I recently read the book Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History by Sidney W. Mintz [amazon][bookshop]. This book compares sugar production and consumption patterns specifically looking at the place of sugar in England as it grew from a luxury item to an everyday necessity. The book... Read more →
For the Alcademics Book Club, we're reading Sweetness and Power, about sugar. Every time I read about the history of sugar, particularly the heyday of slavery-powered production in the 1700s in the Caribbean, I'm always like, "What happened to Portugal-controlled Brazilian sugar?" The Portuguese were early leaders in sugarcane production... Read more →
Years ago when I first heard of - and tried- Barr Hill Gin, it was a revelation. The gin is neutral spirits with added juniper and honey- that's it. The honey brings with it other aromatics from the flora the bees feed on. The gin is made by Caledonia Spirits... Read more →
I thought it was kind of fun that in the last couple of weeks two different honey-bourbon products have come out; one with honey-influenced bourbon and the other bourbon-influenced honey. Read more →
In my new story for SevenFifty Daily, I wrote about how orgeat, the French almond syrup famously in the Mai Tai, is now being made with a range of nuts, seeds, and other ingredients. The story cites examples from around the country and we come up with a new working... Read more →
Two things I hadn't heard of before: barrel-aging maple syrup, and flavoring maple syrup with liquor. At Chicago's The Palmer House, A Hilton Hotel, they're doing both of those things at the same time. Read more →
Behold these new syrups, sodas, mixers, blenders, and coolers. Read more →
If you're making or drinking a lot of homemade tonic water, beware of cinchonism, a condition caused by a buildup of quinine. Read more →