HERE'S a riddle: what's rich, coloured and on every rap star's list of things to include in his next video? If you said Jennifer Lopez, then both you and I are wrong! It's cognac. (And yes, that wasn't a very good riddle.) I recently got the opportunity to leaf my way through what I would like to term as the most passionate ode to cognac in print. Kyle Jarrard is possibly the Abou Ben Adhem of cognac and it comes across so sincerely; but more on the book first.

The problem with most such accounts is that most people don't know where and when (which time era) to start with, which bits to leave out and which to include, all at the expense of having a book that paints a fairly comprehensive picture without seeming to drag on forever. Here, we have a rather well-managed state of equilibrium. It didn't seem very relevant at first (why is he discussing rocks from before-fossil eras?) but as the tempo picked up, I realised that it was all necessary to understand the peculiar development of cognac. By chance, I happened to be travelling in the region, and I was thankful that Mr. Jarrard's account had acquainted me well enough with the area to have an idea of the hows and whys.

More importantly, it helped me understand why one would be so willing to pay so much for an exquisitely-crafted cognac. As a beverage, cognac is not about an industrial formula applied in technically stimulated and controlled environments but, rather, an artisanal method that developed over time and, as the purists maintain, is yet to be perfected. This beverage has stood the test of time: world wars, trade wars (I liked the bits about the Chicken wars and Martini wars), financial highs and lows, currency fluctuations, partial treaties and regulations, cheap imitations, phylloxera and other pest attacks, and every war France fought - every sort of damage possible was inflicted upon this beverage. Yet it resurfaced, reformed and continued to evolve, develop and dominate the markets and palates of the world.

Cognac: The Seductive Saga Of The World's Most Coveted Spirit starts with a soil analysis of the area in question from the Cretaceous Era right up to the Campanile Era. Now, 135 million years may seem like excessive history to get into, but it is but a recent chapter in the history of earth, and, of course, the region of Cognac. For the interminably impatient, skip a couple of chapters and you will find yourself bang in the middle of the 1300-1600 era, when France and Britain didn't exactly do much to hide their hatred for each other. Perhaps it was the crucial location of the region, but each time the two countries went to war, the port cities along the western belt (along with Cognac but, of course) exchanged ownership.

Of more recent interest, the book looks at some major players in the cognac market (Hennessy, Delamain, Paul Giraud amongst others) and how they have managed their strategies to operate in a constantly changing international market. It is interesting to see how each looks upon the market, its product and its respective placement.

The book also sheds light on the making of cognac - something that even wine-making schools leave out. The reason: wines meant for cognac - low on aromas and alcohol - wouldn't make it big as table wines. Distillation, a process not too unknown to the Egyptians (and to even us Indians), is a completely different game. Limousin oak (something which regular wine-makers avoid, as against Allier oak) is used to give cognac its characteristic colour, flavours and rounded finish.

There is no dearth of facts about cognac to be found in this book, so even if you don't remember which German officer saved Cognac during World War II, you can use it to impress all with your ease in identifying cognac varieties and finer appreciation nuances.

One thing which I did find lacking were the pictures. I would want this book for myself and also as an ideal gift for friends. I would have loved it if there were many more photos, and in vibrant colours. Maybe there's a good reason why they chose to keep the pictorial presentation so 'classique' but, for me, they just didn't live up to the text. Luckily, the author is a wizard and certain passages are worth a thousand pictures!

The book is a true gem. For those who currently have no more than a feeble interest in this beverage, it will breathe life into their imagination. For those who are already amazed by this elixir, sit back with a good bottle and enjoy this book like a vintage barrel that has come of age.

Magandeep Singh is a qualified
sommelier from France

Management books are my favourite apart from Paul Coelho and Robin Sharma . Sometimes, it's Tintin (I own the entire collection) or Calvin & Hobbes whenever I need a laugh.

CUSTOMER MANIA (Harper Collins) focuses on Yum! Brands, the spinout from PepsiCo that owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurant chains. This 33,000-outlet, 840,000-employee giant clawed back into fast-growth territory around the turn of the century. The book is largely a case study by Blanchard and co-authors Jim Ballard and Fred Finch that shows how it did so on the traction of customer satisfaction.

But a worry creeps in towards the middle. There is a scorecard rating the different processes at Yum!. The company, which has an employee recognition scheme called the Magnified Customer Mania Bulldozer Award, has scored its lowest on 'treating its customers the right way'. And, just 53 per cent of its restaurants have clocked a perfect 100 on CHAMPS, a score Yum! managers have devised to measure cleanliness, hospitality, accuracy, quality, speed, etc. By Blanchard's own admission, that means only half its customers have their expectations fulfilled. Then why labour over a 190-page case study touting the company's expertise?

That's partly because this isn't an ideal world. And partly because the book is also about 'Blanchard's dreams', a section in each chapter that details the author's visions of utopia. One understands why the book needs such a structure - split between the actual and the ideal - when one reaches Blanchard's final dream. In it, he envisions the ideal leader as Mother Teresa-like, who wouldn't care about wealth or status. One wonders whether Yum! CEO David Novak, who exercised more than $20 million in options last year, would blanch at such a thought.

Whereas Blanchard's exhortations often drift above the fog of reality, in CREATING CUSTOMER DELIGHT (Response Books), husband and wife duo Rakesh and Kirti Seth keep their promises at the ground level. On the cover, the book promises the how and why of customer relationship management (CRM). Inside, it covers the why bit rapidly by posting anecdotal evidence of heightening competition, media fragmentation and individuality. But the book gets stuck when it discusses the 'how' of CRM. The best it does is when it talks about implementing CRM in call centres.