Category: history

  • 50 Year Time Capsule from the Transamerica Pyramid

    There’s a new exhibit at the Transamerica Pyramid from a time capsule buried 50 years ago. I checked it out. 

    The building was completed in 1972- the time capsule is from 1974. Before that, from 1853-1959, it was the Montgomery Block that hosted the Bank Exchange Saloon. The Bank Exchange was the home of the Pisco Punch, the most famous cocktail in SF from roughly 1870-1920. Duncan Nicol, mentioned in the pictures, was the proprietor of the Bank Exchange in its later decades, and the person who popularized the Pisco Punch. He took his secret recipe to his grave.  

    I’ve left these images purposefully crappy to encourage you to go see it yourself! 

    Transamerica time capsule 1974 - 2025_1

    Transamerica time capsule 1974 - 2025_1 Transamerica time capsule 1974 - 2025_4

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  • The Only Good Alcohol is Made from Wine

    I’ve read in other sources that when grain distillation became available in the 1400s and 1500s, it was viewed as a far less healthy alcohol than that distilled from grape wine. 

    The sources I’m thinking of were from Germany, at a time when distilled spirits were still technically medicinal, even if people were dipping into the medicine enough that governments passed laws about how much medicine could be dispensed at one time. 

    I also knew that when absinthe came into vogue in the early 1800s, it was initially made with a wine base, but due mostly to phylloxera that killed of the vines in France, producers swtiched to alcohol made from grain or beets. 

    I knew they called absinthe “artificial” and this pointed to it being flavored with wormwood and anise. I got the sense that the base spirit was considered “artificial” as well. 

     

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    I have just started reading The Hour of Absinthe, an academics look at the popularity and downfall of absinthe in France and its colonies. I have the feeling I’m going to get a lot of use out of this book. 

    Anyway, the author Nina S. Studer makes it explicit: 

     

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    So that’s cool. I look forward to continuing to read the book. 

     

     

    Buy: The Hour of Absinthe A Cultural History of France's Most Notorious Drink Volume [amazon][bookshop

    Your purchase supports my research as well. 

  • Esquire’s Best and Worst Cocktails of 1934

    Esquire magazine printed an article with the Ten Best Cocktails of 1934 – the year after Prohibition was repealed. They included at the end a list of the Worst cocktails as well. 

     

    Esquire Best Worst Cocktails of 1934_1

     

    Esquire’s link to the story is here, but it requires a subscription to view. 

    DiffordsGuide has the list of best and worst, but not the entire article it comes from. 

    Here’s the Worst list: 

    Esquire Best Worst Cocktails of 1934_5

     

    I’ve seen this list in a lot of places online, but never the full article, so I went to the San Francisco Public Library yesterday and took it out of the archives.

    I didn’t realize that not only was Esquire huge in size something like 11 x 17 back then, but also had a ton of pages. It was basically a book every month.

     

  • Heinold’s First and Last Chance Over the Years

    I stumbled across this thread on Threads -it’s a history of the wonderful and historic the bar Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon in Oakland’s Jack London Square, as seen through pictures of its front. 

    If you haven’t been, Heinold’s is a little shack built from the remains of a paddle steamer boat, which opened in 1884 (or 1883, depending on which history you believe). The interior of the tiny bar runs on an extreme slant as the ground beneath it compressed during the 1906 earthquake. The bar is so angled that if you set a full pint of beer on top it will likely pour out of the side – they sometimes offer coasters in a wedge shape like a doorstop so that drinks stay flat! It’s a magic place. 

    The post was put together by the San Francisco Ghost Signs Mapping Project

    Here are a few pics and I’d recommend  you follow the entire thread, it’s great and there are a lot more to see. 

     

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  • The Cocktail is the International Alcoholic Esperanto

    Here’s a fun excerpt: 

    The American Mercury 1924-09: Vol 3 Iss 9

    CLINICAL NOTES
    BY GEORGE JEAN NATHAN AND H. L. MENCKEN

    The cocktail, once observed George Ade, follows the American flag. That was twenty years ago. The flags of all nations today follow the cocktail. Its fame has spread over the globe, and justly. It has captured the English and the French, the Danes and the Italians. Five o'clock in Piccadilly brings its gin and vermouth and dash of bitters as five o'clock along the grand boulevards brings its iced brandy and gum syrup and dash of Byrth. It is the gift of smiling America to lackadaisical Europe. It is the international alcoholic Esperanto.

     

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  • The Best Drinks Books of 2024

    These are some of my favorite cocktails and spirits books I read in 2024. Several of them I blurbed for their authors. There are few more books that were published this year that I haven't read yet, so maybe they'll get on next year's list.

