Whether you're a professional or a budding gourmand, planning your vacations around the culinary arts is an excellent way to learn about any country. The exclusive articles of our savvy writers provide reliable insiders' tips on food and wine-related destinations, around the corner or across the globe. Let's eat and drink our way around the world!

Does life imitate art? Which comes first, your personality or your drink?

Boil Before Drinking article titled "Burning Man as Lesson in Urban Design". Tagged as: art, burning man, cities, economics, expression, freedom, society. culture

Boil Before Drinking article titled "Tolkein Battle Recreated with Candy". Tagged as: art, battle, candy, christmas, fantasy, novel, tolkein, war

For more than 300 years Americans have defined themselves by what they drink, and how. The nation’s drinking habits are featured in an exhibition entitled The Art of Drinking at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, which runs until May 23. From the earliest American settlements, the tavern was the center of the community.

Latte art or coffee art refers to designs created on the tops of espresso based drinks by a barista. These designs are usually created in one of two ways and sometimes using a combination of both.The first method is by manipulating the flow of milk from a jug into the espresso (known as free pour latte art). Popular free pour designs include rosettas, leaves and hearts. The second is by drawing designs with an implement (known as etching), using stencils, powders and milk foam. Latte art is most commonly seen on a latte because of a latte's ideal ratio of milk to foam, although it can also be part of the presentation of a cappuccino, a caffe mocha or even an espresso macchiato. As the popularity of premium espresso-based drinks has risen, the craft of garnishing through latte art has as well.With the rise in popularity of latte art and artistic presentation in the cup, competitions have emerged all around the world to enable practitioners (baristas) to show off their skills.In latte art competitions and in barista discussions, practitioners of latte art are frequently encouraged to first and foremost be attentive to the quality of the espresso and the steamed milk before consideration is given to how the drink should be completed with eye-catching art. See alsoLatteCoffeeBaristaEspresso