Whisky Sour
4. Reading Lolita in Tehran: Black Tea Mojito
5. The Red Magician: Hot Toddy, apple style
6. Der aufblasbare Engel: Moscow Mule
7. The thirteenth Tale: Ice-cold Vida
8. Schalom: Passoa Ginger
9. How to build your own country: Ipanema
10. Lyrebird Hill: Mulled Wine
11. The Flea Palace: True Passion
12. Piranesi: Travelling Tombstone

A toast to another year of reading, climbing, and drinks!

Can't wait for the books and the new dfrinks!

I finished my first borrowed book this year, and it was The Three-Body Problem. This modern scifi novel twists reality and fiction in a superb way, even with some knowledge in the field I wasn't sure how much of Liu Cixin's descriptions were realistic. While this concentrates on scientists and first contact with an alien species, a large portion of the book takes place in a video game called Three Body. There is also some technological stuff because the author is quite thorough in explaining everything. Somehow all of this reminded me a lot of cyberpunk, which brings me to my drink of choice here:

Tschunk
Tschunk (or Chunk) is a widely known cocktail among hackers and will be served at every sophisticated hackers meeting (at least in Germany and Luxemburg). It is a close relative of the Caipirinha, but contains something most IT nerds love to drink: Club Mate, a soda that contains a lot of caffeine and Mate tea. The appeal is obvious: It'll keep you awake for hours on end.

Mix half of a diced lime and some brown sugar in a glass. Squash the lime with a wooden stick. Add crushed ice, ca. 4 cl rum, and fill up with Club Mate according to taste. Add a straw and you're done.

Sam wrote: "
I finished my first borrowed book this year, and it was The Three-Body Problem. This modern scifi novel twists reality and fiction in a s..." I've been wanting to read this one for a while! Now I'm even more curious!

Medieval sleuth and beguine Almut is one of my favourite characters. In this second installment, she drinks poisened apple cider. It might seem morbid, but the drinking choice here is obviously the very same that almost killed Almut.
True apple wine is to be served in a glass called "Geripptes" - or from a "Viezporz", if you are in the Trier area. However, this book is set in Cologne, so the "Geripptes" it is.

Imagine a woman watching her neighbours through binoculars every day. Not obsessively yet still sympathetically like Jimmy Steward in Rear Window - this is a cold, solitary person whose only joy seems to be observing the lives of others, still she gets nervous thinking somebody might call her out to be a voyeur. What would she drink?

Okay, I am biased since I recently came in possession of a bottle of my favourite whisky, but that is what I'm going for. I imagine the woman, Ùrsula her name, might pretend to only drink unbearably sweet cocktails, but in reality prefers Martinis and such. She is a mix of sweet and bitter, so I present to you:

Whisky Sour
6 cl Whiskey (40 % Vol., preferably Bourbon)
2 cl lemon juice
2 cl sirup

Mix all ingredients in a shaker. Add some ice cubes in this instance: Summers in Montevideo are hot.

My knowledge about life in Iran is limited, but one of my coworkers is from Iran and she sure loves her black tea.
While reading this autobiographical text, I was often reminded that she and her family have experienced the opression described in it. The fear and prosecution drove them across Europe.

So it is in honor of my dear coworker that I choose black tea as a companion drink to Reading Lolita in Tehran. The women in this story are striving to become full characters in a society that tries to cut them down to a uniform pocketsize. So they find secret ways to express themselves. And this is why black tea alone isn't the right choice here. Let's pimp it a little bit, shall we?

You brew your black tea just as usual, just with a little less water. We are going for a concentrate. I recommend adding cardamom and sugar cane according to taste. To cool it down quickly, add (crushed) ice.

Now follows the black tea mojito part: Add bruised spearmint leaves and lime juice, a large sip of white rum and some sparkling water if you like. It is a refreshing summer drink and I think it might just be the kind of drink to enjoy during a lock-down.

The Red Magician
I finished this historical fairy tale of broken realism almost a month ago, but never really found a drink that would go with it. Lisa Goldstein builds a dense atmosphere with very few words. It is set in Poland right before World War 2, and all the characters are Jews. The protagonist is a girl who is on the brink of coming of age when the Holocaust starts. There is magic, fairy tale stuff, and also very grim experiences.
More people should know about this beautiful book. That is why I add it here, even though the following recipe might not be the perfect choice. It is kosher, though. Also, it is an autumnal drink, and autumn seems the right season to read a melancholic story like this.

Hot Toddy, apple style

Mix in a hot pan (only heating it up without cooking):
100 ml apple juice,
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree, and
1 tablespoon maple sirup

Let the mixture cool down a bit, then add
2 cl of spiced whiskey
and stirr with a cinnamon stick.