    My 2023 Best Of List is here, by the way. In no particular order: 

     

    Cocktail Theory – A Sensory Approach to Transcendent Drinks

     

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    A sciency book that's half about the perfect conditions for cocktails, half about applying perfumer techniques to cocktail development. 

    My video review

    Buy It: Amazon Sfumato 

     

     

    Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits

    Dustry booze cover

     

    My blurb: An investigation into the secretive and competitive collectors and their methods, unsolved mysteries, and mythological caches. The once worthless dusties inspire Goldfarb to debate the monetary value of quality versus rarity and the proximity to fame. And unlike, say, stamp collectors, the author and every other dusty hunter must grapple with the decision whether to taste a moment in time or to keep time locked away in a bottle.

    My review

    Buy it: Amazon (note: super cheap right now) Bookshop

     

    Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home

    The cocktail parlour

     

    My blurb: The Cocktail Parlor is a literature review of women-authored books in which there are mixed drink recipes, and an analysis of what those drinks reveal about the changing role of women in society. [Along the way,] Dr. Nice cites so many fascinating authors that I kept one browser window open to search for more information about them and another to add their books to my reading list. Rarely has a drink book so enthralled me yet left me thirsty for more.

    My review

    Buy It: Amazon (currently on sale) Bookshop

     

    The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Dangerous Spirit

     

    Absinthe forger

     

    My blurb: Retracing the steps of a prolific modern-day forger of absinthe who tricked enthusiasts and experts, Evan Rail deciphers how the spirit was distilled, colored, blended, bottled, and sold a century ago, and takes us to meet members of the current absinthe collecting community spread throughout Europe who improbably cracked the case of the faker together. I finished this book in a couple sittings because of its plot and pacing, but also learned a ridiculous amount of new and unexpected information about absinthe along the way. If you’re interested in vintage spirits generally, absinthe specifically, the importance of online communities, or tasty true crime, this book is for you!

    My review

    Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

     

    Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit

    Malort

    A wonderfully surprising and authentic telling of brand history that had me engaged and enraged! 

    My review

    Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

     

     

    The Bourbon Drinker's Companion: A Guide to American Distilleries, with Travel Advice, Folklore, and Tasting Notes

    Bourbon Drinkers Companion

    Tastings and a travelogue. Tons of great information from a distiller's point of view, and honest reviews not given in isolation. 

    My review

    Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

     

     

    Spirits Distilled : A Guide to the Ingredients Behind a Better Bottle

     

    Spirits distilled

    My blurb: Spirits Distilled is a new view of booze from the ground up. Beyond illuminating the plants, people, and production of all the major spirits categories, Nat Harry’s thoughtful recommendations should empower us to make better choices in the liquor aisle.

     

    Buy It: Amazon Bookshop

     

  • Why Are Spirits Called Spirits?

    I wrote my take on this subject for The AlcoholProfessor, where the story first appeared. 

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    Why is Distilled Alcohol Called Spirits?

    The word “spirit” has many definitions but most center around either the idea of the conscious self as opposed to the physical body; or an attitude, as in “the spirit of the movement” or “in good spirits.”

    But given that this is Alcohol Professor we are concerned with the origin of the boozier definition today; that of “a strong distilled alcoholic liquor.”

    That definition comes in at number 21 out of 25 definitions of the noun “spirit” via Dictionary.com. Most of the other definitions have to do with thoughts and feelings or with ghosts and demons (as in Spirit Halloween) and other intangibles. But unlike the rest of the terms, the “spirits” in the form of distilled alcohol are real physical liquids that you can hold in a bottle or pour into a glass. 

     

    The Origin of the Word Spirit

    Looking instead at the etymology (the study of the origin of words and how their meanings have changed throughout history) of the word, we can see that ‘spirit’ is probably derived from the Latin spiritus meaning "breathing” or “breath” and also the “breath of life" as in the force that animates people; the force that gives them life.

    How do we get from the word for breath and the concept of consciousness to the word for whiskey and vodka? The answer is not so straightforward, and we have to go through alchemy to see it. 

     

    Alchemy and Distillation

    Doctors and Distillers by Camper English

    Doctors and Distillers by Camper English

    To be clear, I am not a linguist or etymologist, but I have wrestled with this question as I wrote the book Doctors and Distillers. Or rather, I was wrestling with the concept that distillation of spirits came from the theory and practice of alchemy, and along the way I figured out why the word “spirit” would be used to describe the result. 

    Alchemy was not (only) a practice of magic or a profession of tricksters and scam artists. It was proto-science before science was formalized, and involved elements of minerology, chemistry, religion, astrology, astronomy, metallurgy, and more. It was an attempt to understand how the world works, and how to improve it. 

