Shots of Knowledge

A guidebook for whiskey lovers. Organised into approximately sixty illustrated essays, the book samples selected topics in whiskey production through the lenses of science and engineering. The story commences with water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight, travels through the manufacturing process, and ends with the molecules that entertain the palate.

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Shots of Knowledge is a guidebook for whiskey lovers. Organized into approximately sixty illustrated essays, the book samples selected topics in whiskey production through the lenses ofscience and engineering.

While the essays are subdivided into three sections—FromSunshine to Sugar, From Wee Beasties to White Dogs, and FromBarrel to Brain—the reader is free to sip them in any order. Thestory commences with water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight, travelsthrough the manufacturing process, and ends with the moleculesthat entertain the palate.

Whether the topic is photosynthesis, bubble caps, oak speciation,or a mechanistic enzymology, the essays seek to reveal thesimple beauty too often hidden in science and engineering. Atapproximately one page in length, each essay and accompanyingartwork can be digested slowly at the rate estimated at three essaysper bourbon or Scotch.

Every essay is summarized in one or two sentences in a “Shot ofKnowledge.” Iconography anchors each essay in the productionprocess. Inspiration for the book derived from a productivecollision between individuals from TCU and the Firestone &Robertson Distilling Company.