Author: Camper English
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I’ve Been Distilling Some Things
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 based distillations, and it was…
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Doctors and Distillers in The Washington Post
Jason Wilson wrote up a great story in The Washington Post Magazine considering the modern "low and no" movement, the threat (or not) of neo-prohibitionists, and thoughts about "mindful drinking" and health of alcohol in general. He interviewed me for the story and provided a fantastic partial book summary: Read the full story here. Learn…
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A Review of Doctors and Distillers in Scientific American!
My very favorite magazine, Scientific American, published a review of Doctors and Distillers in the August 2022 issue. Needless to say I'm delighted with it! Read it here!
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A News Segment With Me on ABC News
A quick interview with me on ABC News to promote Doctors and Distillers. They call me a "master mixologist" which is most definitely not true, but I did write a heck of a book!
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Read An Excerpt About Scurvy from Doctors and Distillers on LitHub
LitHub published an excerpt from Doctors and Distillers, a section on scurvy. Coincidentally, they did so on National Daiquiri Day. Read it here.
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An Excerpt from Doctors and Distillers in the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal published a short excerpt from Doctors and Distillers this weekend! Read it here – subscription required.
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New York Times Review of Doctors and Distillers
Here's the review of Doctors and Distillers in the New York Times! Here’s to Your Health In “Doctors and Distillers,” Camper English explores the long-running interconnection between medicine and alcohol in daily life. Some review excerpts: In “Doctors and Distillers,” English, a San Francisco-based cocktails and spirits writer, has collected many similar stories…
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The Virtues of Aqua Vitae, from a 1512 Book
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, then translated into English I think…
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SCIENCE Magazine Reviews Doctors and Distillers!
I'm so thrilled that Science wrote a review of Doctors and Distillers. Science is one of the most important academic journals in the world, and if you're a scientist it is a career goal to get into the publication. I didn't get in for doing any science, but for writing about the history of science.…
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Alton Brown Recommends Doctors and Distillers
Sharing this write-up about my book from Alton Brown: "Alton Brown has given us season after season of food television goodness with multiple shows, including the iconic Good Eats and most recently Good Eats: Reloaded and Good Eats: The Return. He’s also written his fourth Good Eatscookbook, Good Eats: The Final Years, a compilation of…