    And just how would they improve it? With distillation. Distillation was one of the most advanced tools of early chemistry, more sophisticated than things like filtration, boiling, corrosion, and dehydration. And it was a tool used to make both the philosopher’s stone and medicine. 

    The Western-style pot still dates to at least 300 ACE in Egypt, but we don’t have good evidence of distilled concentrated spirits in the West until after 1100. In that millennium in between, the alchemists used the still to separate materials; for example, metals that had been corroded by liquid acids. 

    Many different, complicated distillations were thought to be required to make the philosopher’s stone; a powder or other substance that would help speed up the supposedly natural evolution from lesser metals into perfect gold. The still was seen as a tool for extracting the intangible part of something to apply it to something else in order to change (or heal) it. 

     

    Medicinal Waters

    At the same time, alchemists were using the same equipment to make distilled, preserved medicines and perfumes called “waters.” As we know from distilling red wine or yellow grains, everything that comes out of a still is clear, or the color of water. So things like rosewater and orange flower water were distillates from those plants.

    Distillation leaves the solid parts behind in the still and imbues the resulting colorless liquid with the flavor and scent – and healing properties – of the original matter. Thus, the alchemists thought of this as creating a “water” with the “active energy” of the original material. And that energy could be applied to other things. 

    Much like creating the philosopher’s stone meant to ‘heal’ a lesser metal into gold, medicinal waters could heal humans into healthier form. This concept of active, reanimating energy from plants contained within distilled liquid medicine (the breath of life!) seems the most likely origin of the term “spirit.”   

     

    The Water of Life

    We see real written proof of concentrated alcohol produced from the still before the year 1200 in Southern Italy. The distilled wine, used as medicine, was called the “water of wine” at first, then “burning water” as it could be set on fire, and eventually aqua vitae or “the water of life” when distillation technology improved, and the distillate’s superior healing and invigorating powers were explored further. (It can’t be understated how big of an improvement distilled spirits were to medicine; the alchemists thought they could prolong human life significantly with it.) The terminology became more formalized in writings of the 1200s and 1300s. 

    These terms were written in Latin, the language of science in the Middle Ages, before being translated into languages like French (where knowledge of distillation travelled from Italy), German, and other languages. “Aqua vitae” becomes “eau de vie” in French, “aquavit” in Scandinavia, and even “whiskey” in English via the Gaelic “uisge beatha.”

    At the same time, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary,  the word “spirit” comes from mid-thirteenth century French, based on the Latin word spiritus. This seems to fit our timeline perfectly – the water of life gives the breath of life to people who ingest it. By the late 1300s the word “spirit” comes to mean “distillate” directly. 

    Now, the Latin word spiritus also corresponds to directly “breath,” referring to wind and respiration, so could the origin of the word simply refer to the moist alcoholic vapor produced in the process of distilling? 

    That’s possible, but given the important symbolic medicinal properties of distilled alcohol, my vote is still for the definition of “spirit” as the breath of life, the active energy, or the animating principle of the universe distilled into liquid form.

     

  • Thirty Four New Drink Books for Fall 2024

    Update 2: Now this list is up to 34 books

    Update 1: Detailed reviews of many of these books in my story for AlcoholProfessor are here.

    Fall 2024 booksS

     

    Citrus: A World History

    A Forager's Guide to Wild Drinks: Ferments, infusions and thirst-quenchers for every season

    Sicilian Cocktails: Contemporary Island Mixology

    Flavor Lab Creations: A Physicist’s Guide to Unique Drink Recipes

    Gin Drinker's Toolkit

    The Art of Calvados

    Cocktails from the Crypt: Terrifying Yet Delicious Concoctions Inspired by Your Favorite Horror Films

    The Mindful Mocktail: Delicious, Nutritious Non-Alcoholic Drinks to Make at Home

    MockTales: 50+ Literary Mocktails Inspired by Classic Works, Banned Books, and More

    The Official Yellowstone Bar Book: 75 Cocktails to Enjoy after the Work's Done

    Preserved: Drinks: 25 Recipes

    The Cocktail Atlas: Around the World in 200 Drinks

    Free Spirited: 60 no/low cocktail recipes for the sober curious

    The I Love Trader Joe's Cocktail Book

    A Forager's Guide to Wild Drinks

    The Whiskey Sour: A Modern Guide to the Classic Cocktail by Jeanette Hurt

    Rum A Tasting Course: A Flavor-Focused Approach to the World of Rum by Ian Burrell

    Malort: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit by Josh Noel

    The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Dangerous Spirit by Evan Rail

    A Most Noble Water: Revisiting the Origins of English Gin by Anistatia R Miller and Jared M Brown

