Gin: A Global History

Description

Mother's Milk, Mother's Ruin, and Ladies' Delight. Dutch Courage and Cuckold's Comfort. These evocative nicknames for gin hint that it has a far livelier history than the simple and classic martini would lead you to believe. In this book, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson journeys into gin's past, revealing that this spirit has played the role of both hero and villain throughout history. Taking us back to gin's origins as a medicine derived from the aromatic juniper berry, Solmonson describes how the Dutch recognized the berry's alcoholic possibilities and distilled it into the whiskey-like genever. She then follows the drink to Britain, where cheap imitations laced with turpentine and other caustic fillers made it the drink of choice for poor eighteenth-century Londoners. Eventually replaced by the sweetened Old Tom style and later by London Dry gin, its popularity spread along with the British Empire... Gin – A Global History Cover......Page 1 Imprint page......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Introduction......Page 9 1. Gin’s Medicinal Origins......Page 16 2. Genever in the Low Countries......Page 25 3. Gin in Britain: The Gin Craze......Page 43 4. Gin in Britain: Colonialism, Gin Palaces, London Dry......Page 61 5. Gin in America......Page 87 6. Gin’s Renaissance......Page 115 Recipes......Page 143 Appendix: A Selection of Gins Today......Page 153 Select Bibliography......Page 159 Websites and Associations......Page 161 Acknowledgements......Page 163 Photo Acknowledgements......Page 165 Index......Page 166