Buffalo Theory by Cliff Clavin of Cheers

Gin: Short History

Gin: a Short History

                If modern Vodka is the bastard love child of Russia and Poland, then gin is the illegitimate offspring of an affair between the Dutch and the British. The English word Gin comes from the Dutch word Genever, which is Dutch for Juniper, the main ingredient of the light bodied spirit. Gin was originally being distilled by the Dutch in the 1500’s and gained fame for causing fearlessness in the Dutch Soldiers. This fearlessness brought a whole new meaning to liquid courage. English mercenaries, who fought alongside the Dutch took note of the spirit and brought it home across the channel.

However, gin’s popularity with the British wouldn’t fully blossom until William of Orange, a Dutchman, took the English throne. The monarch popularized the beverage by taxing Brandy imports from France, while simultaneously taxing beer at home to encourage gin distillation on Anglo soil. King William also helped popularize gin on a personal level by taking in vast quantities himself, setting a drunken example for his people to follow.

While popularity for gin grew, its market would balloon even more due to the lack of regulation. Citizens would establish Gin shops, in which they would create prison quality alcohol in dirty bathtubs without any concern over taste, quality or health. Over-indulgence created a ‘Gin Craze’ which found men, women, and even children consuming over 2 pints weekly. The balloon would pop, however, when deaths from toxic gin stills and overconsumption became widespread in London. After a couple decades of legislation named ‘Gin Acts’, distillation finally became regulated to a safe level in the 1750s with Alexander Gordon, of Gordons’ Gin, being one of the first major companies to appear.

Gin maintained its popularity in Western Europe, but wouldn’t begin to be embraced in the America’s until the second half of the 19^th Century. Cocktails had helped establish gin’s foothold across the Atlantic, but prohibition would all but stop the progress of Gin, as it had done to all spirits. At the end of prohibition gin came back even stronger thanks to the popularity of the martini as well as the help of Hollywood movie stars like Humphrey Bogart. Vodka would eclipse gin in North America in the 1950’s and 60’s, with the Vodka Martini becoming a more prominent alternative to the original. Nowadays, gin is on a rebound, finding a home in the hipster subculture.

Works Cited

McFarland, Ben, and Tom Sandham. Thinking Drinkers: The Enlightened Imbiber's Guide to Alcohol. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 164-170. Print.

Hellmich, Mittie. Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to over 1,000 Cocktails. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2006. 168-170 Print.

Phillips, Roderick. Alcohol: A History. N.p.: n.p., n.d. p 123-130. Print.

Drinking Deities: Dionysus

Drinking Deities

Bacchus/ Dionysus

The Greek God Dionysus, known to the Romans as Bacchus was the God of fertility, wine and the arts, so essentially sex, drugs, and rock and roll. He was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. His mother was destroyed by Zeus’ image and Dionysus had to be implanted in Zeus’ thigh to be born from it. I know, weird, but it gets better. Zeus sent him to be raised by nymphs for his safety until he came of age. Once he was old enough, he wandered to the far-east teaching the community how to cultivate wine for several years. He returned to the western world a full-fledged God and traveled from town to town getting hammered and sharing the glories of wine. He would enter towns in a drunken parade with Goat-footed Satyrs jamming on the pan flute, with nymphs scantily clad playing the role of his groupies. Dionysus would ride in a chariot driven by tigers, lions and other wild beasts. He would disperse wine and his partying vibes to a crowd welcoming him like the King of Mardi Gras. Dionysus’ ability to spread the party spirit was so legendary that Kings would be worried about his visits due to his ability to turn men into drunken animals.

Beyond the mythology, the real citizens of Rome, who focused their worship on the God of wine, would mimic in Dionysus’ carefree drinking ways with extravagant parties full of hedonistic behavior. The parties and overindulgence brought on by the Cult of Dionysus became so out of control, they were outlawed by Rome and which caused the citizens to worship (party) in secret.

Sources

http://www.crystalinks.com/bacchus.html

http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Dionysus/dionysus.html

Hall of Fame: Wade Boggs

Drinker’s Hall of Fame

Wade Boggs

Wade Anthony Boggs was a Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Red Sox, their rivals the Yankees and some team from Tampa Bay. He had an amazing career with over 3000 career hits and over a .300 batting average, but enough about the boring facts, onto drinking stats.