    Spirits Distilled: A Guide to the Ingredients Behind a Better Bottle by Nat Harry

    Cocktail Theory: A Sensory Approach to Transcendent Drinks by Dr. Kevin Peterson

    Behind Bars: True Crime Stories of Whiskey Heists, Beer Bandits, and Fake Million-Dollar Wines by Mike Gerrard

    Scotch: The Balmoral guide to Scottish Whisky by Cameron Ewen and Moa Reynolds

    Martini: The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon by Alice Lascelles

    The Hour of Absinthe: A Cultural History of France's Most Notorious Drink 

    The Vedge Bar Book: Plant-Based Cocktails and Light Bites for Inspired Entertaining by Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby

    The Sopranos: The Official Cocktail Book by Sarah Gualtieri and Emma Carlson Berne

    Drink Pink!: Cocktails Inspired by Barbie, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, and More by Rhiannon Lee and Georgie Glass

    Puncheons and Flagons: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cocktail Book

    Cocktails and Consoles: 75 Video Game-Inspired Drinks to Level Up Your Game Night by Elias Eells

     

    New Editions and Reprints

    Jigger, Beaker, & Glass: Drinking Around the World by Charles H. Baker Jr.

    Bartending Basics: More Than 400 Classic and Contemporary Cocktails for Any Occasion by Cheryl Charming

    In Fine Spirits: A Complete Guide to Distilled Drinks by Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley

    The World Atlas of Whisky 3rd Edition by Dave Broom

  • The Gibson is a New York Drink Gone Big in San Francisco

    It was believed that the Gibson cocktail was created in San Francisco. In this 2008 blog post I cited what David Wondrich told us on a tour. The information is repeated in the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails

    Screenshot 2024-01-08 at 6.31.38 PM

    But now new information has come to light. Martin Doudoroff shared information from a tweet on the Spirits and Cocktails bulletin board

    It is an article from the San Francisco Examiner from 1896, a new earliest first reference to the drink. From this story it seems that:

    • The Gibson was probably invented in New York 
    • It became popular at The Bohemian Club in San Francisco – maybe not invented there but transmitted from NY to SF there
    • And then it became popular in New York later, after it was popular in SF
    • It could have been equal parts genever to dry vermouth rather than dry gin but became famous with dry gin

    I always say (to myself): History is a moving target. 

  • Aqua Vitae Vs Arrak, Terminology and History

    I am reading The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails in order with the Alcademics Book Club, which you may join on Facebook if you wish. (We're on the A's in early January.) 

    I've already learned so much new information and also old information I'm seeing in a new light. 

    One example of the latter is in the terminology of Aqua Vitae, the Latin term for distilled spirits ("water of life") vs arrack, the name of several different spirits. 

    Oxford coverAqua Vitae as a terminology comes from the "alchemico-medical" background – the medical alchemists separating a pure essence of the universal life force (supposedly) from wine. The name refers to the method (distillates were called waters) and (supposed) healthy life-giving impacts to the person who drinks it. It first referred to wine-based spirits but came to mean distillates of all sorts (and is the base of the words for aquavit, eau de vie, and whiskey) but then words like whiskey, brandy, etc came to dominate as spirits differentiated. A thing to note here is that this terminology and technology was from Southern Italy and spread up north in Europe toward the UK and Scandinavia, and eastward into Germany, Poland, and Russia. The technology of distillation of aqua vitae followed the path of knowledge with travelling monks. 

    Arrack was the Arabic word for distilled spirit, and according to Oxford, "is the first widely accepted umbrella term used to differentiate spirits from fermented beverages." It was first referenced in the later 1200s and early 1300s (the same time, but in different places, as references to aqua vitae). It also referred to several different distillates – palm arrack from Goa, cane arrack from northeast India, rakia from grapes/raisins in the Ottoman Empire/Middle East, and Batavia arrack from Indonesia that was made from palm sap and sugar. Many of these spirits travelled with sailors on the spice trade routes and were made into punch. Though not stated explicitly in Oxford, it seems terms referred to distilled beverages

    "All of these spirits preceded the rise of brandy, genever, rum, and whisky, the European spirits" according to Oxford. 

    So arrack (in its various spellings) seems to be the blanket term for distilled beverages that came out of the Asian tradition and ingredient set that travelled along Asian-oriented sea and land trade routes, while aqua vitae was more the European term for distilled medicinal spirits from wine and grain that travelled along routes of monastic and medical-alchemical knowledge from Southern Europe north and northeast. 

    "In general the newer trade networks supplanted the older ones, and the various arracks fell back on their local markets."  And the spirits born from the tradition of aqua vitae came to dominate the European markets and evolve into their more modern forms. 

     

    Batavia.label