Der aufblasbare Engel

You never know where this story is taking you next, starting with a fun ghostly apparition of a long dead charlatan and collapsing into abduction, dark fantasy, and fanatism. I've been thinking about this (maybe too long), and my drink of choice is the Moscow Mule.
Many people love vodka (I'm not so fond of it), not so many love ginger (I do). This longdrink is as twisted as Zaza Burchuladzne's short novel. See what I did there?

Moscow Mule
- Fill half of a large glass with ice cubes
- Mix 4cl vodka and the juice of half a lime and put it in the glass
- Fill up with ginger ale (the most gingery, least sweet you can find; I always use Thomas Henry's Spicy Ginger)
- Garnish with cucumber (let the cucumber sit in the drink for a couple minutes, it adds a fresh taste to it)

The Thirteenth Tale

Somehow, this book made me think about possible combinations with red grape juice. It has such a lovely dark colour, rich and opaque, just like Setterfield's debut novel.
I'm going for a refreshing mix with ginger ale, even though this is only due to my obsession with everything ginger, and not so much to a perfect fit for this book. I have to say that I read the second half of this bog book in one sitting, and I expect to down this drink in just a few gulps as well, so there's your analogy if you need one.

I call this drink Ice-cold Vida (named after one of the main characters)
Fill half of a large glass with ice cubes.
Add half ginger ale, half grape juice.
Finish with some lemon juice according to taste.
Stir and serve right away.

Sam wrote: "The Thirteenth Tale

Somehow, this book made me think about possible combinations with red grape juice. It has such a lovely dark colour, rich and opaque, just like Setterfield's debut..."

Great book!

Schalom: Ein Schelmenroman

A failing artist goes totally bonkers after purchasing a second hand piked helmet. I felt more the guy was failing in every respect, from teacher to husband, on the way wrecking his life and others. Abominable. So to counter the rancid feel of the story, here is something I'm quite keen on thee days:

Passoa Ginger
It's a lot of Ginger Ale (not Ginger Beer, again), mixed with as much of the disgustingly sweet Passoa as you wish. Together they work perfectly, with some ice this is a refreshing drink. You may also add some lime juice, but there is no need.

How to Build Your Own Country

I saw this children's non-fiction book in a bookshop once and checked it out of my library recently. It was fascinating to see such complex concepts broken down with such enthusiasm. A fun book for all ages. As for a drink, this one should do without the alcohol, but should be a bit more than just apple juice. This one's actually quite the evergreen with my friends:

Ipanema
Fill a pitcher with crushed ice. Mix spicy ginger ale and mango juice (passionfruit works too) and add cane sugar. Then lime: Both squeeze the juice into the mix and add chopped lime. Stir and decorate with mint leaves.

Lyrebird Hill

This contains a Sherry scene which I do not wish to commemorate. In this book, the protagonists discover many secrets in their past and their family history. A heavy, scented drink seems the right companion. Like mulled wine. I don't really like mulled wine, but then I didn't enjoy this novel too much either. And like mulled wine, I expected a lot more from Lyrebird Hill. It sounded delicious, and I love most of its ingredients, but the mix was too crass for my tastebuds.

The Flea Palace

I'm not sure how I feel about Elif Shafak's Bit Palas. In one way it felt like there was a lot of social commentary that went over my head. Seems I don't know enough about Turkish culture.
The stories felt very scattered and arbitrary, with only the house and a handful loose motifs as a common denominators. The self-inflicted pain (mostly emotional, sometimes physical) of the palace's inhabitants never kept them from agonizing over soap operas or gossiping about others who are actually just like them. One aspect I didn't quite get is the whole waste problem that turns more and more into a vermin situation. As a whole I can say that the book was entertaining, all too cute in places, and contained some suspicious weird bits.
Which is why I return to the incredibly sweet Passoa for my companion drink:

True Passion
Just mix a shot with a glas of passion fruit juice and you get a disgustingly tasty drink. Just don't linger too long on its ominously thick consistency.

This has been a very gingery, and lately Passoa-filled, challenge. I love everything ginger and I'm not going to apologize for it. And while I'm constantly making fun of Passoa, it is actually perfect in almost anything as long as you don't overdo it. Still, I don't want to do the same thing over again for my final book, Piranesi.
I found this really fancy award-winning drink called Travelling Tombstone. It sounds dark, but it combines some flavours that I think go well with the atmosphere of Piranesi:

4 cl Whisky
3 cl Rosé Vermouth
1 teaspoon sirup
2 teaspoons of Earl Grey Tea (with Bergamotte)

Mix everything in a glass with ice. You can leave the ice in your drink if you like, and add a dash of lemon juice.