Wade is a renowned drinker, once quoted saying “Beer doesn’t affect me”. He became legendary after rumors began to circulate that he was drinking between 50-70 beers on cross country trips between games. Some claim his record number was 64, some 73, the man himself says it may have been over 100.

Wade’s ability to down beers became known in pop culture first with an appearance on the Simpsons (Pictured Above) where he hilariously fights the town drunk Barney. His more recent major appearance, which has reignited the fame of his alcohol prowess was on the FX show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, in which he appears as a hallucination during a contest to break his record (Pictured Above).

Citation

For his ability to consume over 60 beers while travelling, Wade Boggs is hereby entered into the Drinkers Hall of Fame

 

 

"Wade Boggs." The Baseball Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

"Wade Boggs -- Wanna Drink 100 Beers In 24 Hours?? Here's How ..." Http://www.tmz.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

Appletini

Appletini

The Apple Martini or Appletini for short was created in 1990s in the West Hollywood Bar Lola’s, worth noting it is not an actual martini

Ingredients

·        1.5oz Vodka

·        1oz Green Apple Schnapps

·        1oz Apple Puree

·        Green Apple Slice

Steps

1.     Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice

2.     Shake vigorously

3.     Strain into Martini Glass

4.     Garnished with a Green Apple Slice

 

George Bernard Shaw

Vodka: A Short History

Vodka: A Short History

                The drink from the East which was once drunk by the most ruthless leaders of Russia is now a party liquor for college kids and the main ingredient of most ‘girly’ cocktails. The neutral taste of Vodka makes it a bartender’s best friend, and the relatively cheap prices makes it closer than family to a young drinker. Cape Coder, Screwdriver, Cosmopolitan, Appletini, White Russian or just straight shots from the bottom shelf all are great choices. Whatever your vodka drink of choice may be, it will be nice for you to learn the turbulent history of the alcohol which has caused many you to have had wild nights with rough mornings.

Vodka’s origins are in the region spanning Poland, Ukraine, and Russia and its early generations were probably the result of Monks’ experimentation during the middle ages. Although most Americans recognize the beverage as a Russian design, the Polish often contest this as it’s a matter of national pride, though both nations have reason to claim creation. Russian Tsars took control over the Vodka industry early on and used its revenues to fund the government, privileged supporters were allowed to distill the spirit for loyalty to the Tsar. By the late 1800s the Russian government banned serfdom which had prevented any of the lower classes to embrace their entrepreneurial spirt. The commoners were allowed to distill which vastly increased the quality and quantity of the spirit. A young serf who took advantage of Vodka’s growth was Pytor Smirnov, whose recipe created the Smirnov brand. Production in Poland started with using grain and began wide scale production in the 1500s. Eventually the Poles switched to using potatoes as they became more readily available in the 1800s. Scandinavians, particularly Sweden had a nationwide industry in the 1700s.  By the 1940s, World War Two had introduced Western Europe and America to Vodka which became extremely popular. Bartending ingenuity began to boom with Vodka as the neutral taste allowed for more variations in flavor and thus more variations in drinks. More recently high end vodka has been on the rise with brands like Grey Goose and Absolute.

So raise a glass to Peter the Great for all his partying, to Mother Russia for kicking out its greatest distiller, to Polish potatoes and to James Bond for bringing the brand to popular culture.

Popular Brands

Grey Goose, Ketal One, Smirnoff, Crystal Skull, Svedka, Vladimir, Vestal, Reyka, Belvedere, Absolute, New Asterdam, Mccormicks, Popov, Stolichnaya

 

Works Cited

·         McFarland, Ben, and Tom Sandham. "Rum." Thinking Drinkers: The Enlightened Imbiber's Guide to Alcohol. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.

·         Phillips, Roderick. Alcohol: A History. N.p.: n.p., n.d.. Print.

·         Hellmich, Mittie. Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to over 1,000 Cocktails. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2006. Print.