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  • 103 Things to Drink in San Francisco, 1855

    I am reading the 1855 book Land of Gold, Reality Versus Fiction by Hinton Helper. You can find it online here. It talks a lot of smack about San Francisco and I love it.

    San Francisco was a brand new city in 1848 when gold was discovered in Sacramento, but by 1855 the population was over 20,000, soon to be 30,000 in another couple of years. And already you could get all this stuff to drink.

    BILL OF FARE OF A CALIFORNIA GROGGERY.

    1. Scotch Ale,
    2. English Porter,
    3. American Brandy,
    4. Irish Whiskey,
    5. Holland Gin,
    6. Jamaica Rum,
    7. French Claret,
    8. Spanish Sack,
    9. German Hockamore,
    10. Persian Sherbet,
    11. Portuguese Port,
    12. Brazilian Arrack,
    13. Swiss Absynthe,
    14. East India Acids,
    15. Spirit Stews and Toddies,
    16. Lager Beer,
    17. New Cider,
    18. Soda Waters,
    19. Mineral Drinks,
    20. Ginger Pop,
    21. Usquebaugh,
    22. Sangaree,
    23. Perkin,
    24. Mead,
    25. Metheglin,
    26. Eggnog,
    27. Capilliare,
    28. Kirschwassen,
    29. Cognac,
    30. Rhenish Wine,
    31. Sauterne,
    32. Malaga,
    33. Muscatel,
    34. Burgundy,
    35. Haut Bersac,
    36. Champagne,
    37. Maraschino,
    38. Tafia,
    39. Negus,
    40. Tog,
    41. Shambro,
    42. Fisca,
    43. Virginia,
    44. Knickerbocker,
    45. Snifter,
    46. Exchange,
    47. Poker,
    48. Agent,
    49. Floater,
    50. I O U,
    51. Smasher,
    52. Curacoa,
    53. Ratafia,
    54. Tokay,
    55. Calcavalla,
    56. Alcohol,
    57. Cordials,
    58. Syrups,
    59. Stingo,
    60. Hot Grog,
    61. Mint Juleps,
    62. Gin Sling,
    63. Brick Tops,
    64. Sherry Cobblers,
    65. Queen Charlottes,
    66. Mountaineers,
    67. (continued)
    68. Brandy Smashes,
    69. Whiskey Punch,
    70. Cherry Bounce,
    71. Shamperone,
    72. Drizzles,
    73. Our Own,
    74. Red Light,
    75. Hairs,
    76. Horns,
    77. Whistler,
    78. White Lion,
    79. Settler,
    80. Peach and Honey,
    81. Whiskey Skin,
    82. Old Sea Dog,
    83. Peg and Whistle,
    84. Eye Opener,
    85. Apple Dam,
    86. Flip Flap,
    87. One-eyed Joe,
    88. Cooler,
    89. Cocktails,
    90. Tom and Jerry,
    91. Moral Suasion,
    92. Jewett’s Fancy,
    93. Ne Plus Ultra,
    94. Citronella Jam,
    95. Silver Spout,
    96. Veto,
    97. Deacon,
    98. Ching Ching,
    99. Sergeant,
    100. Stone Wall,
    101. Rooster Tail,
    102. Vox Populi,
    103. Tug and Try,


    One mistake: 67 is (continued) where it went onto the next page, so make that 102 things to drink!



    To learn more about San Francisco’s bar and cocktail history, join me for an upcoming history walking tour. Information is here!

  • Ice in the South China Morning Post

    I was interviewed for this story in the South China Morning Post, about ice yet again! Check it out here.

  • How To Highball

    For Men’s Journal, I wrote about the choice of sparkling water for your whiskey highball.

    Read it here.

  • The Ice Book Gets a Four-Page Spread in Men’s Journal

    The Ice Book Gets a Four-Page Spread in Men’s Journal

    I wrote up a relatively short article for Men’s Journal’s Fall 2025 issue but hadn’t seen the final copy until just now: turns out they gave it a four-page spread in the print magazine.

    As always the photographs from Allison Webber are stunning. Here’s a preview.


    For more information on The Ice Book, visit this page.

  • Speaking at the Museum of the Eye Dec 28

    I’ll be giving a short talk at the event “Celebratory Bubbles, Not Eye Troubles” at the Museum of the Eye in San Francisco on December 28th. It’s an annual New Year event.

    My talk (probably a short one of 20ish minutes) is “Eye-Openers, Corpse Revivers, and Anti-Fogmatics: The Medicinal Morning Cocktail.” It’s based on stuff from my book Doctors and Distillers, of course.

    More info and link to tickets is here.

  • Splitting Up My Instagram Account

    My Alcademics Instagram account is looking a bit… scattered between my personal posts, promoting my cocktail history tours, books I’m reading, and stuff that comes in the mail. So I’ve decided to split it up:

    @Alcademics is my business account where you’ll hear news and updates about my talks, tours, classes, books, and writing.

    @Camper.English is my personal account; day-in-the-life type stuff where I’ll post about the books I’m reading, works-in-progress, what I’m up to, goofy stuff.

    @SFDrinks will be for San Francisco drinks content – bars and cocktails in San Francisco, and the home of my Cocktail and Bar History Tour. I’ll share historical stuff as well as what’s going on around town now (if I can keep up with all that).


    Or, if you just want to keep current with the basics, I have a monthly email list where I post recent articles and my talks and events, no need for a million pictures of everything.


  • How the Quest for Quinine Led to the Creation of Chemotherapy

    My latest for AlcoholProfessor.com is the story of how the scientific quest to produce artificial quinine led to the invention of chemotherapy. It’s a cool story IMO. Read it here.

  • Did the Original Cocktail Sauce Contain Angostura Bitters?

    I am researching Prohibition and a search for “cocktails” in the San Francisco Chronicle turned up a story from 1920 on the origin of the “oyster cocktail” that I think is what today we call “cocktail sauce” that is used more on the shrimp cocktail. (I am a 30+ year vegetarian so I could be wrong it though!)

    I just noted the part about Angostura Bitters and ketchup – see the second image. If you give that recipe a try… let me know how it goes.

  • Thanksgiving Week Bonus SF Bar Tours

    I lead San Francisco Bar & Cocktail History Walking Tours on Saturdays, but not everyone can carve out the middle of a Saturday afternoon. So just for Thanksgiving Week, I added two additional tours:

    Wednesday November 26, 2025: 5PM after-work tour

    Friday November 28, 2025: 2:30 PM Black Friday tour

    See all tour dates here!

  • A Good Bar Needs Good Ice

    I gave some quotes about ice for a story on the website Shortlist. They also interviewed other people who are correct in saying that better ice makes a better drink, and that attention to quality of ice signifies attention to quality of cocktails.



    I have the final quote in the story, in response to the reporter’s question about the cost of fancy ice increasing the cost of cocktails:

    “Is it an extra cost? Yes. But really, it’s hard as a consumer to assess the individual costs of each ingredient in a cocktail. A bar could lower the price by serving it in a paper cup, too, but then it wouldn’t feel special. And that’s what this creativity with ice is about, too”.

    Read the story here.



    As always, you can learn more about The Ice Book here.

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