Category: Doctors and Distillers
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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…
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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.
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Camper English on the Curious Bartender Podcast
I was a guest on Tristan Stephenson’s The Curious Bartender Podcast last week, talking for nearly two hours about.. a lot of stuff. You can find the podcast on your favorite service from The Curious Bartender website, or to go directly to the YouTube video of it click here.
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When Fizzy Water Was Medicine
My fellow drink writer Liza Weisstuch wrote a story about seltzer and the specific affinity that the jewish people of NYC have for it. The story includes some quotes from me, as I covered the medicinal history of spas and the soda fountain in my book Doctors and Distillers. The story is very fun…
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Distillation in Ancient India? Not So Fast
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 head stills were found along…
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Doctors and Distillers is a Finalist for the 2023 Tales of the Cocktail Foundation Spirited Awards
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 great, as were many in…
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Women in Distilling, 1500s-1700s
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. Some of these alchemy books…
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A Theriac in Digestif Form
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 and antique bookstores. He acquired…
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Doctors and Distillers/The Perfect Tonic a Finalist for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards
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 BroomDrinking with the Valkyries by Andrew JeffordImperial Wine by Jennifer Regan-LefebvreThe…
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When Mineral Water Was Medicinal Water
I provided some context for a story about carbonated water for Wine Enthusiast. “Naturally carbonated mineral spring water was thought to be extra healthy compared with regular mineral water, and far healthier than surface water from rivers and streams,” English notes. “European and American mineral springs rich in iron or other mineral salts were…