This is a quick post on some books I've read on women distilling in olden times. Distillation of spirits came out of medical alchemy (which is to say medical proto-science), and early alchemy books included lots of recipes for distilled medicines with stuff like gold and silver included in them.... Read more →
I read about a reference to distillation in the Pirotechnia, so I decided to look up the book. According to Wikipedia, "De la Pirotechnia is considered to be one of the first printed books on metallurgy to have been published in Europe. It was written in Italian and first published... Read more →
If you attended Tales of the Cocktail - virtually or in person - you have access to some recorded seminars. I watched and this post reports on one of those seminars: From Usquebaugh to Aqua Fructum: The Early Modern English Origins of English Gin By Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller... Read more →
Wine was (probably) first distilled into eau de vie in the practice of trying to make medicines and perfumes like rosewater and wormwood water. Distilling these herbs would make a preserved medicine that would last beyond the herbs' seasons. Today we'd call them hydrosols and essential oils. These were water... Read more →
A very important early book on distillation is Hieronymous Braunschweig's The Virtuous Book of Distillation. It is otherwise known as the Large Book on Distillation, and it was first published in 1512, after the Small Book in 1500. I believe it was first printed in German, then translated into Dutch,... Read more →
I was recently in Hawaii and finagled a visit to the Ko Hana Hawaiian Agricole Rum distillery. General Manager Kyle Reutner drove me a short distance to a nearby cane field then we walked through the distillery and I got to taste through the line. Agricole-style rum is distilled from... Read more →
Hangar 1 Vodka has released the limited-edition Smoke Point Vodka, made with Crimson Wine Group grapes damaged in last year's Glass Fire. Proceeds from the sale will all go to the California Fire Foundation. The vodka is available at the distillery in Alameda or online at ReserveBar. The vodka was... Read more →
I was recently quoted in a story by Adam Rogers (author of the great book Proof: The Science of Booze and the new Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern that I haven't read yet) for his day job at Wired magazine. The Weird, Sustainable Booze of... Read more →