Reading is beneficial for both mental and physical health. It does not matter if you read a newspaper, magazine, poetry, or novel. While reading, you can create an easy rhythm between turning the pages and drinking coffee, tea, or any other beverage. Reading a book is the time for loneliness whether you are alone or not. Your mind buzzes from page to page and sip after sip.
Reading should not be taken lightly because you can sit down and read for hours. But you don’t embrace the big picture. In case, you are not aware of the big picture, then it is drinks, snacks, and sometimes blankets. Reading a book can snuggle you up for hours, so you need to stay hydrated. Drinking a coffee, chai latte, tea, green tea, juices, lemonades, etc. can help you to enjoy the book reading for late hours. Drinking a coffee, chai latte, tea, green tea, juices, lemonades, etc., paired with a food favorite such as a delicious Tuscan Sandwich can make the reading experience much more enjoyable!
Best Drinks to Enjoy While Reading a Great Book
Bobby Flay’s Cucumber Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- Cucumber Vodka – 1 Cup
- Tonic Water – 1 Cup
- Cucumber Juice – 1/2 Cup
- Fresh Lime Juice – 1/4 Cup
- Simple Syrup – 1/4 Cup
- Mint Leaves – Fresh
- Ice Cubes
Method
Make an equal amount of water and sugar heated until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool to room temperature. Divide the ingredients in half. Now add each half to a cocktail shake and shake until combined. Now pour the mixture into the rocks glasses with ice and drink it with a perfect book to read.
Rose Sangria
Ingredients
- Dry Rose – 1 750ml Bottle
- Brandy – 1/2 Cup
- Grand Marnier – 1/2 Cup
- Club Soda – 2 Cups (Any Flavor)
- Oranges – 2, Sliced
- Limes – 2, Sliced
- Melon Balls – 1 Cup
- Strawberries – 1 Pint, Sliced
- Orange Sugar – 2 Tbsp
Method
Add all the fruits to the bottom of the pitcher. Pour brandy, wine, and grand Marnier in the pitcher. Pour club soda over the top and stir the mixture. For great taste, you can put it in the fridge for marination for a few minutes.
Before serving or using it while reading a book, add ice cubes to the drink and rim the glass with orange sugar. Also, add some of the boozy fruit and sangria to the top. For making orange sugar, you can use 2 tablespoons of sugar and toss it with a zest of 1/2 Cara orange.
Daiquiri
Ingredients
- Light Rum – 2 Ounces
- Lime Juice – 1 Ounce, Freshly Squeezed and Strained of Pulp
- Simple Syrup – 1/2 ounce
- Ice – 2 Cup, Crushed
Method
Chill the glass with ice and put it aside while preparing the cocktail. Put 2 cups of crushed ice into a cocktail shaker and pour the lime juice, rum, and simple syrup. Now cover and shake it well. Then remove the ice from the serving glass and pour the cocktail into the glass. With the mentioned ingredients, you can make 3 cups and find the best beach books to spice up your vacation.
Hot Chocolate with Cream
Ingredients
- Milk – 3 Cups
- Heavy Cream – 1 Cup
- Sugar – 1/2 Cup
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 1/4 Cup
- Kosher Salt
- Milk Chocolate – 6 Ounces, Chopped
- Pure Vanilla Extract – 1 Tsp
- Marshmallows or Whipped Cream
Method
Combine the heavy cream, milk, cocoa powder, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Also, add a pinch of salt according to your taste. Cover the saucepan and cook it over medium heat. Make sure the mixture does not boil. Remove it from the heat once the cocoa powder and sugar are mixed in the milk.
Now half of the chopped chocolate needs to be melted and the other half should be whisked until smooth. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the pure vanilla extract. Pour it in the cups when hot and serve it with whipped cream or marshmallows toppings. You can enjoy this drink while reading a longest-running book series at night.
Coffee
The caffeine in the coffee creates a perfect pairing for reading the books. It sharpens your mind and keeps your concentration on the book reading. This is why most bookstores serve coffee. Pairing coffee and books brings a place of easy contemplation and near silence to you. While reading a book, you can make a flat white, cappuccino, latte, iced latte, mocha, espresso, etc.
All you need is coffee to make your book reading interesting such as The Interesting History of Stepford Wives.
Flat White
Ingredients
- Espresso – 18g, Ground
- Milk – 100ml
Method
If you have a coffee machine, then make perfect use out of it. Make a 35ml espresso using the coffee machine and pour it into the cup. With the steamer, steam the milk until it makes 1 to 2 cm of foam on the top. Hold the jug 3 to 4 cm above the cup and pour the milk steadily. As the volume increases in the cup, bring the jug of milk to the center of the cup where you can make a design.
Cappuccino
Ingredients
- Espresso – 18g, Ground
- Milk – 150ml
- Cocoa Powder – Optional
Method
With a coffee machine, make around 35ml espresso and pour it into the cup. Now steam the milk and pour it into the cup when it makes 4 to 6cm of foam. Fill up the cup with steamed milk according to your requirement and serve it with cocoa powder topping. While reading a book, the fresh aroma of coffee can keep you concentrated on the book.
Pairing of Summer Drinks and Books
Drink | Book | Writer(s) |
Rose Sangria | You Think It, I’ll Say It | Curtis Sittenfeld |
Daiquiri | Social Creature | Tara Burton |
Rosemary Gin Fizz | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | William Shakespeare |
Gin + Tonic | Brideshead Revisited | Evelyn Waugh |
Cucumber Mint Gimlet | Circe | Madeline Miller |
Ginger Beer or Cocktail | Everything Here Is Beautiful | Mira Lee |
Pairing of Winter Drinks and Books
Drink | Book | Writer(s) |
Hot Chocolate | In The Midst of Winter | Isabel Allende |
Hot Chocolate | Like Water for Chocolate | Laura Esquivel |
Eggnog | The Secret History | Donna Tartt |
Chai Latte | A Good Cry | Nikki Giovanni |
Chai Tea | State of Wonder | Ann Patchett |
Tea | The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane | Lisa See |
Chamomile Tea | What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours | Helen Oyeyemi |
English Breakfast Tea | My Brilliant Friend | Elena Ferrante |
Espresso | Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine | Diane Williams |
Black Coffee | City of Glass | Paul Auster |
Black Coffee | The Catcher in the Rye | J. D. Salinger |
Mocha | How Hard Can It Be | Allison Pearson |
Cappuccino | You Be Mother | Meg Mason |
Cappuccino | Call Me By Your Name | Andre Aciman |
Cappuccino | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Patricia Highsmith |
Flat White | The Tiger’s Prey | Wilbur Smith |
Flat White | The Year of Magical Thinking | Joan Didion |
Flat White | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Morris West |
Cold Brew | Hit Refresh | Satya Nadella |
Iced Coffee | The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
Latte | Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen |
Mulled Wine | Seven Days of Us | Francesca Hornak |
Champagne | White Teeth | Zadie Smith |
Champagne | The Queen of the Night | Alexander Chee |
Apple Cider | Modern Romance | Aziz Ansari |
Hot Apple Cider | Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-Eight Nights | Salman Rushdie |
Reading A Book – Best Drink and Book Pairing
Drinks such as cocktails, beers, champagne, etc., or coffee, latte, cappuccino, flat white, chai tea, etc. make a perfect pairing for different books. While reading a book, you can choose any of the summer or winter drinks to pair with your book. It depends on the book you are reading, which might be an intense story like one of the longest fantasy series indulging you into a different realm.
Some books snuggle you up for hours, so you need to keep yourself hydrated. Coffee or tea, on the other hand, can help you to stay up for late-night reading. Caffeine in coffee or tea sharpens your mind and helps you to concentrate on reading. For longer hours, you can pair your book with any of the drinks you like. Also, you can use a drink depending on the plot of the book that makes you crave it. Nothing like reading a classic like the Wizard of Oz and wondering exactly what were those flying monkeys or digging deep into a long epic like War and Peace.