I just finished reading The Hour of Absinthe: A Cultural History of France's Most Notorious Drink [amazon] [bookshop] by Nina Studer. The book is an academic look at parts of absinthe’s history. (I wrote another blog post about one aspect of it - that wine was considered a better base... Read more →
I provided some quotes for an InsideHook story about absinthe called, "There’s a New Generation Embracing Absinthe in America." Lately, however, absinthe has been enjoying a small but steady burst of interest. Bars are devoting their menus to it, or at least boasting large collections; cocktails like Death in the... Read more →
After reading my book Doctors and Distillers, Harold McGee (On Food and Cooking) pointed out to me that proof of distillation in ancient India (supposedly from the fifth century BCE) is not as well established as previously thought. Many histories on distillation cite work from 1979 that claims that elephant... Read more →
I am very happy to announce that Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails is a Top 4 Finalist for the Tales 2023 Spirited Awards in the category of Best New Book on Drinks Culture, History, or Spirits! All the Top 4 nominees are... Read more →
I'm proud to say that Doctors and Distillers is a Top 10 Nominee for the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards 2023, along with many other great books written by friends! The announcement is here. Read more →
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 →
If you read my book Doctors and Distillers you know that cure-all theriacs often contained viper flesh. Now one person has recreated a recipe for a branded theriac called L’Orvietan, with everything but the snake. Bernardini had to travel across Europe on the trail of L’Orvietan. He scoured historic archives... Read more →
I was delighted to learn that The Perfect Tonic, the name in the UK for Doctors and Distillers, has made it to the short list for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards. The four finalists are: A Sense of Place by Dave Broom Drinking with the Valkyries by... Read more →