Camper English is a speaker and educator on the history of alcohol and medicine, the science of cocktails, spirits production, clear ice, and more.
Recently he has given talks at Tales of the Cocktail, University of Washington Health Sciences Library, Lafayette Public Library, Campari Headquarters, the Mutter Museum, the Mechanics Institute Library, the United States Bartenders' Guild Hawaii Chapter, and the Bourbon Women Book Club.
Camper is the author of Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails (2022) and The Ice Book (2023), which one Best New Cocktail or Bartending Book at Tales of the Cocktail 2024. Doctors and Distillers was described as “Every bit as entertaining as it is educational” by Scientific American and “a tirelessly researched book on the centuries-long relationship between medicine and booze” by The New York Times.
Camper educates and entertains audiences with wit, humor, and delightfully detailed scientific and historical expertise.
Camper is currently scheduling talks. Send an email to alcademics @ gmail to schedule a talk for a consumer or cocktail industry seminar, book club, library activity, corporate happy hour, or other group event.
A Selection of Popular Talks
- Corpse Reviver! The History of Medicine in a Cocktail
- Super Cubes! The Basics of Perfect Clear Ice (available with book purchases)
- Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails
- Around the World with the Gin & Tonic
- Turning Lead into Goldschlager: How Alchemy Gave Us Distilled Spirits
- Women and Distillation, 1500-1700
- Holy Spirits: The Middle Age Monastic Medicine that Gave Us Chartreuse, Benedictine, Buckfast, and More
- Sipping Science: How Fermentation and Fizzy Mineral Springs Lead to Germ Theory and Anesthetics
Workshops
- Ice Diamond Cutting
- Water and Dilution in Spirits
- Mineral Water and Water Blending
- Bitter Flavors Tasting and Training
A Selection of Camper's Previous Talks
- Repeal Day Talk: Mostly Mob-Free Prohibition Fun Facts, San Francisco 2024
- Book Series for Hotaling: Collecting Vintage Cocktail Books, Highlights and Novelties from the Hotaling Cocktail Book Collection, Researching Cocktail History Online, The Most Important (and Useful) Drinks Books of All Time, Historic Cocktail Writing by Women and People of Color
- 6 Gins in 30 Minutes, Tales of the Cocktail 2024
- Martinis at the Turn of the Millennium, Martini Week, San Francisco 2024
- Upgrade Your Ice, Tiki in the Desert 2024
- Drinks in San Francisco from the Gold Rush to the Tech Boom, Bar Convent Brooklyn; Boston 2024; Bay Area Culinary Historians 2024
- Tech, Tools, and Topics in Modern Mixology, Guest Lecture, UC Berkeley Science and Engineering of Cooking course, October 2022
- Secrets of the Earliest Distillation Books, Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans 2022
- Water & Whisky, Amsterdam November 2019
- Color in Spirits and Cocktails, Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans, July 2019
- Allergies, Diets, and Cocktail Menu Warnings, Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans, July 2019
- CocktailSafe, USBG regional conference San Diego (March 2019), Charlotte (April 2019), Invasion Cocktail Montreal (June 2019), Toronto Cocktail Week (August 2019), Bar Convent Berlin (October 2019), San Francisco (October 2019)
- Become a Liqueur Connoisseur, Bar Convent Berlin, October 2018
- Bitter Flavors, Taste the Rainbow!, Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans, July 2018
- Yeast and Fermentation, SF USBG, San Francisco, February 2018
- Beetlejuice! When Bugs Meet Booze, Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans, July 2017
- Water: A Super Sciency Geek-Out, Chicago Cocktail Summit, Chicago 2016
- San Francisco Booze and Books Tour, Bacardi Legacy San Francisco 2016
- The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, National Archives, Washington, DC 2015
- Prehistoric Cocktail Technology, Tales of the Cocktail 2015
- Sherry, It's Complicated!, Toronto Cocktail Week, 2013
- The Barrel Around the World, Manhattan Cocktail Classic 2013
- 50 Bars in 60 Minutes, Manhattan Cocktail Classic 2013
- Palomapalooza!, Manhattan Cocktail Classic 2013
- Advanced Sherry: Secrets, Lies, and Solera, Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans 2013
- The Column Still: Pretty on the Inside, Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans 2013
- Filtration in Spirits, Manhattan Cocktail Classic 2012
- Sugar: How Sweet It Is!, Tales of the Cocktail 2012
- The Great Vodka Debate, US Bartenders Guild Meeting, 2010
- Future Trends in Global Mixology, Bar Convent Berlin, Germany, 2010
Comments from attendees of Camper's talks:
- "In a super-nerdy awesome seminar, moderator Camper English (the Alton Brown of booze and cocktail techniques) enlightened me on beet powder, dragonfruit powder and blue spirulina." - Melissa Townsend, Milk Punch
- "I was so excited to hear Camper English give his talk on dangerous ingredients. Could have listened to him for at least another hour."
- So amazing! We were so impressed not only with the style of the presentation but the content. The format. Everything. Amazing."
- "The subject matter was excellent and the level of expertise of the speaker was very apparent."
- "This seminar could not have been better unless it was 3 hours long. Camper’s personality & teaching style is an honor to be around. More bitters & more Camper!!"
- "I’ve watched 2 or 3 of his other seminars. Funny, engaging. He did a lot of pre-work and clearrrrrly knows the in and out. Some of these presenters have 10+ years of only doing one thing, it seems he has actually done so much. Excited to see his presentation next year(s)!"
- "Awesome job covering a difficult and complex subject."
- "“We were beyond excited to secure Camper English’s 'Dangerous Drinks and Risky Techniques' seminar in our 2019 Western Regional Conference programming, especially following his feature in the New York Times. Our attendees appreciated Camper’s engaging presentation style and found his seminar to be packed with imperative information that all bartenders should be equipped with as they are creating and serving cocktails. The positive feedback our attendees immediately shared with us, made it clear that we needed to book him for our 2019 Southern Regional Conference too!” - Aaron Gregory Smith, Executive Director, United States Bartenders’ Guild
Learn More About
- Camper English and Alcademics.com
- Camper's speaking at trade and consumer cocktail events.
- Camper's consulting services and cocktail competition judging
- Camper and Alcademics' cocktail events and tastings
Contact Camper English here:
